Are Media launches campaign pushing to add super to Carers Payment

Are Media has partnered with Carers Australia and a coalition of carer support and advocacy groups on a campaign calling for the Federal Government and Opposition to add superannuation to the fortnightly Carers Payment.

The campaign, created by creative agency Cocogun in collaboration with Are Media, launches today. The total reach during the first phase of the campaign from April to October is expected to be 10.5 million readers, with a campaign value of over $5 million.

Are Media chief executive officer, Jane Huxley, said: “Carers are heroes in the home and in communities, but their roles are too often unrecognised and undervalued.

“Carers provide 2.2 billion hours of unpaid care each year in Australia, which would cost nearly $80 billion to replace with formal paid care. Carers sacrifice careers, travel, education goals, social lives and their own wellbeing to look after the needs of others – but who is caring for the carers?”

There are around 2.65 million unpaid carers in Australia, some of whom receive means tested income support from the government for an average of 11.5 years. 70% of primary carers are women.

According to Carers Australia, a primary carer loses an average of $175,000 in superannuation and $392,500 in lifetime earnings by the age of 67. People who are carers for extended periods of time lose more, with the most affected 10% losing at least $940,000 in lifetime income and $444,500 in retirement savings.

Last month, The Inquiry into Unpaid Carers recommended the Australian Government considered options to incentivise and recognise the impact of caring, including through superannuation systems.

The Cost of Caring social change campaign from Are Media’s Change AREgenda follows campaigns to help improve financial literacy among women, criminalise coercive control, lobby to raise $2 billion for social housing, stop the financial abuse of older Australians, and remove the GST on sanitary products.

The campaign will focus on case studies involving carers, the work they undertake and the impact, both economically and socially, this has on their lives. Brands involved will include The Australian Women’s Weekly, Woman’s Day, marie claire and Better Homes and Gardens.

“If these changes were implemented by the current government, we would begin to see real-life benefits for a community in Australia providing at least $80 billion of care services for free to those who need it most," said Annabel Reid, Carers Australia CEO.

“It is time we did more for the cohort of carers who have had to give up employment opportunities to provide care and reduce their superannuation deficit."

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