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.
Funding
The service is primarily funded by yourtown, an Australian youth community services organisation, which provides the Kids Helpline service. Supported by the
Australian Government (through the
Department of Health and Aged Care and the
Australian Human Rights Commission), the
Queensland Government, and
Government of Western Australia
The Government of Western Australia, formally referred to as His Majesty's Government of Western Australia, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of Western Australia. It is also commonly referred to as the WA Government o ...
. It is also supported by corporate sponsors,
Optus,
Bupa
Bupa , legally British United Provident Association Limited, is an international health insurance and healthcare group with over 38 million customers worldwide.
Bupa's origins and global headquarters are in the United Kingdom. Its main countrie ...
, Future Generation Investment Company, and First National Real Estate.
Counselling methods
All counsellors that provide services through Kids Helpline are university-qualified and are formal employees of yourtown.
* Phone Counselling. Free counselling over the phone available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on 1800 55 1800. The service is a freecall number from all mobiles on Australian carriers, landlines and public payphones.
* Online Counselling. Called 'WebChat', Kids Helpline counselling is also available online through the website. This service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Generally, this service has high wait times, ranging up to 50 minutes during peak times in evenings.
* Email Counselling. Kids Helpline also provides email counselling through counsellor@kidshelpline.com.au. The inbox is answered from 8am to 10pm daily, with response times often being within a few days.
Long-term users of the service can also access case management through Kids Helpline, as well as "wrap around care" where a trusted adult is involved in ensuring a child's welfare. Kids Helpline can also refer patients onwards to more formal and in-person services.
See also
*
Crisis hotline
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 E ...
*
List of suicide crisis lines
*
Lifeline (crisis support service)
*
Beyond Blue
Beyond Blue is an Australian mental health and wellbeing support organisation. They provide support programs to address issues related to depression, suicide, anxiety disorders and other related mental illnesses.
The organisation works in pa ...
References
External links
*
*
{{Authority control
Child-related organisations in Australia
Crisis hotlines