![]() | |
Founded | 16 March 1963 |
---|---|
Founder | Reverend Dr Sir Alan Walker |
Location |
|
Area served | Australia |
Product | Telephone and online crisis support |
Key people | CEO: Colin Seery Chairman: Jacinta Munro |
Volunteers | Over 11,000 |
Website | www |
Lifeline is a non-profit organisation that provides free, 24-hour telephone crisis support service in Australia. Volunteer crisis supporters provide suicide prevention services, mental health support and emotional assistance, not only via telephone but face-to-face and online.
The telephone service can be accessed by calling 13 11 14 within Australia.
Telephone crisis support is provided via a network of Lifeline Centres maintained by trained volunteers and some paid staff. Lifeline Centres are owned and operated by affiliate member organisations of Lifeline Australia, some of which are wholly owned subsidiaries of the national group, and some of which are local branches of the Uniting Church in Australia. [1]
As at August 2022, there are 41 Lifeline Centres, spanning across 60 locations around Australia in every state and territory. About 11,000 volunteers deliver support services, while approximately 1,000 staff provide administration and fundraising co-ordination. Some Lifeline Centres also provide other support services which may include face-to-face counselling, group support, assistance with food and utility bills, support for the elderly and frail, and related services.
Lifeline has over 250 retail outlets around the country which sell a variety of clothes, furniture and bric-a-brac. Some Lifeline Centres have a number of stores but not all Lifeline Centres have retail outlets.[ citation needed ]
Lifeline was founded in Sydney, in 1963 by the late Sir Alan Walker after a call from a distressed man who three days later took his own life. Determined not to let loneliness, isolation and anxiety be the cause of other deaths, Walker launched a crisis line which initially operated out of the Methodist Central Mission [2] (now known as Wesley Mission).
Lifeline Sydney was two years in planning and preparation, with 150 people attending a nine-month training course to work at the centre. A century old, dilapidated building owned by the Mission, on the fringes of downtown Sydney was renovated for the purposes of this new support centre. A staff of full-time employees was appointed to direct the work of these new telephone crisis support 'workers'. The Director General of Post and Telephone Services authorised that this crisis support service should be listed on the Emergency Page of the Telephone Directory and the phones were installed. [2]
March 1963 saw the opening of the first official Lifeline Centre. The initiative was well received with over 100 calls for help being answered on the first day. The first call came one minute after the lines were opened and the phones have never stopped ringing.
In January 1964, Lifeline was featured in an article in Time magazine, [3] which helped lead to the establishment of similar services around the world.
The first international convention of Lifeline was held in Sydney in August 1966 to guide the development of Lifeline services and to establish quality standards, which led to the formation of Lifeline International.
In 1994, Lifeline transitioned the 24-hour telephone crisis support line to a single national priority 13 number (13 11 14).
In 2007, Lifeline introduced national call flow to the 24-hour service. This allowed Lifeline to begin flowing calls nationally over a wide area network, to be answered by the next available telephone support volunteer, anywhere in the country.
Lifeline started Australia's first text-based crisis support service in 2018. [4]
Lifeline receives about one million requests for help every year. In the 2016–2017 financial year, the national charity received 933,408 calls to its 13 11 14 crisis line and 53,257 requests to its online Crisis Support Chat service. [5] In 2016–2017, Lifeline reported an income stream consisting of 13% from community support, 72% through government grants and 15% from other sources. [5] Income is then distributed to: service support (84%), fundraising and promotion (9%), and administration (7%). [5]
Lifeline saw a marked increase of calls during the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia; where Lifeline would expect an average of 2,400 calls a day pre-pandemic, the organisation regularly received around 3,400 calls a day during the pandemic. In March 2020, Lifeline responded to almost 90,000 calls, equivalent to one every 30 seconds, with Lifeline receiving 3,200 calls on Friday 10 April 2020 alone. [6] August 2021 was the busiest month in Lifeline's history, with their record for most calls in a single day being broken 4 times that month. On Thursday 19 August 2021, Lifeline received 3,505 calls, the single busiest day in the organisation's history. [7]
Despite allowing for anonymity, Lifeline will contact authorities and identify the caller in cases where they believe the person may be serious in taking their own life. Lifeline will disclose caller information if "we reasonably believe that the disclosure will prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to somebody's life, health or safety (including your own) or serious threat to public health, property or public safety". [8]
Samaritans is a registered charity aimed at providing emotional support to anyone in emotional distress, struggling to cope or at risk of suicide throughout the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, often through its telephone helpline. Its name derives from the biblical Parable of the Good Samaritan, although the organisation itself is not religious.
A toll-free telephone number or freephone number is a telephone number that is billed for all arriving calls. For the calling party, a call to a toll-free number from a landline is free of charge. A toll-free number is identified by a dialing prefix similar to an area code. The specific service access varies by country.
