My best friend is child-free, and I'm about ready to stretch and sweep with my second child now one week out from the due date. We've read the viral essay by Allison Davis in The Cut, Why can't our...
Gender gaps in parenting: Who bears the burden?
The Uniting Families Report 2024 is the first in a 10-year series of reports that seeks to explore family life in Australia, especially the families in which children and young people are being...
Measuring what matters, getting care metrics right
Declan and Sara have three young kids, including a newborn. A lot of caring happens in their household, often when other things, such as housework, are also being done. The care work in this...
Nurses redefine patient care during the AIDS crisis
HIV and AIDS devastated communities across Australia in the 1980s and 1990s. In the midst of this profound health crisis, nurses provided crucial care to those living with and dying from the virus....
Aged care: if these were children, we’d be outraged
During the months that the Aged Care Royal Commission conducted its business, we heard tragic and horrific stories of vulnerable older people who were subjected to unimaginable abuse and neglect.
The Commissioners said it is a national shame that up to 50 sexual assaults take place every week in aged care. These are just the reported cases. How many more are silently ignored?
Innovative scholarship for researchers helps alleviate unpaid caring
Grassroots social enterprise, Franklin Women has awarded six health researchers funding to alleviate barriers associated with unpaid caring responsibilities so they can take advantage of career...
Carer Spotlight: Linda’s story of dementia and devotion
When my mum, Linda, began caring for my grandma, Helen, due to advancing dementia, she was unaware of the enormity of the task at hand. “I didn’t know it would be like this,” she used to say to me. ...
Carer spotlight: Alice’s story of duty, isolation, identity
70.1% of primary caregivers cite “a sense of family responsibility” as the main reason that they became a carer. But what does that actually mean? Alice (a pseudonym) cared for her mum for over 30...
Carer spotlight: Erin’s story of being a young carer
10.8% of all Australians identified as carers in the 2018 Australian Census. That is approximately 2.65 million people! And yet, Erin–who was a Disability Support Worker for five years and is a...