NSW Carers Group turns 30
The first-ever association for Carers in the world began in NSW in 1976 and is celebrating its 30th birthday this month.
In 1976, following a report about the extent of care provided by family members to the frail aged, Clare Stevenson formed a Carers Committee (within the Council on the Ageing) to manage the issue of carers in the community. Since then, Carers NSW has grown from three staff (two of the staff were volunteers) to a peak organisation with over 50 staff.
Carers NSW works in the public, community and increasingly the private sectors, at both policy and service delivery levels and has been awarded the International Best Practice Award at the Third International Carers Conference in Washington, D.C, USA, for three of its innovative projects.
The NSW Carer Program is reportedly the only carer specific program which focuses on developing good practice in supporting carers.
Carers NSW continues to enhance resources for carers, and aims to create an understanding that caring is a natural part of people’s life course, and that caring can happen to anyone at anytime.
