THIRTY young people from across Australia will attend the three-day forum at Parliament House this week to address issues facing young carers.

Carers Australia chief executive Joan Hughes said the nation had 170,000 carers under the age of 18 and 380,000 under 26 providing care to family members because of disability or chronic or terminal illnesses.

The Federal Government spends about $7.6 million on young carers, but more is needed to be done in areas such as education, access to services and respite.

"A lot of these young people don't get through to tertiary education and we believe there is a relationship between that and their life opportunities," Ms Hughes said.

The forum's recommendations would be delivered to the Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Jenny Macklin.

"We now believe it's time for action," Ms Hughes said.