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Research shows that Lifeline’s Crisis Text service is reaching entirely new groups of Australians in distress and at high risk of suicide.

Since 2019, Lifeline has provided Australia’s only Crisis Text helpline, providing support to people in psychological distress. Thanks to a $1.5 million grant from the Australian Government, Lifeline Australia has now been able to fast-track the expansion of text and chat services to 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week to meet demand and increase accessibility for hard-to-reach groups.

Lifeline CEO Colin Seery said that rather than diverting phone calls from the 13 11 14 service, the always-on digital platform has in fact increased the range and total number of people contacting the organisation.

“This is a landmark in suicide prevention in Australia and is all about bringing help to people who are in situations and environments where accessing support through digital communication is the only safe or viable option,” said Mr Seery.

“The service is unique in that it allows for genuine privacy during contact, so it is well suited to support cohorts at heightened vulnerability such as help seekers experiencing domestic and family violence or those living with a disability.”

In a 2019 evaluation of the original service by the Australian Health Services Research Institute, 42 percent of contacts said they would not have used another service if the text or chat were not available.

Of 1000 help seekers who were asked to provide demographic information, the median age of people using the service is 24 years old, while 80% of help seekers identified as female.

Minister for Health and Aged Care, Greg Hunt, said Lifeline’s 24/7 text service is an important expansion of the vital service the charity provides in crisis support and suicide prevention.

“The significant surge in demand for Lifeline’s services during COVID means more people are reaching out for help, and services like Lifeline are there to help,” said Minister Hunt.

“The expansion of the text service is backed by data showing that it is the preferred channel for high risk members of the community including young people, those experiencing family and domestic violence, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.”

The Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, David Coleman, said the Morrison Government’s long partnership with Lifeline was part of its resolute commitment to suicide prevention.

“Lifeline’s crisis service and the passion of its volunteers mean that no Australian has to experience their darkest moment alone – they literally save lives,” said Mr Coleman.

Lifeline Crisis Text is currently funded by the New South Wales State Government through a $6 million four-year grant agreement. The service has also been supported under the COVID-19 response funding ($2.5m) provided to Lifeline by the Australian Government.

NSW Minister for Mental Health, Regional Health and Women, Bronnie Taylor welcomed the fast-tracking of the 24/7 service.

“It is so important for people to be able to access support in a timely way when they are doing it tough, especially for those in difficult living environments.”

“Lifeline’s text service is uniquely placed to deliver that immediate help as well as referring help seekers to other services if they need it.”

To handle the unique challenges of the service, Lifeline is continuing to train a new legion of volunteers, while In Shift Support Supervisors offer psychological support in real time with up to eight Crisis Supporters on a shift.

Mr Seery thanked Woolworths, RACV, Domino’s registered charity Give for Good, nib Group and AGL for their backing of Lifeline 24/7 Crisis Text.

“On behalf of Lifeline Australia, I would like to thank our incredible partners for their generosity. Their contributions have enabled us to get to this landmark in digital national crisis support provision and are continuing to make a difference in the lives of real people.”

If you, or someone you know are feeling overwhelmed, we encourage you to connect with

Lifeline in the way you feel most comfortable.

You can phone Lifeline to speak to a Crisis Supporter on 13 11 14 (24 hours a day, 7 days a week), text 0477 131 114 (24 hours/7days) or chat to Lifeline online at www.lifeline.org.au (24 hours/7 days).

The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security (PJCIS) has endorsed the use of the Telecommunications Sector Security Reforms (TSSR), making six recommendations to improve its continued operation and address industry concerns.

The TSSR reforms were enacted in September 2018 to help manage the national security risks of espionage, sabotage and foreign interference in Australia’s telecommunications networks and facilities.

The Committee commenced a review in late 2020 to ensure the operation, effectiveness and implications of the reforms were being achieved in line with the original intention of the government and the PJCIS when legislated in 2018.

The Committee today presented its recommendations which address industry concerns on the operation of the existing framework, as well as to complement the continued evolution of the government’s cybersecurity and critical infrastructure reform agenda.

The six recommendations cover:

ensuring that reforms and regulation are informed by the latest global network trends and threats;
ensuring that the aim of increased security and cyber-resilience is a central object of the Telecommunications Act 1997; and
increasing government and industry collaboration and information sharing in a collaborative working environment to ensure that threat-sharing is efficient, and that any further reforms are co-designed between industry and government to avoid regulatory duplication.
Chair of the Committee, Senator James Paterson said the lives and livelihoods of Australians depended on safe and secure telecommunication networks and facilities.

‘When our economy and way of life is so heavily reliant on telecommunication networks, this is an area of vulnerability that can be exploited by both state and non-state actors who may seek to cause us harm,’ Senator Paterson said.

‘That’s why we need appropriate safeguards that empower both service providers and the government to protect our networks from national security risks.

The Committee’s recommendations aim to refine the current operation of the reforms to help secure the telecommunications sector, to protect our economy and national security,’ Senator Paterson said.

