TRANSCRIPT:
Seven years ago, the lives of Kristine Rawlinson and her family were thrown into turmoil when her husband Neal was struck down with meningococcal disease.
She says he began to feel unwell while they were on a family camping trip.
"A day and a half later he was put into an induced coma, and he didn't wake up until a month after that. And when he woke up, he was informed that he had to have both legs amputated, his fingers and thumbs amputated, and he'd also acquired six sites of brain injury."
Kristine has been an unpaid carer for her husband ever since.
And she says that has exacted a heavy physical, emotional and financial toll, despite Neal's small disability support pension.
"I feel trapped because I need more money, so the obvious thing is for me to go and do more work, but my caring responsibilities aren't going to reduce. I'm not allowed to access the Carer Payment because I earn too much. It's a means-tested payment to get the pension, so I only work the 4.5 hours a day. So I don't earn a full living wage, and I don't get access to the Carer Payment, and I don't even get the Health Care Card."
Though Kristine isn't on the payment, roughly 300,000 people are - though that's a fraction of the number of carers across the country.
One-in-ten people across Australia provide unpaid care care for a loved one with a disability, or an elderly relative, which works out to be roughly 2.5 million people.
For those who do receive the payment, there's some relief on the way for them when Treasurer Jim Chalmers hands down his third federal budget this month ((Tues 14 May)), because it will include changes to eligibility for carer payments.
Carers will now be allowed to work a hundred hours spread over four weeks and still qualify for payments, which can currently be cancelled if the limit of 25 hours a week is exceeded.
Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth says the hours spent on travel time, education and volunteering will no longer be counted in the restrictions.
"And what that means is that carers will be able to study when their care requirements permit, or indeed volunteer, without any artificial limits being placed on it."
A 2023 survey by Carers Australia found many carers work fewer hours than they want to and are more likely to be underemployed than the general population.
President of Carers South Australia Philip Martin says the changes will enable many unpaid carers - for example those on shift work - to plan ahead.
"Many carers have expressed frustration that once they exceed the current 25 hours per month, they have to totally reapply for the payment. This initiative would enable them to much more smoothly re-access the carer payment, which is vital for the easing of the cost of living pressures, and vital for their work and life satisfaction."
But some critics, including Federal Greens Leader Adam Bandt, say that won't go nearly far enough.
"Labor can find $50 billion for defence at the drop of a hat but they can't find enough money to ensure that carers are looked after and have enough to make ends meet in Labor's cost of living, and housing and rental crisis."
Kristine Rawlinson is still not eligible for the carer payment.
But she says the news is welcome for the many other carers she knows who do receive it.
And she says the government could be doing more to acknowledge their contribution.
"We're just surviving. We're not thriving. We're just doing what we can to get through each day. We're tired. We're tired because we're always on, we're always responsible, and there is no down time."
