Our Research
The Centre for Carers Research concluded in 2021 and became what is now the Carer Knowledge Exchange - for the latest research, please visit the Carer Knowledge Exchange website.
Below is information about the research conducted by the Centre for Carers Research between 2018 and 2021.
Carers in Higher Education
Exploring the experience of caring while studying and working in the higher education sector. Working with staff and student carers at UTS, we undertook two projects - contributing to the research evidence base while informing good policy and practice. The projects include:
- Supporting Staff Carers in Higher Education: A case for reform
- Carers we see you: Exploring the experience of student carers
Supporting Staff Carers in Higher Education: A case for reform
In collaboration with the UTS Centre for Social Justice and Inclusion - this research builds a case for supporting, recognising, and celebrating staff carers at UTS (and in higher education). Consisting of three parts, the research project included:
- Report exploring the experience of staff carers at UTS and the experiences of UTS management working with staff carers in their teams. We ask staff who identify as carers about their experiences and any insights they may provide to improve policy and practice at UTS.
- Desk Review of best practices in supporting staff carers in the higher education sector.
- Carer Inclusion Action Plan that has been adopted by UTS to become a leading carer inclusive institution (for both staff and student carers).
An offshoot of this research project, we worked with Carers NSW on a briefing paper for the Carers + Employers Program. This co-developed breifing paper explores flexibility in the workplace for working carers. The link is below.
Carers, we see you: Student Carers in Higher Education
A carer provides ongoing, unpaid help to someone who needs it because of a disability, long-term or life limiting illness, mental illness, dementia or ageing.
Carers, particularly young carers, commonly report lacking support from institutions regarding flexibility to assist carers to balance their studies with their caring responsibilities. There are approximately 44,000 carers in NSW currently attending university, with under half (45%) aged under 24 years.
In line with the UTS Social Impact goals our research explores the student carer population at UTS, to understand their everyday experiences and challenges, and develop ways that the university could better support them to achieve a better balance in their life as both a student and carer.
This research is a collaboration between the: Centre for Carers Research; UTS Design Innovation Research Centre; UTS Centre for Social Justice; and Inclusion and Carers NSW. At its core, the research involved engaging with Carers and the staff at UTS that support them.
Synthesis of our research so far has revealed three key principles to guide policies, support systems and processes with and for student carers.
The key principles are:
- Providing an increased flexibility in university process and interaction towards unique student carer circumstances as they may arise;
- Embedding more humanity in the system; and,
- Raising the visibility of student carers amongst the university community.
The first report from this work is now available. The learning from this project forms the evidence base of the UTS Carer Inclusion Action Plan.
Two further research papers have been developed as part of this research project, one of which, awaiting publishing. These are: The ‘workload of care’ experienced by university student-carers: a qualitative study and Practices of inclusion for carers who are higher education students.
Carer-in-Residence
A key focus for the Centre for Carers Research, is to develop strategies promoting the better use of available data and research to help shape policy and programs. Our purpose is to deliver high quality evidence that is applicable to the real lived experience of carers and those they care for.
Insights from the literature suggests that there is great value in actively including carers in evidence based and practice-oriented research. Carers contribute in a number of ways, including reflecting perspectives grounded in the daily experience of caring.
In this project we will share our initial experience and learning from the appointment of a 'Carer-in-Residence' with our Centre. The Carer-in-Residence role is an exploration of how to deepen research produced by and for the Centre with the lived experience of a carer. The role provides flexible, respectful work to a promising researcher who is also a carer.
Our Carer-in- Residence has documented their shifts in thinking or actions during the course of their residence. This experience, and learning, has been shared with the hope of establishing Carer-in-Residence positions across a diverse range of workplaces.
Learn more about the Carer-in-Residence
Explore the Carer-in-Residence blog
Carer Wellbeing and Supports
We conducted a review of existing literature and evidence around carers policy, research, and service delivery. This report identifies gaps in the knowledge base to guide the Centre's research agenda. The literature review is available below:
Carer Wellbeing and Supports: A review of the literature and directions for research (1.2Mb)
Woods, R. and McCormick, S., 2018, Carer Wellbeing and Supports: A review of the literature and directions for research
Centre for Carers Research, Institute of Public Policy and Governance, University of Technology Sydney.
Download full report here.
Making Meaning - Performance Art As a Social Impact
The project: Making meaning - performance art as social impact, is a collaboration between Tania Teague (Carer-in-Residence) and Researcher Paula Gleeson of the Centre for Carers Research, IPPG and UTS Artists-Scholars, Danica Knecevic and Barbara Doran (FTDI) to stage an iterative performance art piece about caregiving. The objective of the artwork is to illuminate attention to the intimate, mundane, often invisible roles that carers do, upon which our society depend.
