Kids Helpline to launch fundraiser after Victorian budget plea ignored

A vital helpline that supports kids and teens is calling on the public for support after a funding plea fell on deaf ears.

A vital helpline that supports kids and teens is calling on the public for help after its funding plea to the Victorian government fell on deaf ears.

The Kids Helpline employs about 180 counsellors, but Tracy Adams, chief executive of charity yourtown which runs the service, said it needed at least 40 more.

“If we want to avoid our kids being in crisis, then we’ve got to be there when they need it in those moments that really matter and we are there when no one else is – 75 per cent of all contacts come outside normal business hours,” she said.

yourtown CEO Tracy Adams.

“It’s fantastic that we’re there in those times, but the increasing profile of when our counsellors need to be working comes at an increased cost to us.”

Kids Helpline will launch its first national fundraiser on July 24 when it hopes to raise at least $500,000.

Funds from the inaugural Kids Helpline Giving Day will be used to recruit extra counsellors the service needs to cope with a surge in calls for help.

Kids Helpline asked the Victorian government for $4.4m per annum for the 2025-26 budget.

It received nothing – despite Victoria being the second busiest state for calls.

It last received funding from the Victorian government in 2022-23 with $750,000.

During the pandemic years of 2020-21 and 2021-22, Kids Helpline was handed $500,000 each year.

The phone counselling service receives 29 per cent of its funding from the federal government and another 29 per cent from the New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australian governments combined.

The remainder is made up of corporate and private donations.

Kids Helpline management is currently in talks with the South Australian, Tasmanian and Northern Territory governments to secure funding.

News Corp’s Can We Talk? awareness campaign, in partnership with Medibank, is helping Australian families better tackle mental wellbeing and pushing for greater government support.

Ms Adams said she could only guess why the Victorian government had not approved funding in last month’s budget.

“We are not going to put up any barriers to young people in Victoria accessing Kids Helpline, so the downside of that is we’re possibly not getting prioritised for funding,” she said.

“The service has been there for 34 years now and has been trying to best meet the needs of young people in the state and with minimal contribution.”

A Victorian government spokesman said there had been no cut.

“This service is funded by the Commonwealth and they were provided one off support during the height of the pandemic,” he said.

“We’re putting a mental health practitioner in every government secondary and specialist school, establishing 24/7 youth mental health centres in every corner of the state, opening free walk-in mental health clinics for kids and expanding our child and youth HOPE services.”

Kids Helpline provided more than 74,600 counselling sessions to young people aged five to 25 in 2024 across Australia.

In Victoria, there was an almost 18 per cent increase in contacts requiring counselling in 2024 compared to the year prior.

Can We Talk? is a News Corp awareness campaign, in partnership with Medibank, helping Australian families better tackle mental wellbeing. To follow the series and access all stories, tips and advice, visit our new Health section.

Originally published as Kids Helpline to launch fundraiser after Victorian budget plea ignored