The March for Australia rallies and an attack on an Indigenous camp in Melbourne coincided with a surge in calls to the national helpline for First Nations people in distress, Lifeline says.
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Calls to 13YARN, the 24/7 crisis support and suicide prevention service supported by Lifeline but operated and staffed by Indigenous people, have risen to an average of 91 every day this year, statistics released this morning reveal. Daily calls averaged 65 last year.
National program manager Aunty Marj Anderson said demand has increased year-on-year since the helpline’s launch in 2022, but there had been a noticeable spike since the rallies in late August, and subsequent attack by a group of neo-Nazis on Camp Sovereignty in Melbourne’s Kings Domain.
“It’s really starting to wear the community down,” Anderson said. “They might not ring up and say it’s racism. They might ring up and say it’s something else, but it’s something else that they might have been able to cope with if they weren’t already beaten down by racism.”
Aunty Marj Anderson, national program manager of 13YARN, says crisis supporters have been fielding a record number of calls from people reporting racism and abuse.Credit: Jim A. Baker
Suicide was responsible for the deaths of 20 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people under 24, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare statistics from 2019 to 2023 show.
If you or anyone you know needs support, call 13 YARN on 13 9276, Lifeline on 131 114 or Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636.
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