Policies for carers in the Australian liberal welfare state

Trish HillSocial Policy Research Centre, University of New South Wales

Carers and Work-Care Reconciliation: International ConferenceUniversity of Leeds13 August 2013

Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

Overview of presentation

The informal care infrastructure in Australia Policy context Caring and working in Australia Policies for carers in Australia

Income support Services Employment regulation Recognition

Role of the Carers Associations Future directions

The informal care infrastructure in Australia

Australia has 2.6 million carers or 12 per cent of the population 13 per cent of women 11 per cent of men (ABS, 2010a)

Current role of informal carers as a ‘partners in care’: Provide support to over 80 per cent of people with disability (50 per

cent receive support from formal sources) (ABS 2010b)

Provide support to around 76 per cent of the frail aged (56 per cent receive support from formal services) (ABS 2010c)

Estimated economic contribution of informal care in Australia in 2010 1.32 billion hours of unpaid informal care each year Valued at 40.9 billion Australian dollars if it was to be replaced by

formal services in the home (Access Economics, 2010)

Described as the ‘invisible health workforce’ (National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission, 2009: 61)

Policy Context

Policies of de-institutionalisation from residential care to community care since the 1980s Preference of older people and people with disability to live in their own

homes and the community

National Carer Strategy 2011 Vision of ‘an Australian community that values and respects carers and

provides them with rights, choices, opportunities and capabilities to participate in economic, social and community life’ (FaHCSIA, 2012)

Aims to ‘respond to the diverse and changing needs of carers with services and supports that are coordinated, flexible, appropriate, affordable, inclusive and sustainable’ (FaHCSIA, 2012)

Six priority areas: Recognition and Respect Information and Access Economic Security Services for Carers Education and Training Health and Wellbeing (FaHCSIA, 2012)

Caring and working in Australia

74 per cent of carers are of workforce age (18-64 years) (ABS, 2010)

Nearly 1.4 million carers were employed (ABS, 2012)

In 2009, 34 per cent of all carers in full-time employment 21 per cent of all carers in part-time employment (ABS, 2012)

Gendered dimensions of caring and working - among primary carers: Men - 28 per cent employed full-time, 12 per cent employed part-time Women – 16 per cent employed full-time, 25 per cent employed part-

time (ABS, 2013)

Financial Assistance - Income support History of providing compensation to carers unable to engage in

paid work 1972 Wives pension – paid to wives of invalid and aged pensioners 1985 Carer Pension for carers of a spouse, parent, other close relative, offspring

or friend 1996-Current Carer Payment: ‘financial support if you are unable to work in

substantial paid employment because you are providing full time care’ (AGDHS) Current rate is A$733.70 per fortnight for a single person - Approx £453 or

526 Euros Income and assets tested Work restrictions – study, train or work up to 25 hours per week (2005 - up

from 10 hours in 1993) (Maker and Bowman, 2012) Carer Allowance, Carer Supplement, Carer Adjustment Payment,

Bereavement Payment 40 per cent of carers relied on some form of income support as main source of

income compared to 24 per cent of non-carers (ABS, 2008:53)

Income support and paid work In 2006, only 23 per cent of recipients had earnings while receiving Carer

Payment (Ganley, 2009) Access to support for workforce re-entry through employment services providers

Changes over time: expansion of eligibility and shift to focus on carers’ human capital and attachment to the labour market (Maker and Bowman, 2012)

Employment regulations

Fair Work Act 2009 National Employment Standards: Right to request flexible working arrangements for certain employees if

a parent of a child with disability aged under 18 years No obligation on employers to approve the request Eligible employees must have had 12 months continuous services or have

had long-term casual employment with the employer and ‘reasonably’ expect this to continue

Carers/personal leave – 10 days paid leave per year which can accumulate to care for family or household member, other unpaid leave and paid compassionate leave.

