Family and Carer Supports

Western Sydney University is committed to supporting students and staff who are parents or carers or about to become parents or carers. There is an understanding that juggling family, caring and working or studying commitments can be challenging. Legislation underpins our policies and practice which aim to provide entitlements to make these responsibilities a little easier where possible.

On this page you can find information about family and carer supports including links for policy, fact sheets, toolkits and other resources for students and staff who are parents and carers.

Skip to Family and Carer Events

Parent and Carer Resources

Student Parent and Carer Support Toolkit

A toolkit for Students with top tips for balancing family, caring and study responsibilities and information about available networks and supports at Western Sydney University.

Supporting Parents Toolkit for Staff

A toolkit for staff on available supports and provisions to support you in managing your family and work commitments.

Supporting Carers - A Toolkit for Staff and Supervisors

A toolkit (opens in a new window) for staff and supervisors on available supports and provisions for managing caring and work commitments and starting conversations about carers in the workplace.

Celebrating the Strengths of our Parents and Carers

Watch the short video below developed by the Western SAGE team to hear staff reflect on the strengths they have gained through their parenting and caring journey.

Young Well Beings - An online resource to support young mums

This interactive short course is available on our Open Learning platform and was co-designed and co-created with young mothers to support their perinatal journey. It is free to any young mother in Australia.

You can access the Young Well Beings short program for free! Enrol now!

Further Information on Parent and Carer Supports at Western

Family and Carer Events

Current Events

Coming soon!

Past Events

☕ Wellbeing Café for Student and Staff Parents - Tuesday 20 May 2025 | Kingswood Campus

This family-friendly morning of connection and creativity. The Wellbeing Café is a casual face-to-face gathering for student and staff parents – and children are more than welcome!

🎧 Carers Drop-in Session - Wednesday 28 May 2025 | Online (via Zoom)

This relaxed, online drop-in session was designed specifically for student who have caring responsibilities as defined in the Carers Recognition Act 2010, or staff who would like to know more about supports available either for themselves or for our students. Representatives presented from Carers NSW about national and state supports adn our Welfare Team about support available at Western.

National Carers Week Events 13 - 19 October 2024

Thank You Afternoon Tea 17 October- In honour of National Carers Week, unpaid Western Carers and friends joined us for a casual afternoon tea and craft activity. The activity brought together Western students and staff to connect and acknowledge the important role they play in our community.

Staff Information Workshop: Supporting our Western Carers in Navigating Study and Work - 17 October- Supervisors, managers and staff with teaching responsibilities attended an information workshop which was facilitated by presenters from Carers NSW, MERCER Care and Living, Student Welfare and Equity and Diversity. The workshop considered unpaid carers in the Australian and Western context, explored key challenges for staff and students balancing caring responsibilities with study and work commitments, and provided staff with information to better support Western carers.

National Families Week 13-19 May 2024

National Families Week is coordinated by Families Australia, and aims to celebrate the vital role that families play in Australian society. To mark the event, a range of activities were hosted by Western Sydney University including a Science Fair, Orienteering event and Children's Drawing and Poetry Competitions.

The Science for All Ages Fair took place on Friday 17 May 2024 at Hawkesbury Campus. The family friendly event brought parents, carers, and children together to showcase Hawkesbury Campus, and experience some of the exciting activities at Western. The event included a range of displays, hands on activities, craft and information sharing and was very positively received.

The Healthy Families Orienteering on Sunday 19 May 2024 at Campbelltown Campus was a great opportunity for families to come together, learn a new skill and have some fun! The event was supported by SHOO Orienteering, the Engaged Parents Network, School of Health Science and Diversity Equity and Inclusion. Sports activities and games, make your own pizza lunch, information and School of Health Science experts.

Children's Drawing and Poetry Competitions- Equity and Diversity partnered with the Sustainability Education and Partnerships team to deliver a children's drawing and poetry competition around the theme ‘One Planet, One People' focusing on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs) and how we can make the world a better place for our families in the future.

Student Parent Survey - Have Your Say

Are you a parent? Are you juggling the demands of study, work, and parenting?

We are looking to strengthen existing supports for student parents and to find out how WSU can better support you. You are invited to share your experiences as a student parent by taking part in a research study by:

Completing our anonymous survey where you can go into the draw to win one of two $50 vouchers.
Participating in a student parent focus group or interview. All focus group and interview participants will receive a $50 voucher. Registration links will be available here soon.

This project has been approved by the Western Sydney University Human Research Ethics Committee (approval number H16208). For more information, please see the Participant Information Sheet, or email Research Assistant, Leila Frijat at l.frijat@westernsydney.edu.au