National Carers Week: Sun 11-Sat 17 October 2026

In Summary

National Carers Week runs 11–17 October 2026, recognising Australia’s 3 million primary (usually unpaid) carers and their vital role in aged care, NDIS, health and disability sectors.
Theme for 2026 is “Care for a Carer: Making Carers visible” to raise awareness and encourage Australians to recognise, support and care for carers in families, workplaces and communities.
Data highlights the scale of unpaid support and paid assistance, including 2,476,306 people providing unpaid help (2021 Census) and 332,590 on Carer Payment plus 693,055 on Carer Allowance (June 2026).
Carers face major burdens including giving up work, social isolation, health impacts, financial disadvantage, and lost super and lifetime earnings; the cost of replacing their support is conservatively estimated at $110b–$156.7b annually.
Carers are a high-risk population for suicide, with evidence cited that up to 71% have contemplated suicide and 1 in 10 have attempted, underscoring the need for respect, recognition and proper support and remuneration.

Photo: George Helon with his mother Elizabeth, who he has been the fulltime carer of for 14 years.

National Carers Week is about recognising, acknowledging and celebrating the outstanding contribution Australia’s 3 million primary (usually unpaid) carers make to our nation and their crucial role in underpinning Australia’s aged care, NDIS, health and disability sectors.

Carers week is a time to raise awareness, recognise, acknowledge, celebrate and care for the ones who selflessly provide care each and every day to a family member, loved one, or friend.

The 2021 Census accounts the number of persons who “provided unpaid assistance to a person with a disability, health condition or due to old age” at 2,476,306 nationally.

According to most recent figures from the Commonwealth Department of Social Services (DSS), in June 2026, 332,590 persons nationally were in receipt of Carer Payment (CP) and 693,055 Carer Allowance (CA).

Anyone can become a carer at any time. National Carers Week is an opportunity to raise community awareness among all Australians about the diversity of carers and their caring roles.

Carers make an enormous contribution to our communities as well as our national economy.

Should all carers decide to stop performing their caring role, it is estimated the cost conservatively to the country would be between $110 billion to a staggering $156.7 billion dollars per year to replace those supports.

This year National Carers Week will run from Sunday 11 through to Saturday 17 October 2026.

The theme for this year’s national campaign is ‘Care for a Carer: Making Carers visible’, a time to shine a light on the invaluable contribution of unpaid carers, to encourage all Australians to recognise, support and care for the carers in their families, workplaces and communities.

Caring for a loved one isn’t just a labour of love, it is a burden in countless ways.

Carers often have to give up fulltime work, they put their lives and careers on hold, they often become socially isolated, they are in poor physical health, they ignore their own social, personal, mental, emotional, spiritual and financial well-being; they are among the most disadvantaged and vulnerable in the community living way below the poverty line.

Carers not only forfeit potential lifetime earnings, but miss out on thousands of dollars in superannuation retirement savings.

Carers sacrifice a lot and their contributions to the invisible economy go largely unacknowledged and unrequited.

Primary carers need, and quite rightly deserve respect, recognition and proper financial remuneration.

According to the Australian Carers Foundation, 30% carers die before the person they for and Suicide Prevention Australia (Policy Statement Oct. 2022; p.2) has stated that “up to 71% of carers have contemplated suicide, and 1 in 10 have attempted.

Now (there is) sufficient evidence to declare carers a high-risk population for suicide.”

It’s time to recognise, support and care for carers; after all, you never know when you might find yourself as one, or urgent need of one.