Lifeline and Beyond Blue are linking up under a new partnership to make it easier and more efficient for people, including those in Sunbury and Macedon Ranges, to find the support that best suits them.
As community demand for mental health and crisis support rises and resources become increasingly tight, Lifeline and Beyond Blue have designed their new strategic directions to be complementary.
Lifeline will continue to focus on supporting people in crisis and Beyond Blue will continue to focus on prevention and earlier intervention, supporting people at the first sign of struggle.
Together, the organisations support millions of people a year with information, advice, online self-help and referrals via telephone, text, webchat and digital platforms.
Beyond Blue chair Julia Gillard said Australia’s mental health and suicide prevention systems
are too often crisis-driven.
“People often only get support when they’re at breaking point. So Beyond Blue
will continue its focus on supporting people early on – helping people to feel better sooner, to get well and to stay well,” she said.
Lifeline chair Jacinta Munro Lifeline will continue to focus on crisis support and suicide prevention, supporting Australians in times of crisis and equipping individuals and communities to be suicide safe.
“Governments are increasingly recognising the importance of better integration within the mental health and wellbeing sector, and achieving this requires leadership from both governments and sector organisations,” she said.
“This partnership between Lifeline and Beyond Blue helps to deliver a more integrated system, with more clarity for help seekers, smoother transitions between services and a greater focus on holistic support.”
Earlier this year, the organisations formalised a three-year collaboration agreement that will build on their long record of working together in operations and advocacy.
This year, the state government engaged Lifeline and Beyond Blue to lead the first stage of a sector-wide co-design to deliver on a Victorian Royal Commission recommendation to create better referral pathways across the state’s helplines.
Now official, the partnership means Lifeline and Beyond Blue will be better placed to share resources and connect people with the information, advice and support that suits them best, regardless of where their journey begins.
