23 September 2026
Ahead of StepUP! 2026, Katherine Mansour, Chair of DSV’s Advisory Network, interviewed Adam Demirtel, Director of Carers at Carer Gateway. They discussed what a carer is and what support Carer Gateway can offer.
Interview transcript
Katherine Mansour (KM): Hi my name is Katherine Mansour and I’m the Chair of DSV’s Advisory Network. I’m here today with Adam Demirtel, Director of Carers at Carer Gateway. Welcome Adam, and can we start with you telling us what Carer Gateway is about.
Adam Demirtel (AD): Yes, certainly. Thanks, Katherine. It’s great to have the opportunity, first and foremost, to speak to you today about the Carer Gateway and the supports that we can offer for carers. Carer Gateway is a nationwide program that’s funded by the Australian government. It’s led by Holstep Health in Victoria, and we are part of a consortium of seven health-based organisations who deliver the Carer Gateway across the state. Care Gateway essentially provides free services and support to essentially help carers manage daily challenges, reduce stress and improve their wellbeing.
KM: Thanks, Adam for sharing that Carer Gateway provides support for carers. Can you tell us a little bit more about who a carer is?
AD: Sure. So, in terms of who a carer actually is, a carer is someone who provides unpaid care and support to a family member, a friend, or a relative who has a disability, a medical condition, mental illness, or who is frail due to age. So, the support that carers do provide could include daily activities like cooking or cleaning or personal care, could be emotional supports that carers are providing, could be supporting the management of medical appointments for someone, and can also be supporting around medications or organizing services for them. Playing that real navigation role as well to support the person they’re caring for to access the services and supports that they need.
One thing that we do see quite often with carers is that that caring role can happen at any age and any stage of life. So, you know, we have lots of young carers who are under the age of 25 who might be caring for brothers or sisters or even parents or relatives as well. And caring is often under acknowledged and that’s a common theme we’ve found since the inception of Carer Gateway particularly within families and close relationships.
And we do see carers often experiencing stress and emotional pressures. Certainly when they present to the Carer Gateway, we see examples of social isolation and loneliness, physical and mental fatigue, and also financial strain. And one of the biggest barriers that many people do find is that many people do not actually identify with the term carer. And in turn, they’re therefore not taking that first step to reach out for support. There is plenty of support available. We know that in the state of Victoria, approximately one in nine Victorians are unpaid carers.
So there’s many, many people across the state of Victoria and across the country for that matter, who are experiencing or finding themselves in similar circumstances and knowing that there are others that are going through something similar, that you’re not alone in your caring role and that there are those supports out there is so vital for carers to take that first step, reach out, ask for help and get the services in that they can. Because at the end of the day, that’s what’s going to allow them to essentially improve their capacity or manage their capacity in their caring role, so that’s where the outcomes are going to be most beneficial.
KM: Carers are such an important part of supporting others, including me. Can you tell us what supports Carer Gateway can provide?
AD: So, Carer Gateway can provide a range of emotional and practical services. The services include counselling, so this helps with managing stress and emotional challenges. We offer peer support groups, so that allows carers to connect with others in similar situations, to be able to share experiences and support each other. We offer carer coaching. So again, this is when a carer receives support to work towards their own personal goals and make changes that they want to see in their lives, so goal setting is a key part of that as well, with the outcome of working towards that capacity building focus.
In the coaching space as well, we have recently launched our vocational pathways program as well. So, within the Carer Gateway, what we’re really focusing on is supporting carers to return to the workforce, build their capacity to be able to gain employment after a period of being out of the workforce. And that may have been as a direct result of their caring role, but also looking at entry into the workforce for the first time. So, a lot of young carers who have taken on those additional responsibilities are looking for potentially their first job or looking at how to navigate the start of a professional working career. Carer Gateway is providing services in that space to support carers from that employment pathways angle as well.
We also offer tailored packages or tailored support, which includes tailored support packages. These packages are essentially designed to help with the specific needs of the caring role. So as some examples of what you can receive through a tailored support package includes planned respite, services or equipment to help with education, cooking and cleaning services, assistance with shopping, and also assistance with transport. So, for example, helping to get to get to medical appointments or again to do shopping. We also offer emergency respite through the carer gateway. So again, these are for those unexpected circumstances or situations that can arise where a carer suddenly finds themselves in quite a critical situation. We can offer emergency respite in those instances. And it’s important for me to note as well that Carer Gateway services are free to access, so there’s no cost. It comes at no cost to the carer as they’re not means-tested and there’s no citizenship requirements either.
I also wanted to mention that for carers, there’s also the Carer Gateway website where there’s a suite of learning modules or information available to carers to help them in their caring role. There’s an online forum which is sort of a run via a Q&A style approach where carers can go on and often the frequently asked questions or the questions that they may have already been asked and have already been answered by this forum. So access to information is there as well. There’s also a national counselling service as well that’s available to carers we can refer through to.
KM: If you were asked to share one key message for carers, what would it be?
AD: My one key message for carers would be that … It’s so important to, and I know that this can be quite difficult at times for carers because caring is such a selfless role, but looking after your own wellbeing is just as important as looking after the person you care for. We always say that we see it all the time that carers will put others first. But understanding and acknowledging that taking care of yourself isn’t selfish, it actually helps you to continue to care for the people that you love and that you care for.
So, it builds your capacity to actually be able to look after yourself first and foremost. The idea of early intervention as well, so carers actually recognising that they are carers and knowing where the supports are, what supports are available, how to access them is so important so that early on in the caring journey, they can access those supports for even better and more effective outcomes. Often we find carers will wait potentially until they’re in a stage of critical need or heightened stress. So we’re always looking at ways through the Carer Gateway, I suppose, to raise awareness of the caring role so that everyone across the state of Victoria who is an unpaid carer is aware of the services that are available and as soon as they need them, they know where to go. So, I’d say that those are the key messages for me. From a support perspective, our services can be reached on, we’ve got a 1-800 number, so it’s 1-800-422-737.
You can call that number Monday to Friday, 8am till 5pm, just to have a chat and explore what services and what supports may be available to you in your caring role. And there’s also the Carer Gateway website, which is carergateway.gov.au, and that will provide information for carers to learn more about the Carer Gateway program.
KM: Thanks so much for your time today, Adam. Carer Gateway can provide wonderful support to anyone who is a carer so thanks for sharing this important information. We encourage all carers to make contact with Carer Gateway to see what support is available for them.
AD: Thank you so much, Kath.
Supporting StepUP! 2026
StepUP! Melbourne is once again proudly supported by Carer Gateway – Holstep Health.
Carer Gateway is a nationwide program funded by the Australian Government, led by Holstep Health in Victoria. It provides free services and support to help carers manage daily challenges, reduce stress and improve wellbeing. To learn more about Carer Gateway, call 1800 422 737 on Monday to Friday between 8am and 5pm or visit their website.
Down Syndrome Victoria would like to thank Carer Gateway for their support of StepUP! Melbourne 2026.
Carer Gateway will be at StepUP! Melbourne and you will be able to chat to them, get information and ask questions in between all the other StepUP! fun. If you haven’t registered for the Melbourne or Geelong events yet, head to the StepUP! website. We can’t wait to see you there!