Support for Young Carers

Do you know or consider yourself a young carer? It’s common that people don’t always identify as one, so we understand you may be uncertain.

So, let’s work out if you are a carer and whether we can help you.

Ask yourself the following, do you ever:

• Help take care of someone in your home who has disability, chronic or mental illness, who is frail aged or has an alcohol or drug problem
• Worry about leaving the person you care for at home, alone
• Get a sore back from lifting the person you care for
• Feel like you sometimes don’t get to do regular stuff with your friends
• Feel too tired to hang out with your friends or do school work?

If you have answered yes, please keep reading as we’d love to get in touch with you.

Download the Young Carers Brochure

We want to help you

We understand that you have a lot of responsibilities as a young carer, between juggling school or university, hanging out with friends, maintaining a social life and caring for a loved one. So, acting your age can be a slight challenge.

We want you to live your life to its fullest and that means looking after yourself and your wellbeing.

So, this is where we come in. Through our Young Carers Program we can provide you with assistance so you can have some valuable time out.

Our program includes:

• Helping to shower or dress the person you care for
• Helping you to prepare meals or cleaning your house
• Taking you to appointments or to the shops
• Looking after your loved one in your home or a respite home
• Social events, so you can have some fun.

Essentially, we are your advocate and will support you every step of the way.

While we only offer short term services, we can also provide referrals to long term support.

So, what’s next?

Our program is for people of all ages who live in Victoria* and care for someone with needs including:

• Mental illness
• Dementia
• Disability
• Chronic condition or illness
• Older people with care needs
• People in palliative care

This could be your mother, father, siblings, grandparents, uncles, aunties, a family friend etc. Basically, if you care for someone, we’re here for you!

*Wellington and East Gippsland excepted.

To get started call 1300 698 624 or email hello@vmch.com.au

Young Carers Resources

Finding the right support for you and the person you care for is the most important thing. We have collected some resources that may be the support you need.

headspace
National Youth Mental Health Foundation providing support for 12-25 year olds.
Contact 1800 650 890
www.headspace.org.au

Little Dreamers
Young carer organisation supporting young people aged 4 to 25.
Contact 1800 717 515
www.littledreamers.org.au

kidshelpline
Free and private 24/7 online counselling service for young people aged 5 to 25.
Contact 1800 55 1800
www.kidshelpline.com

Download the Young Carers Brochure

If you’d like more information about Young Carers, head to Young Carers Network. This site is brought to you by Carers Australia and is a place to learn about the services and resources available to you.

VMCH acknowledges the support of the Victorian Government.