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Lifeline Western Sydney is a program of the Parramatta Mission and began as a 24 hour service on August 3rd, 1974, with Dr. Gloster Udy training volunteers in "Ellengowen", a Georgian house which was the premises of the original Tara school in Parramatta.
Lifeline Western Sydney is funded by the Parramatta Mission and Western Sydney Area Health, operating a 24hour 7day crisis counselling service which covers the local government areas of:
- Holroyd
- Parramatta
- Blacktown
- Baulkham Hills
- Auburn
- Penrith
- Blue Mountains
servicing a Sydney population of between 650,000 to 750,000 people (this figure only includes the overflow from other Sydney central exchanges and not rural areas).
Other services provided by the centre include:
- Financial counselling
- Gambling counselling
- Gamblers support group
- General face to face counselling
- Peri natal depression counselling
- Tailored training programs for organisations on subjects like communication, mediation, conflict resolution and counselling
- "Living Works" Suicide prevention training
Lifeline Western Sydney receives calls from people of all ages presenting with a variety of issues including:
- relationship difficulties
- depression and mental illness
- suicide
- domestic violence
- unemployment
- homelessness
- gambling and financial difficulties
- loneliness and social isolation
- disabilities
- addictions
- sexual abuse
- grief and loss
Lifeline telephone counsellors provide a service for people at the very moment of crisis, offering counselling and support as well as additional resource information. Where needed, Lifeline counsellors will respond to a crisis by liasing with emergency services including Police, Ambulance and Mental Health teams.
Our statistics show that a large percentage of calls to Lifeline involve mental health issues, as by default, Lifeline has become the main after hours referral for doctors, hospitals, psychologists, psychiatrists and mental health teams to support their clients in crisis.
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