drummond street services commitment to carers, loved ones and families

drummond street services and across all our programs;

recognise the vital role of the many family, carers and other informal carers who support people with:

  • a disability
  • a mental illness
  • an ongoing medical condition or
  • who are older with care needs

We know family, carers and other people providing informal support often play a key role in assisting others access and engage with a range of systems and services.

drummond street acknowledges the challenges faced by families and carers which include;

  • access to information on the condition of the person they support;
  • limited services and emotional supports targeting people with care responsibilities;
  • financial difficulties due to the high costs of medical treatments and services for the person they care for;
  • barriers to participation in education, training and employment;
  • social and emotional difficulties arising from stress, and the impacts of physical injury due to lifting, fatigue and extra physical activity.

drummond street and our service entities acknowledge the legal and policy frameworks which recognise people in caring and supporting roles. These include:

  • Victorian Carer Recognition Act 2012 [i]
  • The Victorian Carers Strategy 2018 – 22 [ii]
  • National Carer Recognition Framework [iii] which encompasses the Carer Recognition Act 2010 (Cth) and Guidelines [iv] and the National Carer Strategy.[v]

The steps we have taken to ensure carers and family’s needs are adequately met include:

  • a carers policy to guide the involvement of family and carers in the treatment and care of clients; and guide the support of carers who use services as clients themselves.
  • involvement of carer representatives on service and project reference and advisory groups
  • input into carer specific policy and input regarding carers issues to a policy which impacts families and carers
  • building mutually beneficial relationships with carer peak body’s and the carer lived experience workforces
  • the provision of carer information and referrals: This includes written and verbal information of carer rights and responsibilities, rights to privacy and confidentiality, the right to recognition of their care relationship, the right to be heard and treated with respect, to access the service without discrimination, the right to complain about provided services or appeal against unfavourable decisions.
  • regular staff training and professional development on the needs of carers

If you are a carer and have any feedback regarding our services – please speak to our staff. It is important to us that our service is supporting families and carers as best we can to enable relational recovery from mental/emotional distress and adversity.

[i]http://www.legislation.vic.gov.au/Domino/Web_Notes/LDMS/PubStatbook.nsf/edfb620cf7503d1aca256da4001b08af/023a825c23e20790ca2579c7000fb0bb/$FILE/12-010abookmarked.pdf
[ii] https://www2.health.vic.gov.au/about/news-and-events/news/victorian-carer-strategy-2018-2022
[iii] The Framework was developed in response to ‘Who Cares…? Report on the Inquiry into Better Support for Carers’ (Standing Committee on Family, Community, Housing and Youth, 2009).
[iv] https://www.dss.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/07_2012/carer_recognition_act_0.pdf
[v] https://www.carerstas.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/2011-National-Carer-Strategy.pdf