WHEN THINGS START TO GO WRONG, ONE PHONE CALL CAN MAKE A HUGE DIFFERENCE,
WRITES KRISTIE JOHNSTON
Tasmania has a mental health problem with thousands of Tasmanians struggling with the cost of living, housing stress, isolation, loneliness and uncertainty.
Many of them are feeling unsafe but are not in crisis – not yet – but they can feel themselves sliding into crisis.
For them there is a service that picks up the phone. It’s called A Tasmanian Lifeline – part of Lifeline Tasmania – a free, nonclinical support line available daily from 8am to 8pm.
It’s not a counselling service. It’s not a crisis hotline. It sits in an approachable space between the two, the space where most of us live when things start to go wrong.
Call volumes to the service rose 22 per cent in 2025, driven by financial stress, housing pressure and loneliness.
In the May state budget, the Tasmanian government can secure ongoing funding for this vital service.
It would be one of the smartest economic decisions the budget could make.
Here’s why –
When A Tasmanian Lifeline can help someone before they hit crisis point, they are less likely to end up in an emergency department, less likely to need an ambulance, less likely to need inpatient care.
Each of those outcomes costs the health system – and the budget – significantly more than a supportive phone call.
Evidence strongly suggests that preventing the crisis reduces the cost. But the savings go further than hospital beds.
Untreated mental ill health costs Tasmania through lost workdays, reduced productivity, strained families and pressure on other community services.
Getting people support early – before problems escalate – helps us avoid those outcomes as well.
What makes A Tasmanian Lifeline especially good value is how far its reach extends.
Through a growing network of partnerships, A Tasmanian Lifeline is now operating in schools, aged-care facilities, neighbourhood houses and remote communities.
It is supporting people living with Parkinson’s disease and their carers.
Councils are using it to help residents dealing with homelessness and financial hardship.
Workplaces are plugging into it for employee support.
Each of these partnerships means that one funded service is delivering outcomes across many sectors – without requiring separate funding for each one.
Tasmania needs more of this flexible, community-embedded approach, early support that reaches people who might otherwise never walk into a clinic or call a government mental health line.
Many Tasmanians say exactly that – they’ve reached out to A Tasmanian Lifeline because it felt local, anonymous and safe.
Not because someone labelled them. Just because someone listened.
Preventive health –
The Tasmanian government has shown it understands the value of preventive health investment.
Funding A Tasmanian Lifeline in the May budget will put that
understanding into action and at the same time make savings in the
system.
This is not a hard call. It is, in fact, the easy one.
Lifeline Tasmania is continually evolving its services to reach out to people across Tasmania, with A Tasmanian Lifeline at its core.
Without Tasmanian government funding this vital support will be lost.
In the context of a $5bn health budget, this investment is a fraction and represents compelling value for the taxpayer dollar.
If this service has helped you or someone you love, your voice matters
now.
Write to your local MP. Or email the Minister for Health, Mental Health and Wellbeing, Bridget Archer, directly.
Tell her what A Tasmanian Lifeline meant to you. Politicians respond to real stories from real people – and the
stories that come with this service are powerful ones.
The May budget is coming. Let’s make sure this service is still there when the next Tasmanian needs to make that call.
Kristie Johnston is the independent member for Clark