What is the Carers Advisory Council?

The Carers Advisory Council consists of up to ten individuals who are carers and people who know about supporting carers, and all bring a diversity of experience of the caring role.

We all applied for membership of the Council  and were appointed by the Minister for Seniors to represent our own knowledge and our experience of the caring role.

As an advisory council we have a responsibility to advise the State Government through the Minister for Seniors about relevant issues for carers, to assist in the development of public policy and the implementation of the Carers Recognition Act 2004.

How did the Council start?

Western Australia is the first state in Australia to pass a piece of law recognising carers and to establish a Carers Advisory Council.

Many people lobbied for the Carers Recognition Act legislation as a means of recognising and valuing individual carers for their extraordinary efforts and tasks they perform for others.

The Act came into effect on 1 January 2005 and it defines who is a carer, established the Council and established the Western Australian Carers Charter.

The definition of a carer  is a person who provides ongoing care or assistance to another  (child or adult) who has a disability, a chronic illness or mental illness or is frail. Carers provide such care as unpaid labour and hence differ from paid workers such as support workers, care aides, etc. Usually people in the caring role do it for someone who is significant in their lives.

The recognition of carers is set out in the Carers Charter which directs that carers are to be treated with dignity and respect by service providers, that they are to be brought into the decision making processes of services where those decisions have an impact on the carer. In addition carers can complain about matters that relate directly to themselves not just the person they care for.

Have a look at the Carers Charter. 

What does the Council do?

The first major role of Council as set out in the legislation is to ensure accountability of the main service providers for people with disabilities and chronic health issues.

The legislation directs that each year the Department of Health, public hospitals and the Disability Services Commission must report to the Carers Advisory Council on how they are complying with the both the Act itself and the Carers Charter.

These reporting organisations must also report on how any non government agencies they fund comply with the Carers Charter.

The Council then reports to the Minister for Seniors who in turn must provide that report to Parliament

See the Councils current report -
Carer Recognition – Progressing Compliance

Another function of the Council is to ‘advance the interests of carers’. This means promoting the Carers Charter into action by all government and non government service providers.

Council also makes recommendations to the Minister on how those agencies could comply with the Charter and advises the Minister on issues relevant to carers.

Projects and activities

Since the work of Council began in November 2005 we have focused on building working relationships with the reporting agencies to encourage compliance by providing guidelines for their reports and informing them of the implications of the legislation.

Council has also worked with the non government agencies to develop a cooperative relationship to promote the Carers Charter via public forums in regional areas of WA, meetings with metropolitan agencies, plus participation in state and national conferences, at expo’s and at forums.

Meet the Carers Advisory Council members

How to contact the Council