LCQ20: Measures to support carers
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Question:
It has been reported that in recent years, a prolonged lack of external support has caused heavy physical and mental pressure to quite a number of carers and even led to unfortunate incidents. Hence, some community groups have advocated the establishment of a "register of carers", with a view to accurately and promptly identifying high-risk cases and providing relevant support to prevent the recurrence of tragedies. In addition, the Government has proposed in the 2024 Policy Address the setting up of an inter-disciplinary and inter-organisation database for carers for early identification of high-risk cases and provision of support, and the Secretary for Labour and Welfare indicated in a media interview in February this year that the authorities were pressing ahead with the preparatory work for the database. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) how the Government defines "carers", and what specific criteria and parameters the Government will adopt in identifying carers;
(2) of the specific benchmarks adopted by the Government for classifying "high-risk", "medium-risk" and "low-risk" carers, including whether factors such as the carers' physical and mental health, financial situation, social support network and care burden will be taken into account in classifying them;
(3) of the Government's specific implementation timetable (including phased implementation arrangement) for setting up the database for carers;
(4) of the major difficulties currently faced by the Government in taking forward the setting up of the database for carers (including but not limited to challenges in areas such as cross-departmental collaboration, information collection, privacy protection and resource allocation); and
(5) apart from identifying high-risk carers, whether the Government will concurrently expand the relevant support services (including but not limited to increasing the provision of day care services and respite services for the elderly and persons with disabilities, as well as psychological support services for carers) and regularise the carer allowance schemes with the exemption from the restrictions on double benefits?
Reply:
President,
In response to the Dr the Hon Tik Chi-yuen's question, our reply is as follows:
(1) The Government is committed to providing diversified services to support carers. To meet the needs of individuals, government bureaux and departments may define carers for individual measures in ways aligned with their specific goals and target groups to ensure appropriate support is provided to carers under their respective programmes and policy objectives.
As far as welfare policy is concerned, the Government has been progressively implementing a number of measures since 2023 to enhance support for carers of elderly persons and carers of persons with disabilities. The Labour and Welfare Bureau and the Social Welfare Department are committed to providing various services to support carers of elderly persons and carers of persons with disabilities, including financial assistance, care skills training, counselling and emotional support, and in parallel, providing the elderly and persons with disabilities with personal care, home cleaning, rehabilitation training, respite services, etc, to enhance the carers' caring capacity and relieve their pressure.
(2) to (4) The Chief Executive announced in the 2024 Policy Address that the Government is exploring the setting up of an inter-disciplinary and inter-organisation database on carers of elderly persons and carers of persons with disabilities, with a view to identifying high-risk cases for early intervention and support. Preliminary, the database will cover older carers and low-income carers. As the purposes of data collection by different organisations may not have included the provision of social welfare support services to the persons concerned, the Government is in discussion with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data on the design of data-sharing schemes to ensure they qualify for the relevant exemptions under the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (PDPO). Meanwhile, we are preparing data from various databases with the aim of carrying out pilot projects in full compliance with the PDPO.
(5) Since 2023, the Government has been progressively implementing various measures to enhance support for carers. Key support measures include:
(i) Designated Hotline for Carer Support (Carer Hotline): Launched in September 2023, the 24-hour Carer Hotline (182 183) offers immediate consultation and counselling, outreach, emergency support and referral services. It also matches respite services for care recipients in need and provides transportation allowances for carers, assisting them in escorting elderly persons or persons with disabilities to receive respite services;
(ii) Information Gateway for Carers: Launched in November 2023, the one-stop Information Gateway for Carers provides information on services for elderly persons, persons with disabilities and their carers; caring skills; and community activities and resources for carers;
(iii) Extension of the District Services and Community Care Teams - Scheme on Supporting Elderly and Carers (the Scheme): In April 2025, the Scheme extended from piloting in Tsuen Wan and Southern District to all 18 districts across the territory. Care Teams will help identify households of singleton and doubleton elderly, and carers of elderly persons and persons with disabilities, with a view to providing them with care and support services including information on social welfare services and community resources, referring eligible elderly persons and persons with disabilities to install and use the indoor emergency alarm system (known as "Safety Bell"); and referring cases in need to social welfare service units for follow-up;
(iv) Expansion of the respite service network: Starting from October and December 2023 respectively, around 20 Homes under the Bought Place Scheme (BPS) for Private Residential Care Homes for Persons with Disabilities and around 140 private residential care homes for the elderly participated in the Enhanced BPS, offering day respite services to persons with disabilities and elderly persons in need respectively when vacancies in residential respite placements arise. From December 2024, about 120 service units participating in the Community Care Service Voucher Scheme for the Elderly have expanded their day care services from center-based services that only serve voucher holders to providing day respite services for any elderly persons in need, allowing carers to select respite service points in the vicinity according to their needs;
(v) Utilising technology to relieve carer burden and stress: The Government has injected an additional $1 billion to the Innovation and Technology Fund for Application in Elderly and Rehabilitation Care (I&T Fund) in 2024-25, and expanded the scope of the I&T Fund to cover technology products suitable for household use. Eligible elderly and rehabilitation services units can apply to purchase suitable technology products for lending to elderly persons, persons with disabilities and their carers for use at home, so as to improve the quality of life of service users and relieve the burden and pressure of carers; and
(vi) Scheme on Living Allowance for Carers of Elderly Persons from Low-income Families and Scheme on Living Allowance for Low-income Carers of Persons with Disabilities (the Carer Allowance Schemes): The Carer Allowance Schemes have been incorporated into the Government's regular assistance programmes since October 2023, providing a cash living allowance to the carers of low-income families who do not receive Comprehensive Social Security Assistance or Old Age Living Allowance, to help supplement their living expenses.
Ends/Wednesday, April 16, 2025
Issued at HKT 12:36
Issued at HKT 12:36
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