Further information on the inquiry as well as a copy of the report can be obtained from the inquiry website.

Wetlands are some of the largest carbon reservoirs on earth, storing more than one-third of the world’s terrestrial carbon. In the last 50 years, where data is available, inland and coastal wetlands have declined by around 35 per cent worldwide, three times the rate for forests.
As a Contracting Party to the Ramsar Convention, Australia made a commitment to designate suitable wetlands for inclusion on the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance.
Yet there have been only five new Australian additions to this list for the past decade, making Australia a laggard in comparison to other countries. Remarkably, Tasmania has not had a site listed for 40 years and is the only state in Australia without a Ramsar listing nomination since the 2000s.
Ramsar site nominations can be initiated by the Australian, state and territory governments, non-government organisations, community entities, trusts, Traditional Owners, individuals, private landowners, or a company. However, the cost of preparing a Ramsar submission can be upwards of $100,000.
This World Wetlands Day the Greens call on the state and federal governments – and all political candidates – to subsidise financial barriers to submitting Ramsar nominations by non-government entities. This is an investment in recognising and celebrating our natural heritage now and for future generations.
Greens Senator for Tasmania, Peter Whish-Wilson said: 
“Australia is an international laggard when it comes to Ramsar listing our magnificent wetlands. It is a missed opportunity that states like Tasmania have not listed sites for 40 years now while other parts of the world are celebrating their wetlands with international recognition.
“The Australian Government’s own Directory for Important Wetlands lists 89 sites across Tasmania that meet some Ramsar eligibility criteria, with the Robbins Passage-Boullanger Bay wetlands complex meeting almost every single criterion.
“Nearly 20 years ago the Federal Government tried to nominate Robbins Passage-Boullanger Bay as a Ramsar site because of its significance as one of the Southern Hemisphere’s most critical shorebird breeding habitats – including for many globally endangered and protected species.
“Proposed nominations on state or private land require support from the relevant state government and unfortunately in this case the short-sighted Tasmanian State Government killed the Robbins Passage-Boullanger Bay nomination on behalf of a few local vested interests.
“If our governments are going to stop throwing their energy behind nominating wetlands for Ramsar listing, they should at least make it viable for the public to pick up the slack.
“As a starting point, the Greens are calling on all sides of politics to commit funds to progressing priority Ramsar wetland nominations.
“In doing so we support the theme of the World Wetlands Day this year which calls for ‘wetlands action for people and nature’, highlighting the importance of actions to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands for human and planetary health.
“There’s never been a more important time to protect the outstanding wetlands we have before inappropriate development and climate change destroy what makes them so unique.”

A report requested by Unesco on the state of the Great Barrier Reef remains in question after the Morrison Government’s failure to publish its findings due to Unesco at 10am AEDT today.
The Morrison Government was urged to produce the report ahead of the Unesco World Heritage Committee’s vote in June on whether to declare the Reef on its list of World Heritage sites ‘in danger’.
Greens Healthy Oceans spokesperson, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson said: 
“The Morrison Government has either failed to produce the report at all, or it is hiding it from public view. Given the hopelessness of this Government, both are equally possible.
“I suspect that if the report is complete it paints a damning picture that no amount of Morrison Government preamble, spin or carefully schemed cash splashes can fix – which is why the Government would be so desperate to keep it hidden.
“The biggest threat to the Great Barrier Reef is climate change. Burning fossil fuels are literally cooking our oceans and killing marine ecosystems everywhere.
“The Morrison Government had ample warning and opportunity to show global leadership and compel global action on climate change by accepting its part to play in reducing fossil fuel emissions.
“Instead it’s chosen every trick in the book to distract from the fact that it has prioritised coal mines and gas projects over the health of the reef.
“The fatal mismanagement of the Great Barrier Reef is an indictment on the Morrison Government.
“The Greens call on the Morrison Government to either release the report, or explain why it has failed to meet its deadline.”
Greens Environment Spokesperson, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said:
“The Reef is dying on the Morrison Government’s watch. No amount of hiding the facts or spinning the truth will save it.
“The Great Barrier Reef is in danger because of climate change and pollution, and the Morrison Government’s support for the coal and gas industry is making it worse.
“The Environment Minister must front up to Parliament next week and tell the Australian people the truth about the damage done to one of the nation’s most iconic places.”