June 2013 – Fair Work Act Amendment Bill 2013 Extension of right to request to all carers (within the meaning of the

Carer Recognition Act 2010); Definition of reasonable business grounds for refusal

Issues: Awareness, implementation, workplace cultures

Services

Liberal welfare state - targeting and income-testing Services for carers

Respite, information and counselling Carer Support Centres

Services for people with disability, their families and carers Trends in person-centred and consumer-directed care DisabilityCare Australia - national disability insurance scheme Better Start for Children with Disability Family Mental Health Support Services Living Longer Living Better aged care reform package

Issues in the reforms for carers and reconciling work and care: Concerns that carers’ capacities, needs and aspirations are taken into

account Impact on carers of shift to consumer-directed care

Carer recognition

National Carer Recognition Framework Carer Recognition Act 2010 and National Carer Strategy 2011

Carer Recognition Act 2010 Aims to increase recognition and awareness of carers and to

acknowledge the valuable contribution they make to society Does not create any legally enforceable obligations (Phillips and

Margarey, 2010)

Care Aware: national carers awareness initiative by a partnership of NGOs – endorsed by the Australian Government Aims to raise awareness, recognition, support and appreciation

for carers Care Aware Workplaces – designed to improve workplace

arrangements

Role of carers associations

Carers Australia and national network of State and Territory organisations Advocated for carer’s interests and needs for income support,

community services, information and counselling Highlighted carers circumstances and the costs and value of their care Helped establish the 2009 parliamentary inquiry on carer support Argued for carers’ rights and recognition Argued for carers’ assessments in disability and aged care reforms

(Yeandle and Kroger, 2013)

Future directions in reconciling work and care in Australia Uncertain future: sustaining the informal care infrastructure in

Australia National Carers Strategy: Australian Government

Recognition: whether legislation will introduce enforceable obligations? Economic security: access to flexible work, income support and employment re-

entry Services: carers’ roles as partners in care and needs for assessments Potential change of government will test the level of bipartisanship with respect

to policies for carers

The impact of unpaid care on human rights: Australian Human Rights Commission Investing in care: Recognising and valuing those who care (2013) Social case, economic case, business case and human rights case for change Rights to gender equality, non-discrimination, decent work and the related

accommodation of family and caring responsibilities within the right to work

The impact of care on worker’s rights: Australian Council of Trade Unions Time to care campaign – right of appeal in right to request flexible work

Role of employers and employer associations? Individual employer initiatives for carers No equivalent to Employers for Carers UK

References

Access Economics (2010), The economic value of informal care in 2010 Report for Carers Australia,Access Economics Pty Limited and Carers Australia.

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) (2008), A Profile of Carers in Australia, Catalogue number 4448.0, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Canberra.

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) (2010a) Disability, Ageing and Carers, Australia, Summary of Findings 2009, Catalogue no 4430.0, ABS, Canberra.

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) (2010b), Disability, Ageing and Carers, Australia: Third Staggered Release, Tables 2, http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/4430.02009?OpenDocument, 28/4/11.

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) (2010c), Disability, Ageing and Carers, Australia: Fourth Staggered Release, Table 5, http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/4430.02009?OpenDocument 28/4/11.

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2012 Caring in the Community, Australia 2009 Catalogue no, 4436.0, ABS, Canberra.

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2013 Gender Indicators, January 2013, Catalogue no 4125.0, ABS, Canberra http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4125.0main+features4210Jan%202013

Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FAHCSIA) (2012) National Carer Strategy Action Plan (2011-2014), Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra.

Australian Government Department of Human Services (AGDHS)(2013) Carer paymenthttp://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/services/centrelink/carer-payment viewed August 2013.

Ganley, R. (2009), 'Carer Payment Recipients and Workforce Participation' Australia Social Policy, No. 8, FaHCSIA, Canberra.

Maker, Y. and Bowman, D (2012) ‘Income support for Australian carers since 1983: social justice, social investment and the cloak of gender neutrality’ Australian Journal of Social Issues, 47(4) 435-456.

National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission (2009) A Healthier Future for all Australians Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra.

Phillips, J. and Magarey, K. (2010), Carer Recognition Bill, Report for Parliamentary Library. Parliament of Australia, Canberra.

Yeandle, S. and Kroger, T (2013) ‘The emergence of policy supporting working carers: developments in six countries’ in Kroger, T. and Yeandle S.(eds) Combining paid Work and Family Care: Policies and Experiences in International Perspective, Policy Press, Bristol.