Carer and family support

Arafmi has an extensive history working alongside mental health carers and families and provide a wide range of free services and programs to support mental health carers. You can call their 24hour Carer Support Line any time of day to share your feelings, receive support, find new resources and learn helpful coping skills. Arafmi's Carer Support Groups warmly welcomes parents, partners, relatives and friends caring for/about a loved one with mental illness and offer a supportive environment where people have the opportunity to talk about their experiences. Carers can access 1-on-1 support with a carer support team member to explore themes and issues specific to their caring role, provided face to face, online or via phone. Arafmi also frequently delivers workshops and information sessions to carers and families of people with a psycho-social disability, providing an opportunity to learn and practice many skills used in providing care to another person.

Culture Care is delivered in partnership with Arafmi and World Wellness Group. It is a free service that provides individual and group support to mental health carers from multicultural backgrounds who are experiencing poor mental health. Culture Care can help by listening and providing emotional and psycho-social support over the phone or face to face. Their team works with multicultural peer support workers and interpreters to provide language, cultural support and lives experience expertise.

If you care for a family member or friend with a disability, a medical condition, mental illness, or who is frail due to age, then Carer Gateway can help you through one of their free programs. Carer Gateway provides many services including in-person and online peer support groups, tailored financial support packages, in-person and phone counselling, in-person and online self guided coaching, online skills courses and access to emergency respite.

Carers QLD's Carer Program provides services and supports to assist you in your caring role and improve your quality of life. In partnership with Good Shepherd Microfinance, Carers Queensland offers No Interest Loans (NILS®) up to $2000 for eligible carers on low incomes. In addition, they also run a range of free online and face to face workshops of carers.

DVA offers pensions, educations schemes and payments to support the eligible family members of veterans. They may be able to help if you are experiencing Family and Domestic Violence, new and challenging life circumstances, studying, or grieving the loss of a loved one.

The Australian Kookaburra Kids Foundation provides evidence based, age appropriate, prevention and early intervention mental health education programs to young people aged 8-18 years who are living in a family impacted by mental illness. Designed by mental health professionals, their Camps, Activity Days and online Connect Sessions are proven to empower young people to thrive beyond the impacts of family mental illness. Delivered within a peer-based, social, and recreational setting, Kookaburra Kids programs aim to provide connection, improve mental health literacy and encourage help seeking behaviours.

Little Dreamers helps young people aged 4 to 25 who care for family members with a disability, chronic or mental illness, addiction or frail age. Their free school holiday program gives young carers the chance to take a break, make new friends and enjoy a fun day out on the school holiday. Young carers can also join a free one on one coaching or peer support program, supporting them to identify their goals, learn how to balance their needs with the needs of those they care for, with a focus on personal development, growth and guidance.

This is a place for young carers (people under 25 years) to learn about support services, access resources, share their stories and opinions, find events and learn about financial support.

This website is for young people who are supporting a friend with a mental illness.

For information and advice on supports available in your area. Trained staff will be there to listen, provide information and advice, and point you in the right direction so you can seek further support for the cost of a local call (could be more from mobiles).

If you support a loved one, this is your place to share tips and get support for your own well-being. SANE's moderated forums are a supportive community where you can chat with others in similar situations. You can read stories, reply to discussions or start your own.

Parents, carers and family can provide vital support for young people when they are having a tough time. eheadspace is here to help support you through these challenges and transitions. Talk online or over the phone to a trained clinician for 1-on-1 support. Open 9am – 1am AEST 7 days a week. It’s a confidential, free and a safe space to talk about what’s going on with your young person. Trained mental health clinicians also host regular online information sessions on varying topics. You may also like to join the Adults Supporting Young People online community, with group chats fortnightly Mondays between 6:30pm - 9:45pm AEST. Or sign up for Partners in Parenting to build your skills and confidence in supporting your high school-aged young person’s mental health and wellbeing.

Family Drug Support provides up to date information on all aspects of alcohol and drug use relative to the families of people who use substances. FDS operates a national 24 hr, 7 day a week telephone support service for families affected by alcohol and other drug issues, as well as face to face and online family support meetings, that are non-religious and providing opportunities to talk and listen to others in a non-judgemental, safe environment. They also have an interactive web-based resource designed to support families and friends of people using alcohol and other drugs – particularly those in rural and remote Australia who are unable to access face-to-face support.

Supporting someone with anxiety, depression or suicidal feelings can make a big difference to them. Support might be talking to someone who’s struggling with their mental health, helping them to get professional support or giving them practical support. Sometimes it can be hard to know what the ‘right’ thing to do is. Beyond Blue have practical resources to help you decide what to say and do to help someone feel better. We’ve also got tips for looking after yourself.

When someone close to you has suicidal thoughts or attempts suicide, it can be hard to respond to their needs while also looking after yourself. This site is for you. You are not alone was made with the help of people who have been carers and know how tough it is.

Everymind's families and caregiver programs translate the best available knowledge from research, lived experience and practice to provide practical and evidence-informed self paced, interactive, free, online programs. Their Minds Together program supports family and friends experiencing mental health concerns or suicidal distress and aims to help you learn new strategies, strengthen coping and communication skills and reduce stress and worry. Their Children in Mind program aims to build the capacity and confidence of family day care educators to promote positive mental health and well-being for children in their care.

For over 20 years, Emerging Minds has been dedicated to advancing the mental health and emotional well-being of Australian infants, children, adolescents and their families. Explore their wide range of resources on their website including webinars, videos, podcasts, fact sheets, articles, and tool kits.

Information for children, young people, parents, and their family and friends about parents and parenting with a mental illness to support the well-being of children and young people. Explore topics and find downloadable resources.

Family and Child Connect can help with a range of family and parenting challenges. They will talk with you about your situation and work out the type of support you might find helpful.

Triple P Positive Parenting Program supports parents and carers to build skills, strategies and confidence to handle any parenting situation.