Care Aware is a national carer awareness initiative that highlights the significant contribution Australia’s unpaid family carers make to the community. Care Aware aims to raise awareness, recognition, support and appreciation of the 2.6 million Australians who provide unpaid care and support to family members and friends.
These family and friends provide full or part-time support to people of all ages with disability, medical conditions, mental illness, frailty due to age and people who have alcohol and drug issues. Carers can be parents, children, grandparents, uncles, aunts, siblings, friends and neighbours. They come from every ethnicity, every region of the country and can be any age.
A key initiative under the Care Aware campaign is Care Aware Workplaces. This initiative is designed to improve workplace arrangements for unpaid carers by encouraging employers to recognise and support carers in their business. For more information or to register as a Care Aware workplace, visit the Care Aware Workplaces to get your support material and dedicated guidebook.
For further information about the Care Aware campaign, the Care Aware website provides support and an online forum to share stories and connect with other carers. It also features a number of short sharable films that bring to light the experiences of five carers. In addition, you can watch the carer films at CareAwareAU's Youtube Channel and join the conversation at fb.com/CareAwareAU and @Care_Aware_AU
McCann Worldgroup is delivering the campaign in consultation with Carers Australia. Over $1.6 million dollars has been provided by the Australian Government to fund the campaign, which is an initiative under the National Carer Strategy.