Australia has over 3 million carers who are caring for people with all kinds of needs. Of this number, 245,000 people are living as unpaid carers in South Australia. Unpaid carers play an important role in supporting a family member or a friend.
Carers play an important role in health care.
A carer is someone who helps a family member or a friend with daily living activities such as emotional support, grocery shopping, preparing meals, administering medicine, personal care and paying bills.
If you provide unpaid care and support to a person with specific needs, regardless of whether the care you provide is for one hour a day or 24/7, you are likely to be a carer with help available for you.
SA Health is committed to partnering with carers. The SA Health Partnering with Carers policy was developed with Carers SA and carer representatives to reflect the priorities and needs of unpaid carers and establish principles and standards.
The policy identifies what is important to carers, based on feedback from carers and includes clearly defined roles and responsibilities for SA Health staff.
Our key priorities (PDF 114KB) include:
This staff information sheet (PDF 80 KB) on recognising and partnering with carers outlines how we support and partner with carers.
Are you a Carer who provides support to a person with a mental illness?
For information and resources to help, visit the Mental health carers page.
SA Health recognises that there are many employees with caring responsibilities, and we encourage staff who are Carers to read the SA Health Flexible Workplaces Policy Directive (PDF 412KB) and Flexible Workplaces Policy Guideline (PDF 548KB) for details on managing your work and Carer duties.
Safety and Quality Unit
Email: Health.DHWClinicalGovernanceEnquiries@sa.gov.au
