OVER HALF OF KIDS HELPINE CALLS DONT GET ANSWERED
BY ELIZA KLOSER
Every day 56% of calls to Kids Helpline from children and young people went unanswered due to lack of resources. Credit: Envato Elements
Kids Helpline has released the latest annual report from 2022 that reveals over half of calls do not get answered due to the lack of funding and resources.
A child or young person attempts to contact Kids Helpline every 80 seconds in Australia with anxiety, depression, and emotional well-being of the top concerns of young people.
The service by YourTown report shows that every day, 56 per cent of calls from children and young people went unanswered, making a total number of 328,424 in 2022.
The report showed calls regarding suicide attempts and suicidal ideation rose 37 per cent compared to previous years.
The report states that “the worsening of mental health can be attributed to limited access to mental health services, and the length of time it takes for a young person to get counseling support when they need it most.”
Yourtown Head of Strategic Partnerships and Advocacy Dr Marion Byrne said that the Federal government reducing the amount of Medicare rebate sessions may have increased these challenges.
The Federal Budget for 2023-2024 was announced on Tuesday night which included $586.9 million in funding for mental health as well as $14.6 billion in cost of living support.
Dr Byrne said that she hopes that funding will help with resources to be able to respond to children, and despite the statistics, children should keep exercising the help-seeking behavior.
“This is an amazingly positive thing that we are actually seeing young people reach out for help,” she said.
“The issue is how we actually respond to that because if we are encouraging that behavior in young people, we can’t let them down by then not being there for them when they call out and reach out to us for help.”
Yourtown CEO Tracey Adams says that the mental health issues in young people have been rising.
“As the prevalence of mental health and wellbeing related issues in childhood rises, the significant gap in accessing support deepens,” she said.
“Kids Helpline continues to be a critical safety net for children and young people, however, we cannot keep pace with demand.”
Listen to the full interview: