When Caroline Cox was diagnosed with a neurological condition she was left unable to properly care for herself, so her young daughters took on the responsibility.

The three of them say they feel targeted after the announcement of the Federal Government's so-called revolutionary reform to the welfare system.

The Government yesterday identified young people who look after a parent or sibling who have a disability or mental illness, as one of the biggest groups of welfare dependents.

It said 16 per cent of young carers on income support would spend their entire lives on welfare, at a cost to the taxpayer of $5.2 billion.

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Eight years ago Ms Cox was working as a midwife when she was told about her condition, called transverse myelitis, rendering her into "basically an incomplete quadriplegic."

"I have weakness in my arms, I don't have balance, I have a permanent catheter, I have a very strict bowel regime, otherwise I have accidents," she said.

"So basically it's wrecked my body, but I'm raising two beautiful girls, so I'll live with that."

Paid carers visit the home in the morning and evening, but Ms Cox said her daughters performed most of the work and she felt like they had been targeted by the Government.

"They've been carrying that role for a long time and it's like they're being targeted as … malingerers or something," she said.

"I'm not really sure I understand what it is they [the Government] are trying to achieve.

"I've got to raise these kids, you'll get both of them working for 60 years and giving back to the community, you just have to stop pressuring us.

"Because if that's what you want, two successful children off the system, then you're going to need to support me while I do that."

'I didn't choose to become a young carer'

Every night, 11-year-old Stella Cox goes to sleep next to her mum. She says she has to get up in the middle of the night two or three times a week to deal with her mother's blocked catheter.

"When I wake up, maybe 3:00am in the morning, it is scary because the blocked catheter … raises Mum's blood pressure, and if that's too high she could have a stroke," she said.

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"So if I don't help her, or it doesn't get unblocked, then … it's an emergency.

"Normally I don't whinge … but sometimes I'll just be really tired."

Her 16-year-old sister, Rose, has been caring for their mum since she was nine, and has only just started getting a carer allowance, worth around $120 a fortnight.

"So for the last eight years I've been receiving nothing … and she [Stella] can't get recognised for another four years," she said.

"If we were to replace all carers, not just young carers, but all carers in Australia [with] a paid carer, it would cost $60 billion."

Rose said she did not want to be on income support forever and eventually would like to go to university, but for now she said they needed the help.

"I didn't choose this life, not to say I'm not happy with my life, I love my life, but I didn't choose to become a young carer," she said.