Siblings Australia is the only organisation in Australia to focus entirely on the needs of the brothers and sisters of children with special needs (disability and chronic illness). Our Mission is Siblings: Acknowledged, Connected, Resilient.
WHAT WE DO
Our work focuses on three main areas; ensuring peer support for siblings, strengthening families through enabling parents to be more able to support siblings, and improving the capacity of organisations to support the whole family.
The work of Siblings Australia is increasingly recognised nationally and internationally.
OUR NEED FOR SUPPORT
There are over 200,000 young people under 25 years in Australia with a severe or profound disability or chronic illness. Every sibling of a person with special needs has had a unique experience. For many there have been considerable personal challenges to overcome. And yet, parents, professionals, and the community can inadvertently overlook the significant issues that healthy children can face when a brother or sister has special needs.
Siblings can experience a range of feelings and reactions to having a brother or sister with disability or chronic illness and these can vary over time. Often there is confusion about those feelings. On the one hand, a child may feel loving and protective toward their brother or sister. At the same time, they may feel resentment, embarrassment, guilt, sorrow and fear. Without the cognitive skills and emotional maturity to understand and deal with thos

  Classification(s)


 Children

 Disability

 Grief & Loss

 Health

 Youth