Community
5 August, 2026
Carers enjoy special lunch
CARERS in Timboon and surrounds were invited to a lunch at Berry World Thai restaurant on Wednesday, July 29, organised by Carers Victoria, giving them an opportunity to sit, slow down and enjoy the company of other fellow carers in the region.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, there are over 750,000 unpaid carers in Victoria alone, with 26 per cent of them living in regional Victoria.
Carers Victoria regional care navigator Debra Stearman said events like these offered carers a brief respite from their busy day-to-day lives of caring for their loved ones.
“We have a team of regional care navigators, which I’m one of, and what we do is organise and host events and opportunities and experiences for carers,” she said.
“We try and, as we’re hearing from the carers what they’d be interested in, try and put together events and experiences for them.
“It’s to give them a bit of respite from all of the work that they do in looking after a loved one or family member or somebody they care about.
“It’s our way of offering some respite to them so we kind of deliver a roving respite kind of program.”
Ms Stearman said the range of events offered by Carers Victoria was vast, providing different options for everyone who may be interested in a day out.
“The main events we have each year is roving respite, and that’s a whole day event where we’ll have other service providers there so that carers can get information straight away from the organisations,” she said.
“We’ll have some wellbeing activities, there’ll be some creative activities, food, fun, so that’s a whole day event that carers can come pop into and pop out of.
“Then we have mingles which include a lunch but they’re a bit of a longer event and there’s usually entertainment and games and door prizes.
“We do a whole range of things depending on what the needs are.”
Beyond events, Ms Stearman said Carers Victoria was there for carers in a variety of ways, which they could access by reaching out at any time.
“Carers Victoria offers a carers support line so if a carer has a particular situation or needs some particular support they can contact our 1800 number and they will be directed to the exact right place for them to go or they’ll be supported from the organisation,” she said.
“We offer quite a few different aspects of education to carers.
“There is education around supporting your wellbeing, education around setting healthy boundaries, that kind of thing.
“We also offer professional development for people who work for carers support organisations so we have an education team that do support of service providers and part of them do support of carers.
“We have a coaching program that we’ve just recently started and trialled last year that’s a coaching program offering carers up to six weeks of one on one coaching.”
Advertisement
One of the attendees of the event, Denise Dalton, said she appreciated the chance to step away for a while and enjoy lunch with people who understood her position.
“I’ve been a carer for over 20 years,” she said.
“My husband suffers from mental health illness, so that’s how I’ve become a carer.
“He’s had several varying downs, so I just come to these things to get away and to mix with other people who are carers as well.
“There’s no airs and graces, it’s just, you’re all in the same situation, so we’re all gathering to get away for a little bit.
“It certainly is a 24/7 unpaid job.”
Mrs Dalton said being a carer meant she had less time for other things in her life and made it hard to get away.
“It certainly doesn’t allow me the freedom that I would normally have,” she said.
“I worked up until six years ago and the last six years it’s been sort of all the time, and it doesn’t allow you any time to go away for extended periods unless I’ve got things worked out for him.
“Whether he’s in respite, which is stopped now because Lyndoch doesn’t do it anymore, or have someone to look after him, it makes it very hard.
“It limits what you can do.”
Mrs Dalton said she wanted people to understand the unseen labour which goes into caring for a loved one.
“I want people to understand the toll that it takes on us as carers and how much it impacts our lives,” she said.
“A lot of people say my husband seems really well, but that’s only seeing him for a few minutes, that’s not living with him.
“It’s just a constant – you’ve got to be there.
“I’m not saying all the time, every minute of every day, but you’ve always got to be aware.
“You can’t plan anything and I think that’s a big thing.”