Why Carol Webb took a while to even realise she was a carer

Carol, were you involved in the world of carers before your son was born?

Caring for Davie led me to the world. And I’ll be honest, I didn’t see myself as a carer because you just see yourself as a parent or you just go, oh, I’ve got a job to do now. I’ve got to take him to the medical appointments and look after him. But I never saw myself as a carer until maybe when he was seven, and I heard about the concept. I would say a lot of carers don’t even identify as carers until someone goes, you know, you’ve got lots of caring responsibilities, you’re a carer. Or maybe it clicks when they see the workplace policy where you’ve got carers leave, right? Then you go, oh, oh yeah, I’m a carer, I can tap into that.

I didn’t really see myself as a carer until I acknowledged the sheer amount of paperwork and time it takes to navigate health and disability systems – and English is my first language. Imagine you’re from a CALD [culturally and linguistically diverse] background and you’re having to fill all these forms in and speak with all these medical specialists who have another language.

Do you have work outside of caring?

Yes, I work part-time in an HR team. 

How old is Davie now?

He’s 13, so he still will have a lot of operations ahead of him for his condition, and therapies like occupational therapists, and he’s previously had speech therapists. It’s ongoing but each stage is different, because he’s heading towards his teenage years and I can see him becoming a little independent person. It’s like, oh okay, you’ve got to change how you address the type of care and how you speak with him. You know, I wonder if other carers find that they have to adjust when the person they care for grows and is older.

Why did you join the board of Carers Victoria?

Initially I entered the world of health and was on the Better Health consumer advisory committee, under Safer Health Victoria, just to help make things better for us consumers when we’re using the health system. Then I volunteered for the board of Deaf Children Australia, because Davie’s deaf as well, and then from there, when I realised I am a carer, I joined the Carers Victoria board five years ago. I just wondered whether I could help advocate or help with the direction of these small buckets of funds – where can we allocate it to be more impactful? 

It’s a huge sector, isn’t it. Nationally, the estimated replacement value of unpaid care is $77.9 billion. What are the biggest challenges Carers Victoria is facing?

It’s trying to provide enough services to all the carers out there, especially across regional areas. I’d love to have government funding where we had a big bucket of money and we could reach everyone, but we have to be very strategic and careful about the funds and how can we have services and events that best reach the carers. It’s good. It makes you mindful. We don’t just have an endless supply of money. I think it’s hard for carers in general with the economy right now, just to drive to all their appointments and the cost of petrol and transport. I feel for them. 

A lot of carers are in regional areas, which must make it difficult to spread the funding.

Yes, and then there are all different types of carers. There are carers from CALD backgrounds or young carers. I wish we had more money to reach out to more young carers. You know, there’s a teenager who’s helping her mum attend all her cancer treatments while she’s trying to complete school, and you think, oh gosh, that must be hard. 

You probably don't really think about it until you’re part of the world of carers, but then once you're in it, you realise how big it is. 

Spot on. And I do think carers don’t really ask for much. They don’t go, hey, I’m a carer, help me out. They’re just so stoic. They get on with it. They go to those appointments, they help provide the support, they advocate, they do so much. That’s why I laugh when I say I don’t ever get to finish a cup of tea because you have to quickly do the next thing, right?

What about your husband. Does he see himself as a carer?

Yes. He also helps Davie with his appointments, but he never saw himself as a carer. He said, well, I’m a dad. I’m just looking after my son. But he looks after all the NDIS paperwork and you need a degree in that. We’ve only got one kid. I can’t imagine families that juggle the needs of more children. It’s just a lot, and carers need a bit of respite. They just need acknowledgement – somebody to say hey, you’re doing a good job juggling all these things. 

Is that the point of today’s event?

Yes, we really want to say, hey, we see you, we acknowledge all the work that you do, and just take a moment for yourselves if you can. It’s easy to say, but gosh, if you can finish that cup of tea, I’ll be happy. I really want you to know that the community does value you, and so do the people you care for.