Lifeline Terms of Use: Service
Please find the terms and conditions for our crisis support below. If you have any feedback, please visit the Lifeline Australia contact page.
About this page
This page explains how Lifeline’s crisis support service works, what you can expect from us, and how to use the service in a way that keeps everyone safe.
Our goal is to provide a safe, supportive space for people in distress, while also protecting the wellbeing of our crisis supporters and keeping the service available for others who need it.
What we provide
Lifeline offers free, confidential support for people in distress or crisis.
You can contact us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by:
- Phone (13 11 14) providing free crisis support over the phone;
- Text (0477 13 11 14) providing free crisis support over SMS/Text;
- Online chat (lifeline.org.au) providing free crisis support over the web;
- 13 HELP crisis support phoneline for people in Australia struggling with the emotional impact of bushfires and extreme weather-related events; or
- 13 YARN crisis support line for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, offering confidential, culturally safe one-on-one yarning with trained First Nations supporters.
Our crisis supporters are trained to:
- Listen and understand what’s going on for you;
- Support you in the moment;
- Help you explore options and next steps; and
- Provide information or referrals to other services where helpful.
The service is designed for immediate support. It is not a long-term or ongoing service.
We also offer support through:
- The National Relay Service (for people who are D/deaf or have hearing or speech impairments);
- The Translating and Interpreting Service (for people who prefer to speak in a language other than English); and
- The Consular Emergency Centre (a service offered by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for Australians in crisis overseas who want to connect to Lifeline services from outside of Australia).
Safety and trust
Lifeline is a crisis support service. We focus on listening, understanding what’s happening for you, and supporting you right now. We have over 3,500 volunteers along with some paid staff who listen in a non-judgemental, trauma-informed way to explore your feelings and next steps when needed.
Building trust is important to us. We aim to work with you in a way that respects your choices, your pace, and what matters to you.
At the same time, there are situations where safety becomes our priority. This includes concerns about your safety, the safety of someone else, or the safety of a child or young person.
If we believe there is an immediate and serious risk, we may need to take further action to help keep people safe. This may include contacting emergency services or other supports. Where possible, we will explain this and involve you in the process.
These decisions are not taken lightly. They are made carefully, based on what is happening in the moment, with the aim of supporting your safety.
What you can expect from us
When you contact Lifeline, we will:
- Listen without judgement;
- Treat you with respect and care;
- Support you with what’s happening right now;
- Discuss next steps or provide information on other support, where helpful;
- Offer a confidential service, except in limited situations where safety is a concern; and
- Offer you the option to provide feedback about your experience.
Access and wait times
At times, you may experience a delay connecting with a crisis supporter when contacting Lifeline due to high demand.
We know waiting can be hard, especially when you’re reaching out for support. We aim to connect you with a crisis supporter as soon as possible.
What we don’t provide
Lifeline is not able to provide:
- Advice, diagnosis, or treatment;
- Ongoing counselling or therapy;
- Case management or long-term support;
- Personal relationships or contact outside the service;
- Services such as housing, financial assistance, or transport (but we can support you finding local services that do, when they exist); or
- Legal or medical advice.
Using the service
To help us support you and others, we ask that you:
- Treat our crisis supporters with respect; and
- Avoid behaviour that is abusive, threatening, or not related to seeking support.
We may end an interaction if behaviour becomes unsafe or inappropriate.
Unwelcome behaviour
Some behaviours make it harder for us to provide support.
These include:
- Abusive or offensive language;
- Threats or intimidation;
- Sexually inappropriate behaviour;
- Repeated contact without seeking support; and
- Contact intended to disrupt the service or prevent access for others.
Our crisis supporters use their judgement to decide if an interaction has become unwelcome or inappropriate.
If behaviour becomes unwelcome
If behaviour becomes abusive, threatening, sexualised, harassing or inappropriate in any other way, we may:
- Ask you to stop the behaviour;
- End the interaction;
- Automated systems may be used to limit or suspend access to the service if behaviour continues, including via telecommunications providers; and
- In serious situations refer the behaviour to police.
These actions are taken to protect crisis supporters and ensure the service remains available for people who need it.
If your access to the service has been limited or suspended due to misuse or unwelcome behaviour, you can contact Lifeline to request a review or provide feedback via the contact page.
Recording of interactions with Lifeline
On our phone services, 13 11 14, 13 YARN and 13 HELP you will be able to opt out of call recording in the recorded message before being transferred to a crisis supporter. You can ask for the recording to be turned off at any time during the call. We ask that you do not record calls on your devices and reserve the right to terminate a call if it is being recorded without permission.
For text and chat, all interactions are recorded via transcript and cannot be turned off.
