Young people the hidden group of carers few are talking about

Margo Villa was just five years old when her parents asked her to help look after her younger brother, who has autism, ADHD and intellectual disabilities.

Their mother, Krisma Villa, said Margo's help had been invaluable when other help did not exist.

"Being a migrant family living in regional Victoria, having no family support close by, there are times that sacrifices had to be made," Ms Villa said.

Ten years on, Margo continues to help care for her brother.

"I would prompt [my brother] to get ready in the mornings, help make his lunch box and I help him regulate himself when he's feeling overwhelmed," Margo said.

It is estimated that as many as one in 10 young people in Australia qualify as young carers.

The hidden cohort

A young carer is someone aged 25 or under who provides care for a family member affected by disability, chronic illness, mental illness, addiction or frail age.

"I'm just a mother, and as a mother you provide care for your son regardless of having a disability or not," Ms Villa said.

"I found out that, in addition to being a carer myself, actually Margo is a young carer or someone who has extra responsibilities that go with caring for a sibling with a disability."

Due to a lack of awareness and education around carers, and in particular young carers, it can be common for many of them to miss out on support, especially young people living in rural and regional areas.

Ms Villa said understanding the importance of identifying as a carer had opened doors.

"I acknowledged that my daughter needed support and that what she's going through is something that could be isolating," she said.

Young carers face high mental health risks 

Research into the mental health impacts of being a young carer is limited, as is community awareness about who qualifies as a young carer in Australia.

But a study published in the Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry reported that two-thirds of all young carers experienced extreme mental health challenges.

It found young carers were 86 per cent more likely to experience suicidal ideation and suicidal experiences and self-harm than their peers, and were more likely to disengage from work or study and experience poverty.

Maddy Buchner is the founder and chief executive of Little Dreamers, an organisation that provides programs aimed at supporting young carers.

Ms Buchner said the group's aim was to help young carers improve their quality of life, with programs offering psychology, art therapy, play therapy, counselling and coaching services to help support mental health.

'Nothing for us, without us'

Little Dreamers released the Nothing For Us, Without Us report in 2024, which outlined key areas of concern for the young carer community and made recommendations to government and community groups on how to address them.

Key areas included updating legislation such as the Federal Carers Recognition Act (2010) to recognise young carers as a critical subgroup and the responsibilities government had to support them.

Ms Buchner said this recognition and support was even more needed in regional areas, where the tyranny of distance compounded the already commonplace stresses.

"The barriers facing young carers in regional areas particularly are access to services and additional isolation, whether that's social isolation or physical location-based isolation," she said.

"There's also that added layer of stigma where young people in smaller regional and rural communities may not want to share that they have these additional responsibilities and by not openly identifying as young carers, this further decreases access to services.

"We need to design and fund services or systems that are specific to them as young people and knowing that their needs are different because they're young people and not adults."