LIFELINE

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD (15:47): I draw the attention of members of this chamber to the excellent work being carried out by Lifeline, an organisation I am sure most members would know. Lifeline, which has been providing a service for almost 50 years, is a non-profit organisation that provides a free 24-hour telephone crisis support service in all states of Australia and, indeed, in a number of overseas locations. Trained volunteer crisis workers provide suicide prevention services, mental health support and emotional assistance, mainly via telephone but also face to face and, increasingly, online.

Lifeline was founded by the late Reverend Dr Sir Alan Walker. He was the superintendent of Methodist Central Mission (later called Wesley Mission) in Sydney. He had been involved in the formation of the World Council of Churches. In the 1950s, he led the Methodist Church 'Mission to the Nation' crusade across Australia.

One Sunday night, just after midnight, he received a phone call at home. 'This is Roy speaking,' said the quiet voice on the other end. 'I have just written you a letter, which you will receive on Monday morning. By that time, I will be dead. I am sorry to worry you, but there is really no-one who cares what happens to me.' Sadly, the man did take his own life some days later. The loneliness and depression of this suicidal man, along with many similar experiences, prompted Reverend Alan Walker and others to establish Lifeline.

Lifeline was originally organised from the Methodist Central Mission in Sydney. It was two years in the planning and preparation, with 150 people attending a training course to work at the centre. The building used for initial operations was a century-old dilapidated building owned by the mission on the fringes of downtown Sydney. It was renovated for the purposes of the task, and some full-time employees were appointed to direct the work of the telephone crisis volunteers. The director-general of post and telephone services authorised the listing in the emergency page of the official telephone directory. The call centre was opened finally in March 1963. It was well received, with over 100 calls for help on the very first day.

In January 1964, Lifeline was featured in an article in Time Magazine, which helped lead to the establishment of similar services around the world. This was followed by the first international convention of Lifeline in Sydney in August 1966 to guide the development of services and to establish quality standards. This led to the formation of Lifeline International.

In 1994, Lifeline in Australia adopted a single national priority 13 phone number, namely 13 11 14, to provide a 24-hour support line. In 2007, a faster response became possible by flowing calls nationally over a wide area network to be answered by the next available operator anywhere in the country. Today Lifeline has over 11,000 volunteer workers. In Australia it receives some 450,000 phone calls every year.

This equates to about 1,250 calls per day or about one per minute from help seekers. Including phone, web and face-to-face contacts, Lifeline has over one million contacts each year with people needing help—extraordinary. Lifeline offers a confidential, non-judgemental service to those in need of someone to talk to. Callers ring in to talk about problems with such things as family relationships, various personal crises, abuse and violence, drug and alcohol use and loneliness.

More than 50 calls per day are from people at high risk of suicide I am told. Lifeline is partially funded by state and federal governments but raises about 80 per cent of its financial needs from second-hand stores, book fairs and other fundraising activities and also from direct donations by the public. Lifeline is always in need of volunteers to assist with fundraising and call centre counselling. I take this opportunity on behalf of Family First to formally commend them on their vitally important work. Our society is better off because of the hard work they do.