WESTERN suburbs residents are expected to be hardest hit by Monday’s closure of Victoria’s only 24-hour mental health helpline.
The decision comes in the wake of a “jump-from-height” suicide in Melbourne’s west on Saturday.
State Williamstown MP Wade Noonan said Department of Human Services data showed more than a quarter of the 800 monthly calls to the Mental Health Advice Line came from Melbourne’s north-west. The line closed at midnight Monday.
Mental Health Minister Mary Wooldridge’s spokesman, Michael Moore, said the advice line had not met expectations. He said it averaged only 800 calls a month, compared to other services such as Lifeline, which received nearly 10,000 monthly calls. “Discontinuing the service will also help reduce the confusion around the number of telephone lines people can call.
“Anyone calling the mental health advice line will be transferred to Nurse-on-Call, which operates 24 hours a day.”
■An investigation has been completed into whether the installation of safety barriers on the West Gate Bridge has shifted suicide to other locations.
The Coroners Court and the Australian Institute of Suicide Research and Prevention
have completed a report into “jump-from-height” suicides in Victoria between 1990-2008. Its findings are yet to be released.
Lifeline: 131114
Suicide Helpline Victoria, 1300651251
