Informal carer

Identifying and definitional attributes
Metadata item type:	Object Class
METEOR identifier:	268964
Registration status:	Community Services (retired), Standard 01/03/2005 Disability, Standard 07/10/2014
Definition:	An informal carer includes any person, such as a family member, friend or neighbour, who is giving regular, ongoing assistance to another person without payment for the care given.
Context:	Care and support networks where the carers are unpaid (other than pension or benefit) play a critical role in community services provision, especially in caring for frail aged and younger people with disability within the community. Information about informal carers is therefore of fundamental importance in assessing the ongoing needs of clients and their carers, and in service planning. The presence of an informal carer is often a key indicator of a person's ability to remain at home, especially if the person requires assistance. The absence of an informal carer, where a vulnerable client lives alone, is an indicator of client risk. Information on client living arrangements and informal carer availability provides an indicator of the potential in-home support and the extent to which the burden of care is absorbed by the informal caring system. The stability or otherwise of the informal carer's availability may be significant in the capacity of the client continuing to remain at home. Existing carer definitions (e.g. for purposes of establishing eligibility for Domiciliary Nursing Care Benefits (DNCB/Carer Allowance; Carer's Pension/Carer Payment) definitions used in ABS population, surveys of disability, ageing and carers) vary in context and purpose.
Specialisation of:	Service/care provider

Collection and usage attributes
Guide for use:	The definition excludes formal care services such as homecare, care provided by volunteers or foster care that is arranged by formal services. It also excludes unregistered child carers who are receiving payment for their services. Where a potential carer is not prepared to undertake the caring role, the carer is considered to be not available.

Source and reference attributes
Submitting organisation:	Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
Origin:	Commonwealth Department of Health and Family Services 1998. Home and Community Care (HACC) data dictionary version 1.0: Home and Community Care Program National Minimum Data Set. Cat. no. AIHW 3600. Canberra: AIHW.

Relational attributes
Related metadata references:	Supersedes Informal carer, version 2, DEC, NCSDD, NCSIMG, Superseded 01/03/2005.pdf (14.6 KB) No registration status
Data Element Concepts implementing this Object Class:	Informal carer—activity and participation life area supported Community Services (retired), Standard 10/04/2013 Disability, Standard 13/08/2015 Informal carer—age range Community Services (retired), Standard 13/03/2013 Disability, Standard 07/10/2014 Informal carer—co-residency indicator Disability, Standard 29/02/2016 Informal carer—co-residency status Community Services (retired), Standard 01/03/2005 Disability, Superseded 29/02/2016 Health, Candidate 13/05/2008 Informal carer—financial assistance type Community Services (retired), Standard 10/04/2013 Disability, Standard 13/08/2015 Informal carer—main activity and participation life area supported Community Services (retired), Standard 10/04/2013 Disability, Standard 13/08/2015 Informal carer—main carer indicator Community Services (retired), Standard 10/04/2013 Disability, Standard 13/08/2015 Informal carer—number of days available to provide care Community Services (retired), Standard 10/04/2013 Disability, Standard 13/08/2015 Informal carer—number of hours available to provide care Community Services (retired), Standard 10/04/2013 Disability, Standard 13/08/2015 Informal carer—number of hours of care provided Community Services (retired), Standard 10/04/2013 Disability, Standard 13/08/2015 Informal carer—primary carer indicator Disability, Superseded 15/12/2017 Informal carer—primary carer indicator Disability, Standard 15/12/2017 Informal carer—primary status Community Services (retired), Standard 27/04/2007 Disability, Standard 07/10/2014 Informal carer—receipt of carer allowance or payment indicator Community Services (retired), Standard 10/04/2013 Disability, Standard 13/08/2015 Informal carer—relationship to care recipient Community Services (retired), Standard 01/03/2005 Disability, Standard 07/10/2014 Health, Candidate 13/05/2008