Kids Helpline

Kids Help Line is Australia's only free, confidential and anonymous, 24-hour telephone and online counselling service specifically for young people aged between 5 and 25. Counsellors respond to more than 10,000 calls each week about issues ranging from relationship breakdown and bullying to sexual abuse, homelessness, suicidal thoughts, and drug and alcohol usage.

Kids Help Line is primarily funded from the revenue-raising activities of BoysTown through its lotteries. BoysTown and Kids Help Line are initiatives of the De La Salle Brothers. Kids Help Line is also supported by their corporate sponsor Optus, State and Federal funding, and through individual donations, fundraising events, trusts and funds.

Counselling

There are three ways children can talk to a counsellor.

Phone Counselling

24 hours a day, 7 days a week. When children really need to talk to someone, the fastest way is to call the Kids Help Line phone number 1800 55 1800 and speak with a counsellor in person.

If they are not sure about talking to someone on the phone, or can't get to a phone, they can use webcounselling or email.

Web Counselling

Available 3pm to 9pm Monday to Friday, 10am to 5pm Saturday & Sunday (Queensland time)

Email Counselling

Sometimes an email response can take up to two weeks. If children need to talk to a counsellor straight away they should call 1800 55 1800.

The email and webcounselling services are provided by Kids Help Line to give children and young people the opportunity to try out counselling in the way that might feel most comfortable for them.

If the issue is urgent the telephone is still the fastest way of getting to a counsellor.

The two main values that underpin Kids Help Line practice are: • Empowerment • Child Centred Practice

Counselling from an empowerment perspective involves: • Assisting clients to develop options for change; • Assisting clients to understand the consequences of particular actions; • Helping the client identify her/his own resources; • Informing the client about resources; • Supporting the client in developing a sense of control in her/his own life; • Working with strengths rather than weaknesses.

Providing a child-centred practice involves: • Listening to and respecting what children have to say; • Focusing on their needs; • Seeing the world from their perspective; • Acknowledging and believing that the child is the primary client; • Seeing the child as an individual person as well as a member of a class or group; • Respecting the child.

Kids Help Line has five operational principles. These child centred principles influence practice and management decisions at Kids Help Line.

Operational Principles: • confidentiality and anonymity • all callers are treated with respect • callers are free to choose the gender of the counsellor to whom they speak • callers are able to access the same counsellor if they wish to call back • callers are encouraged to give feedback about Kids Help Line and the service they receive

Kids Help Line is operated by BoysTown, a charity dedicated to supporting children, young people and families who are disadvantaged.

History

At a large, Melbourne private school in the 1970's, a teenage student was cleaning up schoolyard rubbish as punishment. Suddenly, in front of his young teacher he burst into tears and revealed how he was sleeping in his 11 year-old sister's bedroom nightly, armed with a large kitchen knife, back to the door, to keep his dad away from her. The teacher was Brother Paul Smith AO and that encounter began the movement towards Kids Help Line which this year (2006) celebrated 15 years of caring and listening to young Australians. Brother Paul's vision became a reality during his time as CEO of BoysTown.

Lord Mayor of Brisbane Sally-Anne Atkinson officially opened Kids Help Line on March 25, 1991 and 3,272 young people called the first day. Despite a number of hitches 122,000 calls were logged in the first 17 days.

Within a year of opening, Kids Help Line had answered 75,000 calls and by Child Protection Week, October 1993, had registered one million calls.

The service expanded State by State across Australia and when Annita Keating, wife of incumbent Prime Minister, opened the New South Wales service in Sydney on May 10, 1993 it had become a national service.

Kids Help Line went online in 1996, email counselling commenced in 1999 and the web counselling service was launched in May 2000.

Since 1991 more than 5.2 million telephone and online sessions have helped children seeking Kids Help Line's support.

Similar Services

Kids Help Phone http://www.kidshelpphone.ca/en/ (canada)
Childline http://www.childline.org.uk/ (UK)

External links

• Kids Help Line Website

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