Ongoing caring is likely to take a toll on your physical and mental health. Regular breaks or respite from caring can help relieve the stress and exhaustion you may feel.
On this page:
What is respite?
What types of respite are there?How much it will cost?How often can I ask for respite?
How can I organise respite?What can I do in an emergency?
What is respite?
Respite allows you to take time out. It gives you an opportunity to relax, relieve the stress and do something for yourself. Respite can also benefit the person you care for by providing different experiences and an opportunity to develop new relationships.
What types of respite are there?
There are different types of respite. The type that will suit you will depend on your caring situation, the needs of the person you care for and the services that are available in your area.
Respite might be for a few hours, a day, overnight or longer. It may occur frequently or be an annual or once-off event.
It may involve you going away or you may stay at home while the person you care for goes away. You may have someone help you with caring or household tasks or you may attend a retreat, a social function, catch up with friends or family or go on holidays.
Respite services include:
- in-home respite
- day care programs
- residential respite for the person cared for (for example, in a residential care facility)
- weekend and holiday programs for the carer, the person cared for, couples or for the whole family
- recreation activities in the community
- camps for siblings or young carers.
How much will it cost?
Some services may be free while others may charge a small fee according to your income. Residential respite usually costs a standard fee. Private services may be expensive.
[top of page]
How often can I ask for a break?
Some people use respite services regularly while others take fewer but longer breaks. It is important to try to take a break as a preventative measure and not wait until you are feeling stressed.
Publicly-funded respite services usually have eligibility criteria. How often you can access these services may depend on factors such as your caring situation, the type of respite you need or your financial circumstances.
Many service providers have waiting lists, so try to plan your respite well in advance. Self-funded respite may be available easily but is usually more expensive.
[top of page]
How can I organise respite?
Respite services for carers are usually provided by community or Government organisations that are publicly funded. Some community organisations may also provide self-funded respite.
You can contact Commonwealth Respite and Carelink Centres on 1800 052 222 during business hours, or 1800 059 059 for emergencies outside business hours. See their
fact sheet on respite for more information.
To find services in your area, use the
carer support services search map or call the Carer Advisory Line on 1800 242 636.
Depending on the circumstances of the person you care for, there may also be respite available to them, such as disability respite or aged care respite.
If you need assistance with a language other than English, contact the Translating and Interpreting Service on 13 14 50.
[top of page]
What can I do in an emergency?
Visit our Emergency help for carers page.
[top of page]