Coronavirus: Calls for distressed Victorian kids grow by half

The number of times Kids Helpline has called an ambulance, police, or child protection on behalf­ of a Victorian child has jumped by more than 50 per cent in the pandemic.

Victoria’s Commissioner for Children and Young People Liana Buchanan.

The number of times Kids Helpline has called an ambulance, police, or child protection on behalf­ of a Victorian child has jumped by more than 50 per cent in the pandemic, with almost half relating to suicide attempts.

The alarming figures come as Victoria’s Commissioner for Children and Young People Liana Buchanan warned that lockdown meant at-risk kids were less visible to child protection services, with the number of visits to vulnerable homes cut in a bid to stop the spread of COVID-19.

The phone counselling service for children revealed calls from Victoria rose by almost a third between­ March 1 and September 30 this year, compared with the same period last year.

Over the seven-month period, the youth counselling service contacted police, child safety or ambulances 364 times, compared with 238 over the same timeframe in 2019.

Head of advocacy and research Kathryn Mandla said the jump was fuelled by mental health issues, child abuse and suicide attempts­ in response to the pressures of the pandemic.

“So for Victoria, 49 per cent of our duty-of-care responses were related to suicide attempts (and) 29 per cent were related to child abuse,” she said.

The youngest child was just six but the majority, 55 per cent, of actions were undertaken on behalf of youths aged 13-18.

There have been 13 self-harm deaths among males younger than 18 as of September 30, equal to the number of deaths in that cohort for the entirety of last year, but State Coroner John Cain warned that it was too early to identify a trend in the numbers.

Ms Buchanan said the increase in Kids Helpline interventions came as no surprise, given that many children had raised mental health and safety as issues.

“Children and young people described safety risks becoming more serious during the pandemic, and many of the strategies they normally use to stay safe, such as leaving the home to avoid conflict or family violence, were no longer available,” she said.

The CCYP consulted with hundreds of children and young people between April and July this year, finding many were experiencing loneliness and isolation while battling the stress of remote learning, precarious employment, and unstable housing.

As well, Ms Buchanan said the level of child protection oversight had declined with young people largely confined to their homes, as students undertook remote learning and social visits were forbidden.

“Children and young people have been less visible to people outside their immediate household, and at the same time Child Protection and other agencies have reduced direct contact to prevent the spread of COVID,” the commissioner said. “Unfort­unately, we are continuing to see low numbers of child protection visits, and a lower-than-usual investigatio­n rate of reports made to child protection.”

A Department of Health and Human Services spokesman said visits to at-risk young people were continuing in line with the current health advice.

“Child protection is a critical and essential service, that is responding to and reviewing risks to children in order to plan for their safety needs in line with health advice,” he said.

There has been a 4.5 per cent reduction in reports to child protection between March and August this year when compared to the same period in 2019. The state government has announced a $77m-plus funding package to support children and families.