Caregivers and Community Service Non-Use in Australia

This chapter presents the findings of an Australian Research Council funded project which examined the 1998 'Australian Bureau of Statistics Survey of Disability Ageing and Carers' (SDAC) (ABS, 1999) in order to identify the characteristics of isolated or hidden carers not using community services'. In 1998 over 2.3 million people in Australia, representing approximately 13 per cent of the total population and including more women than men, provided informal care to an adult or child with impairments or to an elderly person (ABS, 1999). Twenty eight per cent of all Australian carers are providing care for people 65 years and over. Official estimates suggest approximately 46 per cent of Australians aged 65 years and over require some degree of help with the routine tasks of daily living, and the need for assistance significantly increases with age (ABS, 1999). Given the structural aging of the Australian population, the need for informal support for the elderly is likely to increase.