As the nearest daughter of an 80-year-old woman, Hurly, 60, feels a huge responsibility to look after her mother, but being 50 kms away and having health problems of her own presents a challenge.

“It’s been a blessing for all of us,” she said about Guardian Network, a Kew based in-home care service that has been sending someone twice a month to visit the client at her apartment in East Hawthorn to take her shopping and do other tasks.

Hurly is part of a growing number of Australians who find themselves having to take care of aging parents while simultaneously caring for themselves and perhaps children.

With populations of people 65 or older expected to more than double, before 2030, that’s going to put a lot of independent-minded seniors in a position of relying more and more heavily to help them stay in their homes.