A crisis hotline is a phone number people can call to get immediate emergency telephone counseling, usually by trained volunteers. The first such service was founded in England in 1951 and such hotlines have existed in most major cities of the English speaking world at least since the mid-1970s. Initially set up to help those contemplating suicide, many have expanded their mandate to deal more generally with emotional crises. Similar hotlines operate to help people in other circumstances, including rape, bullying, self-harm, runaway children, human trafficking, and people who identify as LGBT or intersex. Despite crisis hotlines being common, their effectiveness in reducing suicides is not clear.
Wesley Mission is a name used by three independent Uniting Church groups which are a part of the Uniting Missions Network of UnitingCare Australia. These predominantly grew out of inner city Central Methodist Missions of the Methodist Church of Australasia. Most of the Methodist City Missions of that era later joined together to form Mission Australia.
Sir Alan Edgar Walker was an Australian theologian, evangelist, social commentator, broadcaster and activist, and the Superintendent of Wesley Mission.
000 Emergency, also known as Triple Zero or Triple 0, and sometimes stylised Triple Zero (000), is the primary national emergency telephone number in Australia and Australian External Territories. The Emergency Call Service is operated by Telstra, and overseen by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), and is intended only for use in life-threatening or time-critical emergencies.
Telephone counseling refers to any type of psychological service performed over the telephone. Telephone counseling ranges from individual, couple or group psychotherapy with a professional therapist to psychological first aid provided by para-professional counselors. In-person therapists often advise clients to make use of telephone crisis counseling to provide the client with an avenue to obtain support outside of therapy if they cannot be reached in an emergency or at the conclusion of a therapeutic relationship.
The London Ambulance Service NHS Trust (LAS) is an NHS trust responsible for operating ambulances and answering and responding to urgent and emergency medical situations within the London region of England. The service responds to 999 phone calls across the region, and 111 phone calls from certain parts, providing triage and advice to enable an appropriate level of response.
Hato Hone St John is a charitable organisation providing healthcare services to the New Zealand public. The organisation provides ambulance services throughout New Zealand apart from the Greater Wellington Region and Wairarapa, as well as certain other health services.
The Samaritan Befrienders Hong Kong (SBHK) is a non-government organisation. It is a local voluntary agency which provides counselling services to people with suicidal tendencies or behaviour. This organisation was the first of its kind in Asia.
Kids Helpline is a free Australian telephone and online counselling service for young people aged between 5 and 25. Counsellors respond to more than 6,000 calls each week about issues ranging from relationship breakdown and bullying to sexual abuse, homelessness, suicidal thoughts, depression and drug and alcohol usage.
988 is a telephone number used in some North American (NANP) countries for a suicide prevention helpline. In the United States, it is known as the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. In Canada, it is known as the 9-8-8 Suicide Crisis Helpline.
Telephone interpreting connects human interpreters via telephone to individuals who wish to speak to each other but do not share a common language. The telephone interpreter converts the spoken language from one language to another, enabling listeners and speakers to understand each other. Interpretation over the telephone most often takes place in consecutive mode, which means that the interpreter waits until the speaker finishes an utterance before rendering the interpretation into the other language. As the use of the telephonic modality is increasing it is allowing users to access an interpreter immediately, regardless of time and location.
Befrienders Worldwide is a charity that helps people who are considering suicide or experiencing general emotional distress. They have 349 emotional support centres in 32 countries, reaching an estimated 7 million people each year. Volunteers listen without judging people or telling them what to do, and can be contacted by phone, email, SMS, internet chat or in person, dependent on location.
Switchboard of Miami, Inc., commonly referred to as Switchboard, was a private, nonprofit and registered 501(c)(3) organization located in Miami, Florida, United States that provided Miami-Dade County with comprehensive telephone counseling and referral services to thousands of social service programs beginning in 1968. The organization also offered counseling services and prevention programs, such as initiatives aimed at assisting high-risk youth and their families through partnerships with local schools. Since 1968, these services have been offered to the community at no charge. Callers can seek advice confidentially, as no information is needed by the company in order to receive the services. Switchboard shut down in 2016 following a "major financial emergency".
Emergency Medical Service in Austria is a service of public pre-hospital emergency healthcare, including ambulance service, provided by individual Austrian municipalities, cities and counties. It is primarily financed by the Austrian health insurance companies.
SAWA is a Palestinian, non-profit civil society organization established in 1998 by a group of female volunteers active in women's issues.
The Silver Line is a free confidential telephone helpline offering information, friendship and advice to older people in the United Kingdom, available 24 hours a day. As of 1 October 2019 The Silver Line joined forces with Age UK to help more of the older people who are struggling with loneliness and isolation. The Silver Line is a subsidiary of Age UK and still has its own brand, registered charity number, Board of Trustees and CEO.
Caretakers Cottage is an Australian non-profit, non-governmental organisation based in Sydney assisting children and young adults facing homelessness. Caretakers Cottage is funded by the New South Wales Department of Communities and Justice to provide services for young people across Sydney's South-Eastern district. Services include short-term, emergency accommodation, semi-independent living options, case support and early intervention for young people at risk of homelessness.