youngcarersnsw.org.au yc news / WINTER 2018Carers NSW 1

YC NewsA Carers NSW Publication

NO#85 WINTER 2018

Young carers are children and young people under the age of 26 who help to support a family member or friend who has a disability, mental illness, drug and/or alcohol dependency, chronic condition, terminal illness or who is frail.

For Young Carers

And their families in NSW

Youth Week 2018 kicked off with an incredible celebration as we welcomed 19 young carers from across New South Wales into Sydney for our three-day Young Carer Leadership Program (YCLP), and what an amazing three days it was! We’ve been pinching ourselves since returning back to the office, unable to believe the strength, drive and determination demonstrated by our Young Carer Leaders both during the program and since returning home. They graduated our program with flying colours and we are so excited to see what they can achieve over the next 12 months as they bring awareness to other young carers in the community and continue to grow as inspirational, mature young people.

Our program schedule looked a little something like this…

You will be seeing a whole lot more of these faces over the next few years, so remember – you saw them here first! From the YC team at Carers NSW, we would like to say a big thank you to our YC Leaders for being such legends.

MONDAY:• Cultural awareness session

• Confidence-building activities

• Discussions around teamwork and how your decisions

affect the people around you

• Opportunities for our YCs to share their story

TUESDAY:• Public speaking exercises

• Media training

• Behind-the-scenes tour and interview sessions at

ABC Studios

• Setting goals for 2018

WEDNESDAY:• Research and development, involvement in

Carers NSW research

• A strategic planning session to discuss the current YC space, supports available and the challenges that YCs might face in the community

• YCs presented their program highlight and 12 month goal to the CEO of Carers NSW and the YC team and received their certificates

• Graduation from the program!

IN THIS ISSUE...

YCLP 2018: WraP UP!.......................................... 1Team UPdaTe...................................................... 2Cook’s Corner.................................................... 3Word searCh...................................................... 3reCenT evenTs................................................... 4sPoT The differenCe........................................ 4heLPfUL serviCes and oPPorTUniTies...................... 5Taking Care of YoUr oWn WeLL-Being.................... 6imogen’s sTorY................................................ 7ndis informaTion............................................. 8

Who Are Young Carers?

YCLP 2018: WRAP UP!

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We have some really cool updates in this newsletter!

I feel like we say that every newsletter, but this one is

special. On page one you read a condensed summary

from this year’s Young Carer Leadership Program and we

showed you some of our favourite snaps from the three

days. To view the whole album, check out our website

www.youngcarersnsw.org.au/community/galleries or have

a look at the album on our Facebook page. You’ll find more

great recipes and a fun find-a-word on page three, and on

page four you’ll be able to read about some more awesome

events and the exciting new resource that we’ve recently

added to our website.

As always, we can be reached either by emailing

yc@carersnsw.org.au or calling the Carer Line on 1800

242 636. We’d love to hear from you. In fact, we

challenge you to email us with one word or emoji that

best describes how you’re feeling today. We’re feeling...

If not, all you need to do is email us at yc@carersnsw.org.au and we will sign you up today!

Check us out online and give us your feedback!

LIKE US ON FACEBOOK!

The Young Carers website has some fantastic information for everyone,

whether you’re a young carer, parent or service provider. We regularly

update the ‘Events’ and ‘Opportunities’ tabs and we are always looking for

new activities to promote across the state. We also have our online forums

that can be accessed through our website – if you have any questions that

you would like answered by another young carer, jump on today! All

content is moderated by us, ensuring a safe and supportive space to chat.

Check out www.youngcarersnsw.org.au for all this and more!

The main Carers NSW website is another fantastic source of information,

ranging from tips and tricks around self-care to important research and

publications related to caring and carers in the community. This is also

where you can access our Carers NSW 2018 Carer Survey, a very important

study that we undertake every 2 years to capture feedback from all

carers. Your input will provide direction for organisational change and

systemic advocacy.

TEAM UPDATE

Search for “Young Carers at Carers NSW” to find us on Facebook and make sure you ‘like’ us to keep up with all our adventures and upcoming projects.

Are you receiving our monthly e-Newsletter?

The Carer Survey closes on Saturday 30

June 2018, have your voice heard! Visit

www.carersnsw.org.au/research/survey to

be involved.

Dan: VIVACIOUS

Sarah: MOTIVATED

Natalie: GRATEFUL

- The Young Carers team at Carers NSW

youngcarersnsw.org.au yc news / WINTER 2018Carers NSW 3

Ingredients

• 1 butternut pumpkin (peeled, deseeded, cubed)

• 1 potato (large, peeled, cubed)

• 1 carrot (large, peeled, roughly chopped)

• 1 onion (diced)

• 2 tbs olive oil

• 4 tbs chicken stock powder

Method1. Heat oil in a pan and fry all

vegetables until golden.

