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- 28 September 2006
Lifeline Northern Beaches
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Page: 2588
Mr ALEX McTAGGART (Pittwater) [5.44 p.m.]: I pay tribute to one of Australia's most magnificent organisations, LifeLine, and in particular LifeLine Northern Beaches. Lifeline was founded in Sydney on 16 March 1963 by the Reverend Alan Walker at the Methodist Central Mission as an expression of Christian ministry, providing telephone counselling to anyone in need. From those small beginnings it has grown into an international organisation, with 300 centres in 11 countries, more than 40 of which are in Australia and 15 in New South Wales.
As it has grown, so has the demand for its services. That is obvious in my electorate of Pittwater. Lifeline Northern Beaches extends from Sydney to Palm Beach, and every year its 240 counsellors answer more than 21,000 calls. Every caller is distressed in some way. Some are on the brink of suicide, some are facing fatal or debilitating illnesses, some are depressed while others are lonely. Some need skilled counselling, while others are simply desperate for someone to talk to to alleviate their overwhelming loneliness. We should not underestimate the effect of loneliness. Lifeline counsellors talk to people who ring five, six and seven times a day, just to connect with someone who cares about them.
However, the biggest growth area for calls is from the mentally ill. Many suffer the effects of schizophrenia, some are bipolar, others are in a state of abject depression out in the community with no-one to turn to. They are there because the State Government abandoned them following the release in 1983 of the now infamous Richmond report, which saw our institutions closed down and the mentally ill thrown out into the community with virtually no support services. The consequences of Richmond were confirmed in Brian Burdekin's 1993 report.
Sadly, nothing has changed, and Lifeline sees the results on a daily basis. However, while governments refuse to provide Lifeline with the funding it needs, bureaucrats regularly direct people to it, because there is nowhere else for them to go. Lifeline Australia, the national organisation, received Federal funding to the tune of several million dollars to make the hotline more efficient. I note that the State Government recently provided an additional $1.5 million over two years. That has been done, but little more.
Lifeline Northern Beaches has a budget of $877,000, of which 92 per cent is raised through its op shops and other fundraising efforts. What is often forgotten is the range of services this wonderful organisation offers. It has been known and respected for providing a 24-hour counselling service 365 days a year, but its other services are far less publicised. For example, Lifeline Northern Beaches provides personal counselling to those in need, charging a nominal fee to those who can afford it, and none to those who cannot. It also has the wonderful buddy support service for people who have attempted or are contemplating suicide. These are people in a state of despair and hopelessness, people who feel trapped in some dark place from which there is no way out. A Lifeline telephone counsellor becomes a buddy to the client, calling them whenever they need extra support, often up to three times a week. Face-to-face counselling is also provided, so that the client gets intensive one-on-one support for up to three months. For many, that buddy system has meant the difference between life and death.
Lifeline Northern Beaches also offers a credit line service for people with financial difficulties, who can attend the Balgowlah offices and get personalised advice from trained counsellors. The counsellors will work through a money plan or budget to devise a better way of managing debt and income, and help avoid bankruptcy. The Emergency Relief Program provides vouchers for food, electricity, water, phone and other essentials to the destitute. That is funded by the Federal Government, but only to the tune of $20,000 a year.
Lifeline Northern Beaches also runs a Seniors Volunteer Service, where volunteers visit the housebound. At the moment 53 volunteers are looking after 52 clients. The volunteers are predominantly older people who can empathise with their clients, chat to them, help them with shopping and basically just check that they are okay. The Community Visitor Scheme involves 41 volunteers who visit nine nursing homes and five hostels on the peninsula, talking to residents, and paying particular attention to those who have been abandoned by their own relatives. Trained Lifeline Northern Beaches counsellors also advise problem gamblers and run anxiety support sessions and special support groups for those with relationship or anger management problems.
Lifeline Northern Beaches offers two training courses for counsellors every year, again with minimal government funding. At the moment 240 volunteers man the service, which sounds like a lot. However, with the number of calls increasing, particularly from the mentally ill, and their nature and complexity growing, 240 is nothing like enough. Often, the line is so overwhelmed with callers, that some calls are not answered. Lifeline staff regard that as potentially catastrophic, because they know their services save lives. I find it extraordinary that in a privileged society like ours, 92 per cent of Lifeline Northern Beaches' $877,000 annual budget is raised through its own efforts, with only 8 per cent coming from the Government. Those who run this terrific organisation tell me that what they desperately need is baseline funding, which would allow them to run their services as they see fit, subject to the normal checks and balances, of course.
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