Additional Respite Options for Carers in New South Wales

Improved respite care options will be offered to New South Wales carers who look after people with a mental illness or intellectual disability under a $7.74 million Australian Government initiative.

Carers make an enormous contribution at the personal and community level. The Government will help give Australian carers more opportunities to get a desperately-needed break from the demands of their caring responsibilities.

Under the initiative, sixteen new and expanded respite services will receive funding until June 2010 through the National Respite Development Fund.

A range of respite options will be offered including in-home and out-of-home respite and short term residential programs.

Carers are under enormous pressure. Many of them undertake around-the-clock care for relatives and friends and make extraordinary personal and professional sacrifices.

The new and expanded services will cater both for the needs of individual carers and those in their care.

This could include staying overnight in a respite cottage, some in-home care, or a few hours enjoying recreational activities.

The Government will also provide a range of additional services for carers and care recipients, including IT courses, emergency respite options, the establishment of peer support groups and mobile mental health services.

There is also the capacity for the training and professional development of service providers.

The National Respite Development Fund provides the Australian Government with the flexibility to develop the sector, and address the broader priorities of the Mental Health Respite Program.