2. Add 2L boiling water to the pan and stir in stock powder.

3. Bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes until all vegetables are soft.

4. Using a stick mixer liquefy all the soup until it is nice and smooth.

5. Taste and season with salt and pepper accordingly.

All original recipes from kidspot.com.au

PUMPKIN SOUPChewy Choc-Banana Cookies

Ingredients• 110g unsalted butter (softened)

• 1/3 cup honey

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 1 banana (mashed)

• 1 cup spelt flour (sifted)

• 3/4 cup rolled oats

• 1/2 cup desiccated coconut

• 1/4 cup dark chocolate (chopped)

Method1. Preheat your oven to 175�C (155�C

fan-forced) and line 2 large baking trays with non-stick baking paper.

2. Beat together the butter, honey and vanilla until pale and creamy. Stir in the banana.

3. Add the sifted flour, oats and coconut, and stir until well combined. Add the chocolate and mix well.

4. Roll tablespoons of the mixture into balls, place on baking trays and flatten.

5. Place in oven and bake for approx. 10-12 minutes or until lightly golden.

6. Leave on trays to cool.

CHEESY GARLIC BREAD PULL-APART

Cook’s Corner

Word Search

E OE D

X I A RZ H K E

M O C I D HN G W N A L

C E M P O W E R R I D E C O U R A G E WV R H A C S Y T X T O L I Y E C O G I M

A U P T O Y E T A C I N U M M O C KL Y S O M C O N F I D E N C E S

U V R C P A O P A S S I O NE E I O A N P W Z N U B

C A S Z N G S S A E M K P KT H J B U D Q S N N A Z D L

D X S D W C O M M I T M E N T XJ D R I V E W X O P L G A K

J C X I H J B F N H A P P YW R O F Y Y L Q W L

Y R E S E N Q SH R V H

Ingredients• 1 loaf sourdough bread

• 3/4 cup mozzarella

• 100g butter

• 2 cloves of garlic

• 3/4 tsp sea salt

• 2 tbs parsley

Method1. Preheat the oven to 180�C.

2. Put the butter, garlic and salt in a glass jug or bowl and melt it in the microwave.

3. Stir the parsley into the melted butter mixture.

4. Cut diagonal slices across the loaf, without cutting right to the bottom edge. Then cut slices on the opposite diagonal to form a diamond pattern in the top of the loaf.

5. Use a spoon to drizzle the melted butter into all the cracks of the loaf. Follow that on by wedging cheese into every gap.

6. Wrap the loaf in two pieces of foil - one on the bottom and one on the top - and put it in the oven fully wrapped for 15 minutes.

DRIVEPASSIONKIND

EMPOWER

LEADERCONFIDENCEVALUES

COURAGE

COMPASSIONHONESTYCOMMITMENT

COMMUNICATE

HAPPY

7. After 15 minutes, remove the top piece of foil and bake for another five minutes to crisp up the top of the bread.

8. Remove from the oven and serve as is – guests can pull their own pre-cut pieces out of the loaf and eat them.

youngcarersnsw.org.auyc news / WINTER 20184 Carers NSW

Back in March, the YC team were honoured to be able to accompany a group of superstar young carers to the Australian film premiere of Love, Simon here in Sydney – a big big thank you to Beautiful Minds Australia for hooking us up with red carpet tickets! Our young carers got to share the cinema with Nick Robinson and Katherine Langford, the stars of the film, and we had the best afternoon hanging out together. We loved the film’s message of love, acceptance and inclusiveness! If you haven’t already seen the film, go check it out.

“Love, Simon” Film Premiere

International Visitors in North Sydney

EASY READ FLYER - CHECK IT OUT!We are very excited to announce that we have a new resource available for promoting our Young Carers Program! The Easy Read version of our program flyer is now publically available through the Young Carers and the Carers NSW websites, visit www.youngcarersnsw.org.au today!

The YC team were very lucky to be able to host some international visitors in our office at North Sydney last month! Our new friends are from an organisation in Hong Kong that works with young carers of parents with mental illness. It was fantastic to be able to chat about our two services as well as current research projects and share some delicious afternoon tea – it is always great to meet with our counterparts from across the world and learn about new and innovative approaches to supporting carers!

Can you spot the five differences between these two photos from our 2018 Young Carer Leadership Program? Email us today!

SPOT THE DIFFERENCE

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Carers NSW Policy Team

NSW Ombudsman

NDIS Support Coordination

If you are unhappy about the way you have been treated by a NSW government agency or a community service organisation, the NSW Ombudsman may be able to help! Their service is free.

