News

Support for Carers Program

April 11, 2022

The Support for Carers Program provides respite, other services and supports for all Victorian carers.

The Victorian Support for Carers Program is funded by the Victorian Government for unpaid carers. An unpaid carer is a person providing care to another person with care needs. A carer may look after a partner, family member, friend or someone else who needs support. Carers can be of any age, from any culture or country, and any socio-economic background. Carers may be employed or not employed. A carer might not live with the person for whom they care.

What is it?

The Support for Carers Program provides respite, other services and supports for all Victorian carers (including Young carers – carers under 25 years), who are caring for someone who:

• Is older with care needs
• Has a mental illness
• Has a chronic illness 
• Has a disability
• Has dementia (including younger-onset dementia)

The program focuses on person-centered care and supports through:

• one-off or short-term support for carers including goods and equipment, that can add to other services or fill service gaps
• support to people in a care relationship, and at the same time and at the same place if people want to be together while having the support service
• supporting people’s wellbeing – quality of life, physical and mental wellbeing, social activity and or social connections. For example, carers can get respite with social, health and other support.

Find Your Local Provider

Organisation	Areas of coverage	Web address	Phone number	Open
MPOWER Inc	Corangamite, Glenelg, Moyne, Southern Grampians and Warrnambool	https://www.mpower.org.au	03 5561 8111	8.45am – 5 pm Mon – Fri
Warrnambool City Council	Warrnambool	https://www.warrnambool.vic.gov.au	03 5559 4800	9am – 5 pm Mon – Fri

There is no need to register with the Commonwealth Carer Gateway to access the Support For Carers Program.