Kids Helpline has been forced to manage a record surge in crisis interventions after the Allan Labor Government knocked back a modest $4.5 million funding request, with the service now recording its highest number of emergency callouts on record.
Media reports this week revealed calls made in the first half of this year from children in imminent danger to the crucial service have risen 26 per cent from the same period last year.
Further figures reveal Kids Helpline responded to 123,266 contacts nationally in the 2025/26 financial year, with 32,109 of those from Victoria. The service completed 5,806 emergency contacts across Australia, the highest number in a financial year and surpassed only during the COVID pandemic.
In Victoria alone, 1,477 of those were emergency contacts, more than a third involving suicide attempts and almost 30 per cent involving child abuse. Victoria recorded the highest number of suicide-related actions of any state in the country.
Shadow Minister for Mental Health and Nationals Member for Lowan Emma Kealy said the figures should shame a government that has twice rejected the service's funding request.
"These aren't just numbers on a page, they're kids as young as eight who are suicidal and reaching out for help because there's nowhere else for them to turn," Ms Kealy said.
"Times are tough for people living in our state and our young people are no exception. Victoria recorded the highest number of suicide-related emergency contacts in the country, and Labor's response has been to say no, not once but twice, to a funding request that would barely register in the state budget.
"Resources are being stretched beyond capacity at the exact moment a child in crisis needs someone to answer straight away. That is not good enough."
Ms Kealy said the latest data, covering the past six months, showed funding was lagging well behind demand.
"In the past six months alone Kids Helpline has responded to around 60,000 contacts, with more than 15,000 from Victoria and 776 emergency responses. This is a service under sustained, serious pressure, and Labor keeps looking the other way," she said.
"A Liberal and Nationals Government will work with services like Kids Helpline rather than turning them away, and will get the 2021 Royal Commission's mental health reforms back on track."
"Every day Labor delays is another day a Victorian child in crisis is left waiting on hold."