The Carers NSW Policy Team works in many different ways to advocate for carers, including young carers. They write papers and submissions, attend and present at meetings and forums, provide advice to a range of stakeholders and work in partnership with governments and other agencies to raise the profile of young carers in the community.

Their work is informed by feedback from a variety of sources, including direct feedback from young carers.

Do you care for someone who has been approved for NDIS Support Coordination? The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) aims to provide more choice and control to people with disability, their families and carers.

Support Coordination is a service that assists you and the person you care for to learn, navigate and better understand the NDIS, as well as connect and coordinate services that best meet your needs and the needs of the person you care for.

Through Support Coordination services, Carers NSW staff can work with you to ensure the person you care for gets the most from their NDIS plan.

It is against the law for someone to take action against you for making a complaint to the Ombudsman. If you’re not sure if they can help you, ask for advice! Call the Inquiries Line on (02) 9286 1000 (1800 451 524 toll free outside Sydney metro) or their Youth Liaison Officer, Romani Blue on (02) 9286 1056. You can also email the Ombudsman team on nswombo@ombo.nsw.gov.au.

WHO YOU CAN COMPLAIN ABOUT:

• Schools, TAFE and state universities

• Community service providers

• Housing

• Local councils

• Transport for NSW

WHAT YOU CAN COMPLAIN ABOUT:

• Unfair treatment by a service

• Not receiving a service

• Not having your privacy respected

• Unfair fines or problems paying a fine

• Case management problems

Helpful Services and Opportunities

Their focus is generally on promoting the recognition of young carers by services, support for young carers in the workplace and in education as well as measures to improve young carers’ health and wellbeing.

If there are issues that affect you and other young carers that you would like to raise with the Policy Team, fill out our online Policy Advice Form (https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/policy_advice_form) or ask the Young Carer team to connect you with the Policy Team.

Why Choose Carers NSW?INDEPENDENT PROVIDERWe don’t provide other NDIS services and can act on your behalf in an unbiased manner.

FAMILY CENTREDBuilding family capacity to continue to improve the health and wellbeing of the person with disability, their family and carers.

HIGHLY SKILLEDOur Support Coordinators have qualifications in social work, psychology or an allied health background.

CALL US: 1800 242 636EMAIL: contact@carersnsw.org.au

…and more!

Your Mental Health

Where To Get Help

Taking Care of Your Own WellBEING

Young people who take on caring responsibilities at home speak about it being super rewarding. Making life a little easier for someone you love is a sure-fire way to get a dose of the warm and fuzzies, and you get to develop a really special relationship with the person you help out.

While it can be rewarding, it can also be exhausting and hard to manage. A few signs that it might be getting a bit too much are:

• You notice changes in your emotional wellbeing, such as feelings of anger, resentment or guilt.

If you are finding things a bit tough and feel like you need more support, there is help out there! ReachOut is Australia’s leading online mental health and wellbeing service for young people.

They’ve got tools, information, stories and forums that you can access anonymously, where and when you need them.

Head over to ReachOut.com for tips on looking after yo’self, to chat to other young people on their Forums and links to some other great services that are available to you.

• Your social life is taking a pretty big hit. You’ve started to feel isolated, and may even experience bullying or feel like you’re being judged.

• You’ve hurt yourself! Being a carer can involve physical tasks such as helping someone out of bed or handling strong medications. These tasks can be dangerous and can lead to injuries.

• With all those responsibilities, school or uni has moved to the very bottom of your priorities. You’re missing classes, struggling to find time to study, or you feel so tired you can’t concentrate in class.

For more information, check out au.reachout.com/helping-someone-else/supporting-familyThe information above was provided by ReachOut.com

youngcarersnsw.org.auyc news / WINTER 2018 Carers NSW6

Where are some other places that I can get support as a carer?

You can access support from the services below:

Carers NSW Carer Line – 1800 242 636

beyondblue – 1300 224 636

headspace (up to 25 years old) – 1800 650 890

Kids Helpline (up to 25 years old) – 1800 551 800

Lifeline Australia – 13 11 14

MensLine Australia – 1300 789 978

Mental Health Line (NSW) – 1800 011 511

QLife (LGBTIQ support line, 3pm to midnight daily) – 1800 184 527

SANE Australia – 1800 187 263

Twenty10 (LGBTIQA+ support for young people 12-25 years old, business hours) – (02) 8594 9555

Your age: 16 years old.

Who do you care for?I currently care for my 8 year old brother who has ADHD, ODD, Autism and

Tourette’s Syndrome, although in the past I cared for my older brother who

has ADHD and Autism.

What do you like to do in your free time?I love photography, design and art in general - recently I’ve been making

different simple ink designs for my friends. I love photo editing, I will go out

to places around the city and take photos and then edit parts of nature into the

photos so it looks seamlessly surreal. I also love reading.

