Sunday 16th March 2008

The first Lifeline Centre commenced operation from the Methodist Central Mission in Sydney on the 16th of March in 1963. This Centre along with the lines for the telephone counselling service were officially opened by the Lord Mayor of Sydney, Alderman H.F. Jensen.

Lifeline founder, the late Reverend Dr Sir Alan Walker, spent two years developing the idea of ‘Lifeline’, which resulted from the increasing number of people contacting him regarding personal difficulties and crisis they were facing.

From humble beginnings, Lifeline has created a truly national presence, now delivering a range of programs from a network of Lifeline Centres operating from more than 60 locations Australia wide.

Lifeline’s telephone counselling line -13 11 14 – now operates on a national network and overcomes time and distance to provide emotional support 24 hours day, across both rural and metropolitan Australia. Lifeline has also expanded its role in mental health support to include a number of programs that support emotional wellbeing, address suicide prevention and encourage help seeking behaviours.

Lifeline has also extended its reach internationally, through affiliation with LifeLine International, and membership with the Volunteer Emotional Support Helplines (VESH) network, which provides services in 61 countries around the world.

Lifeline’s service will continue to grow and adapt with an ever changing cultural and technological environment; the use of new telephony and web technologies will continue to make care accessible to those who need it. Lifeline has been a vital part of the Australian mental health landscape for 45 years and will continue to connect people with care for another 45 years and beyond.

To find out more on Lifeline's living history and how the organisation has changed with technology, read the article Connecting people with care for 45 years.

Visit our Media Centre to view the media release; Lifeline Celebrating 45 years and Beyond

You can help Lifeline continue this vital work by donating now.

 Wednesday 10 October 2007

World Mental Health Day is an annual event jointly supported by the International Association for Suicide Prevention in collaboration with other NGO’s and co-sponsored by the World Health Organization. The theme for 2007 is 'Mental health in a changing world: the impact of culture and diversity'.

Lifeline has this year released a new resource to coincide with World Mental Health Day, a self-help resource for men living in rural communities entitled “Tool kit for men experiencing difficult times”

To find out more about Lifeline's role in mental health and to download our new resources, visit our World Mental Health Day page now.

Lifeline is pleased to announce the release of a new Lifeline Calls Profile - addressing helpseeking behaviours in rural men. This profile is the fourth in a series of calls profiles, which analyse statistical trends in calls made to Lifeline's 24 hour telephone counselling line - 13 11 14.

Download Lifeline Calls Profile #4 PDF 

World Suicide Prevention Day is an annual event sponsored by the International Association for Suicide Prevention in collaboration with the World Health Organization. This year the theme for World Suicide Prevention Day is “Suicide Prevention Across the Life Span”.

To find out more about Lifeline's role in suicide prevention or how you can help, visit our World Suicide Prevention Day page now.

5 - 11 August 2007

The Australian Federal Police will be running their National Missing Person's Week campaign from 5 - 11 August 2007.  This year the focus is on mental health with the theme: How do you find someone, when they struggle to find themselves?

National Missing Persons Week has two primary aims:

• To assist in the resolution of missing persons cases through heightened awareness and increased sighting reports.
• To raise community awareness regarding issues facing missing persons and their families and friends.
  

Lifeline Australia is helping the AFP to promote this campaign due to the correlation with mental health and help-seeking activities. Lifeline will be used as a referral on the AFP website. To find out more visit www.afp.gov.au/national/missing. If you need support vist our Find Help page for information about self-help resources.

Sunday 12 August 2007

The City2Surf will be helf in Sydney on Sunday 12 August 2007 with the race commencing at 9am.

You can support Lifeline Australia by registering, running and raising money!  We are very excited that a number of indviduals and groups have already chosen to run or walk in support of Lifeline - so why not join them, have fun and help us raise some money to support our vital services. All you need to do is visit the City2Surf "Run for Charity" page online to register your details and nominate Lifeline as your charity of choice.

The Lifeline network commenced a national volunteer recruitment campaign in May 2007. This campaign is continueing and we encourage anyone interested in volunteering for Lifeline to contact our new volunteer information line on 1800 880 681 (business hours) to find out more. The theme of our recruitment campaign is "Volunteering for a difference", because volunteering for Lifeline is about making a difference to those many Australians who need support, but also making a difference for yourself. 

View our "Volunteering for a Difference" TV Ad
Visit our volunteering page to find out more