Support Groups & Coffee Mornings
Regular, friendly gatherings across Gippsland where carers share stories, swap hard-won advice and simply breathe among people who get it.
Registered Australian Charity — ACNC
Caring for someone? You don't have to do it alone.
Gippsland Carers Association Inc is a nonprofit, registered charity standing beside family carers across Gippsland, Victoria. Whether you look after a parent, partner, child or friend — and whether you call yourself a "carer" or not — we're here with support groups, honest information, respite activities and a friendly ear. And we support the person you care for, too.
1 in 8
Australians is a family carer — most don't call themselves one
2.65m
Carers across Australia quietly holding families together
100%
Of our support is free, confidential and judgement-free
All
Of Gippsland — from Warragul to Bairnsdale and beyond
You might be a carer without realising it
If you regularly help someone who couldn't manage without you — that's caring. And it counts.
A carer is anyone who looks after a family member or friend who has a disability, mental illness, chronic condition, or who is frail or ageing. Most carers don't use the word. They just say "I look after my husband" or "Mum needs me more these days".
Caring is an act of love — but it can also be exhausting, isolating and invisible. Appointments, medications, paperwork, broken sleep, and the constant worry that sits underneath it all. Too many carers put themselves last until there's nothing left to give.
That's why we exist. Since our beginnings here in Gippsland, our association has been the quiet backbone for local carers — a place to be heard, to get practical help, and to sit down with people who genuinely understand, because they've lived it too. And when the person you care for needs support, we help them as well.
"I didn't think of myself as a carer. I was just a daughter. Then someone here said: what you're doing is caring — and you deserve support too."
— A Gippsland carer
How we help
Support that's practical, local and human — for you, and for the person you care for.
Information & Referral
Confused by services, payments or paperwork? We listen, explain your options in plain language, and connect you to the right help — or help you ourselves.
Respite & Social Activities
Walks, outings and activities that give carers a genuine break — and give the people they care for enjoyable, supported time with others.
What a little support changes
Small, human things — a listening ear, a coffee with people who understand — change everything.
- A first phone call that ends with "I'm so glad I rang — I thought I was the only one."
- A coffee morning where a carer laughs for the first time in weeks.
- A plain-language answer that turns a mountain of paperwork into a ten-minute task.
- A day out that lets a carer rest while the person they love enjoys good company.
Margaret's story
Margaret cares for her husband Colin at home in their farmhouse outside Bairnsdale. For two years she told everyone she was "managing fine" — until a neighbour mentioned our coffee morning in town.
"I walked in exhausted and walked out with three phone numbers and a plan," she says. "Nobody tried to fix anything. They just understood." (Shared with permission; names changed.)
What's on
Coffee mornings, support groups and Carers Week — see everything on our news page.
Weekly — Coffee mornings across Gippsland
Drop in for a cuppa and a chat with fellow carers. No booking, no cost, no pressure — just turn up.
July 2026 — Winter wellbeing sessions
Free sessions on looking after your own health while caring for someone else — because carers matter too.
October 2026 — National Carers Week
Our biggest week of the year: community events celebrating and supporting Gippsland's hidden workforce of carers.
Carers give so much. Help us give back.
Your donation keeps our support groups, coffee mornings and respite activities free for every carer who needs them — today and every week of the year.
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