Carer Advisory Service
For information, referral, advocacy, problem solving, developing options, counselling appointments and workshops.
1800 242 636*

Commonwealth Respite & Carelink Centre
For information on community aged care and disability services in your area and all respite enquiries.
1800 052 222*
For emergency respite after hours call: 1800 059 059*

Carers ACT Belconnen Office
Ground Floor
Churches Centre
54 Benjamin Way
Belconnen ACT 2617

Ph: (02) 6296 9900
Fax: (02) 6296 9999


Carers ACT Torrens Office
1 Torrens Place
Torrens ACT 2607

If you are interested in Membership please Click here

*An Australian Government Initiative. Free local call. Mobile phones charged at mobile rates.

CULTURALLY AND LINGUISTICALLY DIVERSE (CALD) CARERS PROGRAM

Carers ACT runs the Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) Carers Program to provide support and facilitate access to services for Carers from non English speaking backgrounds.

Who are CALD Carers?

CALD Carers are people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds who look after a family member or friend who has a chronic illness, disability, mental health issue or who has an alcohol or drug problem.

CALD Carers share many of the same experiences as other Carers, including stress, burnout, isolation and lack of assistance. However, cultural issues and conflicts may have an additional influence on this demanding role.

Although some CALD carers may have very strong English language skills, they may still have very different cultural values, which could make mainstream support mechanisms incompatible with their needs.

What is the CALD Carers program?

The CALD Carers program aims to assist CALD Carers to break down the barriers and ensure they have access to the services they are entitled to.

As part of this, the program maintains more than 15 cultural support groups for CALD Carers. The support groups allow CALD carers to meet and talk to other carers who share the same language and culture. Groups are held every month and include:

Arabic Chinese Filipino Greek Hungarian Indian Italian Japanese

Polish Samoan Spanish Tamil Thai Tongan Vietnamese

These support groups are facilitated by a Bilingual Group Leader, who speaks the language of the group, understands the culture and can interpret if required. Carers ACT provide training and support for the group leaders to assist them in their role.

If you would like to get in touch with a CALD support group, or link someone you know with one, please contact the CALD Carers Program Coordinator on 6296 9915 or 6296 9900.

CALD Carers can also have access to the mainstream one-on-one support facilitated by Carers ACT, including:

• Counselling services
• Referal to respite services
• Information and resources
• Special, individualised support, as required
• Access to other Carers ACT groups and events

This program is funded by ACT Health under the Home and Community Care (HACC) Program.

Other resources for CALD Carers

The Australian Government provides Carers kits in a number of languages to cater to the needs of CALD Carers. These include:

• Arabic • Croatian • Dutch • German • Greek • Hungarian

• Italian • Maltese • Polish • Serbian • Spanish • Vietnamese

If you would like to order a copy of the kit in any of these languages please call the Carer Advisory Service on 1800 242 636*

Alternatively, if you require an interpreter to help you access our services and supports please call the Translating and Interpreting Service on 131 450.