If you get Carer Payment or Carer Allowance, on 1 January each year you get 63 days of respite and generally 63 hospitalisation days. These can be used to take a break from caring while still getting your payment.
The person you care for can be in formal respite care or looked after by someone else during your break.
If the person you care for goes into hospital, you may be able to access your hospitalisation days rather than your respite days.
You need to tell us within 14 days of taking any respite or hospitalisation days.
Learn more about breaks from caring and how to tell us when you take a break.