Today I am very pleased to announce that the Australian Government will provide Lifeline Australia with an extra $8.2 million in funding over four years.
It is a privilege for the Government to be able to contribute to the work of Lifeline. My Government has already demonstrated our very strong commitment to helping those with mental illness and making sure Lifeline stays strong and viable is part of this commitment.
These funds will assist Lifeline in bedding down its new state of the art telephony system and will mean that Lifeline is able to continue to deliver a frontline service knowing that day to day technical and operational costs will be covered. The new national telephony system will allow significantly more calls to be answered, which means the assistance that Lifeline provides can benefit more Australians than ever before.
Lifeline is a wonderful organisation that relies on more than 10,000 volunteers who show total commitment and professionalism as they counsel and support Australians in times of need. Lifeline handles over 500,000 calls a year and is now starting to explore new ways of providing counselling using the web and text messaging. This additional Australian Government funding will also help trial these new service delivery arrangements.
I would also like to take this opportunity to encourage the community to continue to support Lifeline. Sometimes we tend to take organisations like Lifeline for granted. After 44 years they can become part of the community's woodwork. But like any charity or not-for-profit organisation, they face the continuous challenge of needing financial and volunteer support to keep providing their important services going.
I applaud Lifeline's commitment to reaching out and being there for people when they need it most.