Lifeline on ABC 7:30
Suicide is a significant problem for the community and an issue we all need to take responsibility for tackling.
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11 September 2012
Suicide is a significant problem for the community and an issue we all need to take responsibility for tackling.
I am however very concerned about a number of misleading elements on ABC’s 7:30 program aired last night.
The first and most alarming error was the suggestion that calls to Lifeline from a mobile phone costs money. This is unequivocally inaccurate.
On 29 June 2011 Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy and I announced that from 1 July 2011 calls from any mobile device to Lifeline would be free.
The second element concerns the level of unanswered calls for assistance received by Lifeline.
The Government has boosted the capacity of Lifeline by providing $24.2m over five years from 2010-11.
This has allowed Lifeline to increase its capacity and for the first time 500,000 calls were able to be answered in a 12 month period up to August 2012.
The current contract with Lifeline states a shared ambition of reaching 700,000 calls per year.
In addition to this extra funding the Government has also provided Lifeline with $1m per annum to support service delivery on overnight shifts 2011-12 and $360,000 to assist with the pilot and subsequent evaluation of the Lifeline Online Crisis Support Chat Service in 2011.
Therefore it is incorrect to say that there has been no increase to funding.
At no time was my office contacted for comments or details on this story.
If you need help call Lifeline's 24-hour crisis line on 13 11 14.
For more information, please contact the Minister’s Office on 02 6277 7280
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