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About Lifeline
Lifeline provides access to crisis support, suicide prevention and mental health support services.
Somewhere in Australia there is a new call to Lifeline every minute. People call Lifeline’s 24 hour crisis support service 13 11 14 about many things including:
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Loneliness
- Abuse and trauma
- Physical or mental wellbeing
- Suicidal thoughts or attempts
- Stresses from work, family or society
- Information for friends and family
Lifeline also provides national services and campaigns that promote emotional wellbeing, encourage help seeking, and address suicide prevention and awareness.
Lifeline is a not-for-profit organisation and relies on community support.
To donate to Lifeline call 1800 800 768 or donate online now.
Lifeline’s Services
National Services
Local Community Services
A range of services are provided through local Lifeline Centres across Australia that meets the needs of local communities. These services may include:
- Suicide prevention and bereavement services• Face-to-face counselling
- Financial counselling
- Gambling counselling
- Youth services
- Disability services
- Welfare programs
- Rural outreach
- Migrant support services
- Family and mediation services
- Counselling services for children
- School based education programs
- Information education and support groups
- Aged care visitation; and
- Indigenous support services
To find out what services are offered in your local area
contact your nearest Lifeline Centre .
Lifeline’s living history
Lifeline was founded in 1963 by the late Reverend Dr. Sir Alan
Walker, when he took a call from a distressed man who later took his own
life. Determined not to let isolation and lack of support be the cause
of more deaths, Sir Alan launched a 24-hour crisis support line. This
service (13 11 14) now answers around 1,250 calls each day, with around
50 calls from people at high risk of suicide.
Lifeline’s services are now made possible through the efforts of
around 1,000 staff and 11,000 volunteers, operating from over 60
locations nationwide.
Services and resources are now provided through phone, face-to-face, and online mediums.
Image: Reverend Dr. Sir Alan Walker
Our Strategic Framework
Lifeline’s CEO and National Board
Lifeline’s National Board consists of 11 directors. The Board is responsible for the overall performance of Lifeline Australia, providing strategic direction, governance and leadership.
View our National Board Member Profiles and more information about Our Corporate Governance.
The Board delegates responsibility to the Chief Executive Officer of Lifeline Australia:
Dr Maggie Jamieson, CEO
Dr Maggie Jamieson grew up in a small town called Troon in the west of Scotland. She completed a Bachelor of Arts in nursing studies in Glasgow, where she began working as a nurse. She then completed a Master of Public Health in Dundee.
In the early ‘90s she moved to Australia where she completed a Doctorate in Public Health at the University of Wollongong, her focus was on people living with HIV AIDS. This study covered people with HIV from diagnosis to death and included patients' access to and experience of services.
After completing these studies, Dr Jamieson worked at the University of Wollongong as a research assistant and later at the University of New England as an academic.
She first moved to Canberra four years ago, to work for the NSW Greater Southern Area Health Service, based in Queanbeyan. Initially she was the Director of Population Health, Planning and Performance but later became the Acting Chief Executive of the service.
Dr Jamieson started with Lifeline in January 2011.
Fast facts
- Lifeline’s National 24 Hour Crisis Support Line is available on 13 11 14
- Lifeline was founded by the late Reverend Dr. Sir Alan Walker
- First call taken on 16 March 1963
- Ave. calls per day - 1,250
- Ave. calls per day in relation to suicide – 50
- First Lifeline Centre – Sydney
- Number of Lifeline Centres Today – 42
- Number of Volunteers – 11,000 (3,500 Telephone Crisis Supporters & 7,500 working in fundraising, administration and retail)
- Number of retail outlets – 260
- Lifeline’s major national fundraising campaign – Stress Down Day – Held annually in July.
- Income sources – Community support (donations, corporate support, bequests and fundraising events); Government grant income (funding for specific programs); Income from investments, affiliation fees and commercial training.
- Where the money goes – developing and administering national services; training; mental health and suicide prevention awareness programs; and the maintenance and provision of Lifeline’s 13 11 14 service.
Statistics on Suicide in Australia
Suicide is the leading cause of death in Australia for men under 44 and women under 34.
Deaths by suicide
- The most recent Australian data (ABS, Causes of Death, 2009) reports deaths due to suicide at 2,132. That equates to 6 deaths by suicide a day, or one every four hours
- However, this is under-reported and sector estimates are that this figure could be as high as 2,500 a year
- The overall suicide rate in 2009 was 10.2 per 100,000 in Australia (ABS, Causes of Death, 2009)
- This compares to an overall suicide rate of 11.0 for USA in 2002, 11.7 for New Zealand in 2004, and 7.0 for the UK in 2004*
- The highest suicide rates in the world are 34.3 in the Russian Federation in 2004 and 27.7 in Hungry in 2003*
- Men in Australia are four times more likely to die by suicide than women
- Indigenous people are four times more likely to die by suicide than non-indigenous people
- The most recent data (ABS, Causes of Death, 2009) shows that more people die from suicide in Australia than in road related transport deaths (1,151)
- The most recent data (ABS, Causes of Death, 2009) shows that more people die from suicide in Australia than from skin cancer (1,837)
Suicide attempts
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For every completed suicide it is estimated that as many as 30 people attempt
-
That’s 180 attempts per day
-
That’s more than one new attempt in Australia, every 10 minutes
Thoughts of suicide (Suicidal ideation)
- It is estimated that 249 people make a suicide plan everyday
-
It is estimated that as many as 1014 people think about suicide every day
We all have a role to play in suicide prevention.
For 24 hr crisis support call 13 11 14
*These are the only statistics available at the time of publishing
Side Panel
Lifeline delivers national services and programs that promote emotional wellbeing, encourage help seeking, and address suicide prevention and awareness.