ACTOR and comedian Noeline Brown warmed a crowd of carers with tales of her own experiences as a carer yesterday before issuing them with a serious warning - beware the "burnt chop" syndrome.

Speaking at a carers' forum at Maroochydore, Ms Brown said carers needed to make themselves a priority instead of placing themselves second, be it eating the lesser dinner or sacrificing their physical or emotional needs.

Ms Brown said carers needed to remind themselves they were the most important "because without me, my loved one would not be able to get by".

"You have to look after yourself. You have to eat well, get a bit of exercise and, of course, have some time to yourself," she said.

Ms Brown, a government-appointed ambassador for aging, was speaking at a Health and Wellbeing Forum organised by Suncare.

She has had personal experience as a carer, helping to look after her late parents with her two brothers.

She and her husband also cared for the late television great Graham Kennedy until his health declined to the point where he entered a nursing home.

Elegant and engaging at 73, Ms Brown had the audience of 100 carers laughing when she recounted how her good friend maintained his quick wit until the end.

"The doctor came in to see him and said, 'Graham, this is pretty bad'.

"Graham said, 'How bad is it?' and the doctor said, 'Well, it's very bad. Is there anything you'd like to know?'

"And Graham said, 'Why do you doctors charge so much?'."

Mr Kennedy died at 71, which Ms Brown, now two years older, said was earlier than necessary because he had not looked after his health.

She said she understood that carers could find their charges difficult at times which was why they had to keep themselves physically and emotionally healthy to do their job.

She said there were 2.9 million carers in Australia, including 500,000 who were primary carers.

A quarter of all carers were aged 65 and over, which meant they needed to pay special attention to their physical and emotional well-being, she said.

Ms Brown said carers could benefit from getting together and sharing their stories.