Wow guys - thank you so much for your support with this. There are a lot of Aussie families who are LOVING the Diabetes Online Community more than usual right now!!
Just to give you some info about the carers allowance…
As soon as our children turn 10 years old, their payment is STOPPED, regardless if they were diagnosed 1 day old or 9 years and 355 days!! Basically, the government are saying that once a child turns 10, that they are no longer eligible to receive the carers payment, as they should be able to self-manage their disease.
My own son was diagnosed at 1 year of age, and he is now 10, with a rare form of neuropathy. We keep his levels extremely tight, and it’s a hard slog to keep it like that. His doctors have said that if his diabetes isn’t kept as close to normal range as possible, that he will certainly live with neuropathy for his entire life. ( My son has “Insulin neuritis” or acute painful diabetic neuropathy - in most instances, it gradually disappears.)
This is the ONLY condition in childhood, where there is a cut - off mark for the carers payment.
For many of us, it’s not about the money. It’s the principle - our kids can’t treat their own hypoglycemic episodes, or kids sneak food, they don’t bolus, they don’t test, they make up numbers, they sleep in, they forget to take snacks with them -THEY ARE KIDS!! Every single day, out -of -range blood sugar levels do physiological damage to our children’s bodies. As their parents, we are constantly ensuring that we stay on top of hypos, highs, sick days, burnout,…its another example of how misunderstood type 1 diabetes really is. Children at the age of 10 aren’t allowed to self-administer panadol (tylenol) - yet they are considered to be self-sufficient to work out insulin-carb ratios/.make corrections? It’s blatant discrimination against our children. As our kids enter their teenage years, we need to be more vigilant than EVER, as our children are at a higher risk than the general population of depression. Eating disorders and type 1 diabetes are a fatal duo, and many teenagers are being diagnosed with diabetic complications. I just realised that I don’t need to prove our cause to you guys!! We have been fighting for this for a long time, and finally, we are edging closer to having the situation rectified. A lot of important Australians are talking about this issue, so we will win this. 
Tu Diabetes will know all about it when it happens!!
