Australia ‘Lifeline’ reaches out to bush fire crisis victims

CANBERRA: Australian charity Lifeline has launched a dedicated mental health support phone line for victims and survivors of devastating bush fires that destroyed large swathes of land across the country.

The special Bushfire Recovery Crisis Support hotline was inaugurated at an event in Sydney yesterday. It will be operated across Australia day and night every day.

Callers will receive easy and immediate access to mental health support and information about other services, said Lifeline, which has also dispatched crisis support teams on the ground to bush fireaffected communities.

Australian bush fires have burned more than 12 million hectares of land since September. At least 33 people have died and more than 3,000 homes were destroyed.

New South Wales transport minister Andrew Constance, who fought for weeks to defend his home and his community in Bega Valley, said the bush fires had a profound experience in his life.

“This has had a major impact on everyone. I stand before you a traumatised person. People need to know, ‘It’s ok to get support, it’s ok to get counselling’,” he told the audience at the launch.

Lifeline, which also includes suicide prevention services, said its phone lines have had 10% more callers since the bush fire crisis exacerbated in December, with spikes of up to 14% on the worst days.

Lifeline chairman John Brogden said the bush fire service will “run for as long as people need us”.

“The crisis may be over but the enormity of the recovery is only beginning to hit. Many people won’t experience trauma for months, even years to come,“Brogden said at the launch.

Rural Fire Service

Commissioner Shane Fitzgerald, who led the battle against the blazes in the hardest-hit state of New South Wales, lauded Lifeline’s mental health support efforts.

“This bush fire season has had a great impact on both front-line firefighters and the wider community,” he said in a statement to dpa.

“We owe it to ourselves to talk about what we’ve experienced this fire season.”

“The first thing you can do is have a conversation with your mates or loved ones or others, who can help, professionally, to provide service and support.”