The New South Wales Government is acknowledging the work that carers do by awarding them during carers week and is encouraging everyone to nominate someone who has made an outstanding contribution as a carer for the New South Wales Carers Awards More than one in ten adults in New South Wales are carers.
Parents, partners, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters are all providing support to children or adults who have a disability, mental illness, drug and alcohol dependency, chronic condition, terminal illness or who are frail. Through their valuable social and economic contribution, carers improve the lives of the people for whom they care. Eleni Katrakis, CEO, Carers NSW told Neos Kosmos, “the NSW Carers Awards are a great way to acknowledge the hard work carers put in day in and day out, often with little or no help or assistance. It is a chance for the local community to recognise and support carers”.
There are eight award categories in which carers, schools, employers or carer support groups can be nominated. These categories include: Young Carer, Senior Carer, Caring Partner, Carer-Friendly Workplace, Carer Support Group, Caring Family or Parent, Caring Volunteer or Community Member, Caring School.
“The NSW Carers Awards, now in their second year, were introduced by the NSW State Government to recognise and celebrate the significant contribution unpaid or ‘informal’ carers make to the community and the person, or people, they care for,” said Katrakis.
“The awards are held in partnership with the NSW State Government and Carers NSW. The NSW Carers Awards will be presented to 150 recipients from local government areas in NSW during NSW Carers Week 2011, which this year runs from 16 to 22 October.” “Across NSW there are approximately 750,000 carers; which is equal to one tenth of the state’s population. Some carers need to assist full-time with tasks of daily living: feeding, bathing, dressing, toileting, or administering medications, whereas others care for people who are more independent but still require daily supervision or help with finances and transport.
Carers in NSW save taxpayers an estimated $13 billion annually (the cost of replacing carers providing informal care with paid care workers) based on work done by Access Economics in 2010 – the annual replacement cost of informal carers nationally is estimated to be $40.9 billion.”
Nomination close 5.00 pm on Friday 22 July. For more information visit www.adhc.nsw.gov.au