How long have you have been a young carer?I can’t exactly pinpoint a year or the age I became a young carer as growing up I gradually took on tasks to help out

with my older brother (he’s 21) and then to now with my little brother.

What are some things you do in your caring role?A lot of the caring I do/ have done has been emotionally based, including calming down my brothers or talking them

through difficult challenges. Sometimes it also is physical, like putting my little brother to bed (brushing his teeth,

reading to him etc.) or just simply helping around the house like cleaning the bathroom, vacuuming, tidying up the

mess my brothers make!

What are some tips YOU can provide for other young carers? The number one thing I think helps the most is developing patience. Sometimes you have to be very patient with

the person you care for and sometimes you have to be patient with other people who don’t understand different

disabilities or even young carers and caring roles. Patience is seriously something which reaps its own reward, as the

better you develop it and use it, the better things become. Tough situations can often be diffused through patience.

What is the biggest challenge you face as a young carer?I believe we mature a lot faster than others. We also do things that others can’t do and can’t cope with and I guess it

brings our families together and we become stronger.

What is the best thing about being a young carer?This question is the hardest to answer, because there’s so many great things about being a young carer! I have

honestly learnt so much growing up as a carer including problem solving, patience, compassion, dealing with anger and

frustration and a whole lot of optimism! I have to say, although caring for someone with intellectual disabilities can

have its tough days, the fun stories, the humour and the uniqueness of the person I care for is the best part about my

caring role! Having both my brothers in my life makes me realise how lucky I am – the Tourette’s outbursts and hilarious

things my brother says make my family laugh endlessly!

Imogen’s Caring Story

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Stephen BowlesPresident

Elena KatrakisChief Executive Officer

CARERS NSW

Carers NSWPO Box 785

North Sydney NSW 2059

Level 10, 213 Miller Street

Sydney NSW 2060

Ph: 02 9280 4744Fax: 02 9280 4755

Email: yc@carersnsw.org.auwww.youngcarersnsw.org.au

Address

9.00am - 5.00pmMonday to Friday

Permission must be sought from Carers NSW to

reproduce any articles or information contained in this newsletter. Once permission is received, the source must

then be acknowledged.

Office Hours

Funded by the Australian Government Department

of Social Services

Donations $2

Tax deductible& over are

This is so confusing! So what exactly is the NDIS?

The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is a new system of disability

support that is being introduced across Australia. The NDIS aims to give people

with disability and their carers more choice and control over the supports they

have. The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) is in charge of running

the NDIS.

Is the NDIS in my area yet?

For people living in the Hunter New England, Southern New South Wales, Central

Coast, Northern Sydney, South Western Sydney, Western Sydney and Nepean

Blue Mountains, you are able to access the NDIS now. From the 1st July 2017, the

NDIS will be in place across the rest of the state and districts including Northern

New South Wales, Mid North Coast, Sydney, South Eastern Sydney, Illawarra

Shoalhaven, Murrumbidgee, Western New South Wales and Far West NSW will

have access. For more information please visit www.ndis.nsw.gov.au/ready-for-

ndis/ndis-rollout

Oh no! The NDIS has been introduced in my area, but the person I care for hasn’t been contacted yet!

That’s okay! Give the NDIA a call on 1800 800 110.

Who will get supported by the NDIS?

The NDIA decides if a person with disability is eligible for funded supports. However, to be eligible for funded supports a person with disability must:

• Live in an area where the NDIS has already started

• Be an Australian citizen, a permanent resident, or a protected Special Category

Visa holder

• Be under 65 years of age

• Have either a significant, permanent disability or a need for early intervention

Can carers get support from the NDIS too?

The focus of the NDIS is people with disability. Carers cannot get a plan or

individually funded support package for themselves. However, many carers of

participants will benefit from the funded supports the participant gets from the

NDIS. For example, they may get a break while the participant enjoys an activity

they want to do, or while a support worker helps them with personal care. A

participant’s plan may also include reasonable and necessary supports to help

strengthen the carer in their caring role. For example, training about the person’s

disability or family counselling to deal with challenging behaviours. Carers need

to speak up about what support they provide and what support they need

for themselves.

Where can I find out more information?

You can find more information specifically for carers on the NDIS page of the

Carers NSW website: www.carersnsw.org.au/ndis. For more information on the

NDIS and how it works, visit the NDIS website at www.ndis.gov.au or call the NDIA

on 1800 800 110. To speak to someone about the NDIS in a different language call

the Translating and Interpretation Service (TIS) on 131 450.

Contact the young carer Team - DAN, SARAH Or NATALIE

Free Call 1800 242 636*

* Free call except from mobile phones. Calls from mobile phones charged at mobile rates

NDIS INFORMATION