Today I attended the inaugural Tasmanian National Carer Awards, a joint initiative of Carers Australia, Life Without Barriers and Families Australia.
It was with great pleasure that I presented awards to the Tasmanian winners and recognised the contribution of Tasmania's 74,000 carers.
Tasmania has a greater number of carers per capita than any other Australian jurisdiction. They are predominantly unpaid and include parents, grandparents, partners, brothers, sisters, friends, sons and daughters.
The National Carer Awards are a powerful way to promote greater community awareness and celebrate and reward the dedication of carers who are providing support to the aged, or people living with disability, mental illness or a chronic medical condition.
Congratulations to the winners of the Tasmanian National Carer Awards:
Through the development of the Tasmanian Carer Policy the Liberal Government is raising awareness of the important and critical role of carers, and the framework to identify carers and deliver the necessary support and services for them.
Strengthened support for carers through reform of the Out of Home Care system, and the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) are also important and exciting initiatives for carers looking after people with disability. We support the full roll-out of the NDIS and are providing a significant investment to ensure the NDIS will be in full operation in 2019.
Carers perform a significant and valuable role, providing the one they care for with an opportunity to achieve their goals and aspirations, improving their quality of life and allowing them to fully participate in the community.
We don't often hear about the work carers do and the personal sacrifices they make and that is why these awards are so important.
The Liberal Government recognises the valuable contribution made by each and every one of our carers.