Almost 400,000 unpaid carers in Australia are aged under 25, according to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data.
The most recent Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers, which showed the number of Australians with a disability had risen by almost 4 percent, also looked at the number of unpaid carers.
ABS Head of Health Statistics Linda Fardell said there were 3 million unpaid carers across Australia.
Ms Fardell said this represented almost 12 percent of all Australians living in households.
“The survey results showed that nearly 40 percent of carers have disability themselves, and there were 391,300 young carers under the age of 25.”
Mr Fardell said the survey found more than one in five Australians (21.4 percent) had disability in 2022, up 3.7 percent from 2018.
“As seen in previous surveys, people aged 65 years and older were more likely to have disability, with over half of this age group having disability in 2022.
“Of the people who are 15 years or older with disability and living in households, 45 percent have completed year 12 or an equal level of education. That’s 2.2 million people in 2022, up from 1.3 million people, or 33 percent, in 2018.”
Ms Fardell said nearly 90 percent of Australians aged 65 and over had one or more long term health conditions, with 40 percent older needing some assistance with everyday activities.
She said for the first time, people were asked if they were satisfied about how often they participated in social activities.
“Almost two thirds of people aged 15 years and older with disability (64 percent), and more than three quarters of older Australians (78 percent) said they were satisfied all or most of the time.”
