The Minns Labor Government is supporting more Aboriginal carers in rural and remote communities in Western NSW with a $300,000 funding boost Carers Investment Grant Program 2025-27.
The funding for the Regional Enterprise Development Institute’s Yadama Yoorayga project will drive greater awareness of support services available to Aboriginal people who care for family and friends.
Many Aboriginal people in New South Wales provide unpaid care to a person with a disability, health condition or due to old age, and account for 3.6 per cent of all carers in New South Wales.
While they experience many of the same challenges as other carers, they say they felt less recognised as carers by service providers. In a 2024 National Carer Survey, 30.4% said they sometimes or never feel services are culturally safe.
The Regional Enterprise Development Institute is an Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation which has served Western NSW for more than 25 years. This funding will ensure that culturally safe services, which recognise Aboriginal carers’ history and needs are provided. The project includes ongoing education and training to service providers to better equip them to meet the needs of Aboriginal carers in Western NSW.
The Yadama Yoorayga project is one of seven projects funded under the NSW Government’s $3.1 million Carers Investment Grant Program 2025-27 to support carers across the state.
For more information about the grants and recipients, including a Carers NSW program to help Aboriginal Health workers better identify and support Aboriginal carers, you can go to https://dcj.nsw.gov.au/community-inclusion/carers/carers-investment-grant-program.html