Spotlight on young carers this National Carers Week
We tend to think of carers as older people looking after children, elderly parents or a sick partner. But young people can become carers too.
Quinney Brownfield-Hanna began helping his single mum care for his six other siblings when he was 12. Quinney is the second eldest, and his older brother can’t take on many caring duties, so it made sense he’d help out. Then last year, his mum got sick. “Throughout the year she spent a lot of time in hospital, and I was actually the one who had to take responsibility and look after all of my siblings most of the time,” Quinney says.
Becoming a carer often requires personal sacrifice, and for Quinney, that meant dropping out of Year 11 and stepping back from his social life. “I would have to get up around 7.30 am, and get my siblings up and get them ready for school,” he says. “I’d make school lunches the night before.” After getting his siblings to school, Quinney would do the housework, including cleaning, laundry and dinner planning. He’d sometimes get help from some of his mum’s friends. In the afternoon, he’d help get his siblings to their after-school programs, including mixed martial arts training and singing practice. After that, it was time to make dinner. “There was a lot of pasta during that time, a lot of rice, a lot of chicken schnitzels,” he says. “I actually got pretty experimental with my pasta. I’m a pretty good pasta cook now.”
Quinney found taking on so much responsibility hard. “I’m not a person who’s necessarily lazy, but at the time I was used to not doing an abundance of house chores,” he says. “I failed a lot too, I really struggled with some things that I could have done better.” He says it gave him a newfound respect for how much work goes into parenting and caring for others. “We see it firsthand as children, all the work they do, but we never really understand how much it is or how stressful it is, or the toll it takes on them until we’re in that role ourselves.”
Despite the difficulties, Quinney was able to maintain his commitment to community work, volunteering for the local rotary club and mentoring at his high school. His mum is back at home now, so he’s been able to reduce some of his caring responsibilities. He went back to school this year and has nearly finished Year 11. “I’ve always struggled with attendance, and three years ago I would never have seen myself even being in Year 12. So the fact that in two weeks I’ll be in Year 12 is actually such an amazing, accomplished feeling.” Quinney has since joined the Youth Advisory Committee at headspace Frankston, and he’s running for local council, focusing on his passion for mental health and youth advocacy. He doesn’t regret his time as a full-time carer. “It was scary, but I felt like it was an achievement, and it helped me to become a better person.”
“There are so many shapes, forms and sizes of carers, and it’s important to celebrate all of them and let them know that they exist and they matter. They are doing a fantastic job.”
Quinney says National Carers Week is an important opportunity to celebrate the many different carers in our society, including young carers. “What a carer is really varies by the person. It can be something as little as helping out a few hours a week, or a full-time carer who is there 24/7. And it doesn’t even have to be caring for your parents, it could be caring for a sibling or a friend. There are so many shapes, forms and sizes of carers, and it’s important to celebrate all of them and let them know that they exist and they matter. They are doing a fantastic job.”