Support services and help lines
| Service | Description | Contact details |
|---|---|---|
| Centacare: Child, Adolescent & Family Counselling | Provides family therapy and child, adolescent, marriage, separation and bereavement and individual counselling. The service also runs a range of programs including: Parenting Skills; Seasons for Growth (support for children who have suffered a significant loss in their lives through death or divorce); In-service Educational and Preventative workshops (with parents, teachers and others where appropriate, on various topics including behaviour management, living with ADHD, bullying, stress management etc); and Harnessing Widsom (a self-esteem and communication program). |
Ph: 02 6331 8944 |
| Coping Personally with the Drought | NSW Health factsheet | www.health.nsw.gov.au/public-health/alerts/drought/drought.pdf |
| Community Harmony Help Lines | The Community Relations Commission for a Multicultural NSW has established telephone and email help lines to record reports of abuse, insult or discrimination suffered by anyone in the community as a result of the Iraq situation.The Community Relations Commission for a Multicultural NSW has established telephone and email help lines to record reports of abuse, insult or discrimination suffered by anyone in the community as a result of the Iraq situation. | Email: help@crc.nsw.gov.au |
| Community Legal Service | Provides free legal advice on a wide range of issues and also offers free financial counselling. The service is available Monday to Friday from 9am to 1pm and 2-4pm. |
Call 1800 655 927 |
| Country Care Link: Caring for country families | A confidential family information and support service for rural NSW providing: legal assistance; confidential personal counselling; a referral service to find information; a volunteer to meet country people in Sydney; a volunteer to give transport where appropriate; and interschool contact program linking country and city children; a friendly voice for a chat; visits for country people in hospital (on request); assistance to find short-term accommodation for country people in the city. The service operates Monday to Friday from 9am to 4.30pm. | Call 1800 806 160 or 02 8382 6430 |
| Rural Support Workers | NSW Department of Primary Industries Rural Support Workers provide immediate personal support, basic information and referral to other appropriate services. |
Drought hotline: |
| Family Law Hotline | Provides a free telephone service for people experiencing family and relationship problems. Available Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm. | Call 1800 050 321 |
| Family Law Online | A website for family law and referral information. | www.law.gov.au |
| First Aid | St John Ambulance Australia for first aid training and basic first aid fact sheets. | www.stjohn.org.au |
| Friendly Faces Helping Hands | Links you to major hospitals and health facilities including support workers, social workers and counsellors and provides information on accommodation, parking, cheap eats, childcare and other facilities. | www.friendlyfaces.info |
| Interrelate Men's Service | Offers a new program to help farmers who are in the middle of battling with drought. Based in Dubbo, the service covers much of the Western Region and offers male specific counselling, children's contact centres and a range of other services. |
Michael Parris |
| Kids Help Line | A 24-hour telephone and online counselling service for children and young people in Australia. |
Call 1800 55 1800 |
| Lifeline | A 24-hour telephone counselling service as well as face-to-face counselling services in many Lifeline Centres. |
Call 131 114 |
| Lifeline's Just Ask | Information and referral for people with mental health difficulties or friends, relatives, professionals, carers and others who look after people with mental health difficulties. | Call 1300 13 11 14 |
| NSW Health Support Line | Provides stress and counselling services to assist individuals and families with the reality of the current drought. | Call 1800 201 123 |
| Parent Line |
A free 24-hour telephone counselling, information and referral service for parents and carers of children aged 0-18 living in NSW. |
Call 1300 1300 52 |
|
Reach Out! |
A web-based service to inspire young people to help themselves through tough times. The website provides support, information and referrals. | www.reachout.com.au |
| Rural Financial Counsellors | Provide free, independent, financial advice for farming families and small rural businesses faced with difficult decisions. | www.daff.gov.au/agriculture-food/drought/rfcs/counsellors |
| Women's Information & Referral Service | A free and confidential telephone service for women in NSW. The WIRS can help you find information that you, your family or friends may need including information on many organisations and services available to women. The service operates Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm. | Call 1800 817 227 |
| Women's Legal Resources Centre | A community legal centre specialising in women's legal issues. |
Call 1800 801 501 (rural) |
| Young Media Australia Helpline | This helpline has been specifically set up to help children and young people cope with the media coverage of the war. The website contains some questions for parents to help them help their children cope with the graphic images currently intercepting television programs, as well as information for children and young people. The service is available 24-hours a day 7 days a week. |
Call 1800 700 357 |