The tyranny of distance? : carers in regional and remote areas of Australia

Unpaid care provided by family and friends is invaluable part of a civilised and caring society - even more so in outer regional and remote areas, which feature an increasingly ageing population and a lack of services. This report helps fill in the gap about what is known about these carers, by 1) documenting the geographic spread of carers and identifying the outer regional and remote areas that have the highest concentrations of carers; 2) examining the ability of carers to access services and how this varies according to geographic remoteness; 3) documenting the social, health and economic wellbeing of carers according to geographic remoteness; and 4) investigating the impact of drought on carers. The report found that though the largest numbers of carers resided in the most populous states, as a total proportion of a population, large proportions of carers lived in remote areas in the Northern Territory and very remote areas of Western Australia, and were more likely to be Indigenous in remote and regional Australia and much younger than in other areas. The other findings are discussed, along with methodological issues.