carer credit

Those who are called upon to be carers for family members who are chronically sick or frail, or who are very young or very old, have to give up employment. This has repercussions for them in terms of their superannuation and how they sustain themselves in later life. They miss out on making super contributions and also on the various tax advantages that people with superannuation can have.

 There is a growing awareness that these carers save the community a lot of money so it is unfair that they are penalised in this way. A system by which the government credits the super accounts of carers would redress this situation.  Other countries have implemented this scheme as a wise and humane way of acknowledging the important role that carers have in society and of circumventing the poverty that awaits them in old age in their current circumstances.