Lifeline unveils McKillop Street upgrade

INDIVIDUALS suffering from mental health issues can now expect more help as Geelong’s Lifeline Crisis Support centre has become Lifeline’s largest call centre nationwide following its recent refurbishment.

Lifeline’s general manager of Victoria Jason Doherty said the refurbishment has increased the centre’s call-taker capacity to 13 with new and improved facilities and amenities completing the McKillop Street location’s capabilities.

“This building has been here since 1979 I believe, so it’s has been here a long time,” Mr Doherty said.

“The building had been maintained pretty well before Lifeline moved in, but the layout of the facility was never going to allow us to be any bigger than accommodating more than six phones, which is what our capacity was before.

“So, Lifeline determined that if we wanted to improve not just the outcomes of more help-seekers, but also improve the opportunities for people to come and volunteer.”

Despite coming out of a pandemic, Mr Doherty stated call numbers as a whole are not declining.

“People are starting to realise that they can call Lifeline about anything now, and I think there used to be a thought process where people could only ring Lifeline when they were suicidal,” Mr Doherty said.

“That is just not the case, only about 30 per cent of the calls are suicide related, the rest are involved with homelessness, isolation, domestic violence, and cost of living pressures to name a few.

“People have called us during the pandemic because of other things, so now there is more of an understanding they can ring us at any time about anything.

“The definition of crisis is different for everybody, that’s the key.”

Lifeline’s Geelong Crisis Support Centre has also upgraded its boardroom named after Ian Taylor, who previously served as chairman and treasurer at Lifeline Geelong.

The refurbished centre’s callroom is named after former president of then-called Lifeline Geelong-Barwon Joe Crosbie.

Mr Doherty said the centre had previously answered 85 per cent of all calls that go through to Lifeline and admitted that there is still a gap that needs to be filled.

He hopes the recent refurbishment can assist in mitigating the issue.

Lifeline Geelong maintains a close relationship with Deakin University which provides a productive avenue for recruiting volunteers, however, Mr Doherty encourages anyone who wants to help to jump aboard.

If you need help, phone Lifeline Australia on 13 11 14, headspace on 1800 650 890 or Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636.