Tuesday, 7 June 2022

 Mr BLACKWOOD (Narracan) (12:44): The amazing services that Lifeline provide across Victoria and in particular in Gippsland are under enormous pressure and in desperate need of state government funding so that the increasing unmet need can be serviced. Due to COVID-19 and other circumstances calls to the 13 11 14 Lifeline crisis number increased from an average of 680 calls per day in 2019 to nearly 1000 per day in 2021. Further, in 2020 more than 300 000 Victorian residents in crisis called the 13 11 14 hotline, but only approximately 160 000—or 54 per cent—of these same calls were answered right here in Victoria.

This is an unacceptable statistic and evidence that not enough funding and resources are being allocated to these tragic cases here in Victoria. If they do not believe me, then the government should read the McKell Institute Victoria report. A report released by McKell Institute Victoria in 2021 titled Calling for Help: How Crisis Lines Support Victorians’ Mental Health reports that with almost a third of all calls to Lifeline coming from Victoria, there need to be ongoing efforts to increase the capacity of Lifeline’s services to meet this demand. My colleague the member for Morwell previously wrote to the Treasurer and the Minister for Mental Health in the hope the Victorian government would allocate $5.5 million in the recent state budget to build capacity in Victoria’s suicide prevention system and enable Lifeline in Victoria to deliver the crucial services that many Victorians need. I also call on the state government to honour its commitment to deliver all of the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System, including increased funding for support services such as Lifeline.