More History 

Our activities are coordinated from Carers Place. Carers Place has moved 5 times over 13 years. With the support of the Latrobe City Council we were provided with a spot to call home in the local Art Gallery, City Services Centre, rented office space shared with The Smith Family and then to Airlie Bank Gallery an historic and lovingly restored old farm house. Airlie Bank Gallery was gifted to the people of Morwell by the Bridle Family for community use.

It was not until January 2009 that we were able to secure a lease of a shop front located in the heart of the Morwell shopping Centre to call Carers Place our own.We were able to achieve this momentous step forward in our history thanks to the generosity of the members of the Combined Individuals and Parents Association for the Intellectually Disabled (CIPAID) who upon winding up their own organisation gifted their assets to GCA.

In accepting these assets, GCA undertook responsibility for an Orphan’s Fund, a legacy of parent action to support and remember residents of large scale accommodation services, many of whom were Wards of the State. Orphans Fund recipients receive Birthday and Christmas Cards along with small gifts and cheques on special Birthday Anniveraries. 

Carers Place is open every Tuesday and Wednesday for Carers to ‘drop-in’ for help and support. As volunteers we undertake a good deal of our activities from home offices and via our home computers and phone links. This work involves the production of all of our many Submissions to Government Inquiries, Reviews and Hearings along with all our Proposal documents and discussion papers, which are many.

We were privileged to be involved with the establishment of the 'Walk a Mile in My Shoes' Campaign, initiated by Carers from across the nation in 2005. that action saw Carers rallying in Canberra and at all state parliaments with thousands of pairs of shoes laid out for politicians to walk a mile in our shoes. The enthusiasm for this campaign has resulted in a call for the establishment of a national Carers coalition.

GCA now acts as auspice body for the National Carers Coalition (NCC). 

Gippsland Carers Association is well known and respected by carers, their families and the wider community. Our President  and Founder Jean Tops was honoured for her work in establishing our Association with a Citizen of the Year Award for Latrobe City 1998. Jean was also awarded Citizen of the Year 2008 in her home town Moe City.

Jean was further recognised for her work though having her name inscribed on the Shilling Wall at the Victorian Women’s Centre www.cvwc.org.au  During Celebrations of 100 years of Women’s Suffrage 1908-2008 her Name was inscribed in the Gippsland Women’s Hall of Fame for her Community Advocacy, a nomination she received from the Department of Community Development Victoria. 

The Major objective for GCA, the NCC and a host of carer support groups is the funding and establishment of Regional Carer Family Networks which will eliminate the discrimination against over 2.9 million caring families. Carers who have no region-based voice to support them where they live and no funded place at the policy and planning table are seeking the support of government and the community to ensure that funding is provided. 

We are grateful for the support of the R E Ross Foundation for providing a Grant for a Capacity Building project, which has assisted the development of our Strategic Plan to achieve funding for Regional Carer Networks. To read about the Plan to establish a Carer Support Network in Gippsland by clicking on the 'dropdown menu' in the Home Page