Australia’s aged care system leans on 2.43 million people — mostly women — it has never counted

Key points

• A new national survey by Vera and YouGov has counted 2.43 million Australians aged 35 to 70 who care for an ageing parent at least once a week. Many have used leave or lost career progression because of the work.
• The writer describes a woman who cared for her father from a distance and watched his support shrink while he waited for funding. The authors call for the group to be counted in official data, reached earlier, and offered services that do not depend on the word carer.
• The survey is based on 1,049 online responses.