The unique research expertise and clinical capabilities located in Victoria have come together in a new, multi-institutional partnership to fight childhood cancer.
With the aid of a $9.6 million Morrison Government grant, the Victorian Paediatric Cancer Consortium (VPCC) will help advance childhood cancer research and treatment.
The VPCC gathers world leading expertise from the Monash Technology Precinct and the Melbourne Biomedical Precinct, and has enormous potential to establish both Melbourne and Australia as global leaders in childhood cancer research.
Minister for Health and Aged Care, Greg Hunt, said the Morrison Government is committed to ensuring every Australian child diagnosed with cancer has access to the latest, most effective treatment and the best chance of survival.
“Tragically, survival rates for some cancers among children and young adults have not improved in more than 25 years, and rates of several childhood cancers are slowly rising. Cancer kills more children in Australia than any other disease,” Minister Hunt said.
“The VPCC will focus on discovery research projects in next generation precision oncology, tumour immunotherapy and epigenomic.
“It will also run clinical programs aimed at improving survival times and rates, reducing children’s adverse reactions to treatment, and translating new discoveries into clinical treatment.”
The grant to the VPCC is provided over three years through the Medical Research Future Fund’s Emerging Priorities and Consumer Driven Research Initiative. The grant defines childhood cancer as cancer in children from newborns to 19 year-olds.
The consortium is co-led by Professor Ron Firestein from the Hudson Institute of Medical Research and Monash University, and Professor David Eisenstat, Head of the Children’s Cancer Centre at the Royal Children’s Hospital and Neuro-Oncology Group Leader at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute.
The $20 billion MRFF is a long-term, sustainable investment in Australian health and medical research, helping to improve lives, build the economy and contribute to the sustainability of the health system, which ensures a guaranteed funding stream to support Australia’s best and brightest health researchers.
Further information about the MRFF is available at www.health.gov.au/mrff.

The Australian Government has implemented further measures to protect remote communities during the current COVID-19 outbreak in the Northern Territory (NT).
Remote communities in the NT continue to see escalating cases of COVID-19. The situation required a broader public health response to supplement the Northern Territory Government’s response.
As Minister for Health and Aged Care, I have made a determination under section 477 of the Commonwealth Biosecurity Act 2015 to prevent a person from entering or exiting remote regional zones in the Northern Territory. This is aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19 across the Northern Territory and will be in place until the end of 17 February 2022.
This broader approach is complemented by more targeted restrictions for communities with high case numbers, namely Milikapiti, Milingimbi, Palumpa, Ampilatwatja, Elcho Island (including Galiwin’ku), Wessel Islands (including Martjanba) and Lajamanu.
These measures are based on the medical advice from the Chief Medical Officer, Professor Paul Kelly. These measures will help to contain the current outbreak by restricting entry into, and exit from, these communities. This will assist in preventing the spread of the disease, including to neighbouring remote communities in the Northern Territory.
These Determinations were requested by the Northern Territory Government to supplement mechanisms they have implemented and is supported by the Central Land Council, Northern Land Council, Tiwi Land Council, the Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance of the Northern Territory (AMSANT) and the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO).
The approach is consistent with extensive planning undertaken by the Australian Government in partnership with the Northern Territory Government, the Aboriginal Advisory Group on COVID-19, NACCHO, Northern Territory Land Councils, the National Indigenous Australians’ Agency (NIAA) and the Aboriginal community-controlled health sector. This response was also:

• informed by the predictive modelling on an outbreak in a remote community by the Kirby Institute and University of Melbourne and modelling looking at an outbreak in a remote community in the context of vaccination by the Doherty Institute
• recognised in the Management Plan for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Populations; and
• outlined in the Communicable Disease Network Australia’s National Guidance for Remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities for COVID-19.

All residents of the Northern Territory are encouraged to continue to follow their local Health Department directions, to be tested in the coming days, and to book their vaccinations.
The measures are being implemented based on the best public health advice and will be in place only as long as necessary to keep the community safe.
The emergency determination will cover the Northern, Central and Tiwi Land Councils regions, and allow movement to continue within specific community wards as agreed with the Land Councils. The designated zones are:
Central designated zones
Barkly designated zone

• Alpurrurulam
• Alyawarr
• Patta.

  Central Desert designated zone

• Akityarre
• Anmatjere
• Daguragu
• Northern Tanami
• Southern Tanami.

MacDonnell designated zone

• Iyarrka
• Ljirapinta
• Luritja Pintubi
• Rodinga.

Tiwi Islands designated zones
Bathurst Island designated zone

• the ward of Bathurst Island.

Melville Island designated zone

• Milikapiti;
• Pirlangimpi.

Northern designated zones
East Arnhem designated zone

• the ward of Birr Rawarrang
• the ward of Gumurr Gattjirrk
• the ward of Gumurr Marthakal
• the ward of Gumurr Miwatj (with exclusions)
• the ward of Gumurr Miyarrka.

Roper Gulf designated zone

• Kuwarrangu
• Never Never
• Numbulwar Numburindi
• Nyirranggulung
• South West Gulf
• Yugul Mangi.

Victoria Daly designated zone

• the ward of Timber Creek, excluding the following:
  • NT Portion 7278 (Jiylinum Community Living Area);
  • NT Portion 3046 (Marralum Outstation);
• the ward of Walangeri.

West Arnham designated zone

• Gunbalanya;
• Maningrida;
• Minjilang;
• Warruwi.

West Daly designated zone

• Nganmarriyanga;
• Thamarrurr / Pindi Pindi;
• Tyemirri.