The Secret Life of Carers Carers Australia

Elizabeth is a war widow and former carer to her late husband, Lindsay, who passed away in 2002 at the age of 78. Lindsay served in the Second World War as a leading aircraftman in the RAAF, serving in New Guinea and Borneo. He volunteered to assist with the repatriation of Australian prisoners of war from the infamous Changi POW camp in Japanese-occupied Singapore. Elizabeth and Lindsay were married for 30 years, having four children together before ill-health and war injuries caught up with Lindsay in later life, seeing Elizabeth become his full time carer.

Caroline was just finding her feet as a defence partner when her defence member, Daniel, was medically downgraded in 2023. As far as Caroline is concerned, the couple was medically discharged from the forces together. This gave rise to a whole new set of health implications and challenges. These included finding new healthcare providers in a new location with an understanding of veteran culture and medical reporting requirements under the Department of Veterans Affairs. And navigating not only full-time but new employment as a partner.

Jo-anna began identifying as a carer when her family needed to take time off to look after her husband, Peter. Peter started to become noticeably unwell after returning from Afghanistan. This progressively became worse over the next few years, and like a lot of veterans, it took Peter a long time to acknowledge something was wrong. It has been a long road for Jo-anna and Pete and they share their story to help others.

Lidia is the wife and carer of her veteran husband. She's also the carer of her daughter. Based in Adelaide, Lidia has engaged with services and support including Carers South Australia and she joins the podcast to share some insights about the practicalities of assistance available to carers.

This episode is a little different. Our guest today is Julia's husband, Jai. He joins the podcast to chat about his and Julia's experience as a couple where the wife is a partner-carer to him as a veteran, but where the roles have also been reversed at times.

Jess talks about her family's experience as a dual-serving veteran family with an additional needs child and how this unique dynamic shapes their family life and caregiving responsibilities. Jess discusses misconceptions about this unique dynamic and educates others about her family's experiences.