Privacy
Lifeline securely stores transcripts of text and online chat interactions, and recordings of telephone conversations where consent by the help seeker has been granted. These transcripts and recordings may be used for the primary purposes outlined in the Privacy Policy.
For important information regarding access to your personal information, and further information about how we treat your personal information please refer to the Privacy Collection Notice for Crisis Support and the Privacy Policy.
Lifeline may disclose records of your interaction with us to emergency services and other government agencies for a variety of reasons. This includes situations where Lifeline reasonably believes there is an imminent danger to your or another person’s life or public safety, serious risk of harm to children, or where disclosure is required under a court order, police warrant, or other lawful and reasonable request.
Feedback
We welcome your feedback.
After your interaction, you may be invited to complete a short survey. This is optional and helps us improve the quality of support we provide.
You can also share general feedback, a complaint or a compliment at any time via our contact page.
Providing feedback will not affect your access to Lifeline services. If you would like a response, you can request follow-up when submitting your feedback.
Privacy and Confidentiality Policy
Lifeline WA recognises the importance of protecting your privacy. Please view our Privacy and Confidentiality Policy by following the link below.
Complaint Management Policy
To view the Lifeline WA Complaint Management Policy click the button below.
Commitment to Child Safety & Wellbeing
Lifeline WA is committed to creating a child safe organisation, by creating an environment where children and young people are protected, feel safe and have their voices heard about decisions that affect their lives. To achieve this aim, Lifeline WA is guided by the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations.
Donor Management Policy
Overview
Lifeline WA’s work is only possible because of generous Western Australians who choose to make donations and support our fundraising and marketing campaigns. Therefore, it is crucial that we maintain secure and accurate records of our supporters. Lifeline WA recognises that the security of donors’ personal information is critical and embraces the Australian Privacy Principles.
Lifeline WA manages donors’ personal information in accordance with our Privacy Policy. This policy should be read together with our Privacy Policy, which provides more general information about how Lifeline handles personal information.
How donor’s personal information is collected
Lifeline WA collects personal information supplied to us, such as name, address, phone, email, date of birth and bank/credit card details to process donations and promote fundraising campaigns.
Lifeline WA may also collect personal information through public sources, the purchase of commercial lists or third parties contracted to provide us with services.
Use of personal stories
To educate donors and the public about the services provided by Lifeline WA, it is necessary to share stories about personal experiences.
By submitting a personal story through Lifeline WA’s website form, you consent to its publication on the website. Lifeline WA reserves the right to edit or delete submissions that, in its sole discretion, are deemed to be abusive, obscene or otherwise inappropriate.
We reserve the right to modify or edit stories that are too long.
When using a personal story for feature in a fundraising or marketing campaign, Lifeline WA will only publish your story and/or imagery with your prior written consent.
Types of personal information collected from donors
Lifeline WA may record information including, but not limited to, name, address, telephone number, email, gender and date of birth.
Lifeline WA suggests that you provide a date of birth as a security measure for future use to confirm your identity should you wish to access or update your information. Lifeline WA will specifically request your date of birth when you provide bank or credit card details.
Lifeline WA suggests that you do not send sensitive information or credit card numbers via email or facsimile because these mediums are not secure. Lifeline WA cannot be held responsible if you choose to provide your personal information to us via these mediums.
Lifeline WA will offer donors the opportunity to remain anonymous where practical.
You may be photographed when you attend public events involving Lifeline WA. Wherever practical, we will seek to obtain your written consent prior to using the image obtained.
How we store donor’s personal information
Lifeline WA stores donors’ personal information in a Customer Relationship Management Database. Lifeline WA will undertake all reasonable steps to ensure the secure storage of personal information provided in both soft and hard copy.
Credit card and bank details provided for regular donations are stored securely and are encrypted in our database and third-party payment gateway. This information may only be accessed by authorised staff.
If bank or credit card details were provided for the purpose of authorising an ongoing payment against a donation pledge (for example, a monthly gift), a hard or soft-copy authorisation form will be stored in a secure location accessible only by authorised staff.
For ongoing payments authorised over the phone, a voice recording will be stored by Lifeline WA or the contracted third party.
Records of donations will be stored for a minimum of seven years.
Confirming Identity
It may occasionally be necessary for Lifeline WA to contact donors directly to update or confirm their personal or credit card details. In this circumstance, we will only disclose the last four digits of the credit card number and the expiry date. We will make every effort to confirm your identity through other personal information available to us.
Use and Disclosure
We may contract third-party service providers for purposes including, but not limited to, conducting surveys, soliciting donations, managing databases, facilitating information collection and managing events. Some of these service providers may conduct all or part of their business overseas, and your personal information may be transferred overseas as a result.
Lifeline WA’s donor database is hosted on a secure offshore server in the USA and accessed through the cloud. We will not transfer your personal information overseas or into the cloud unless we have taken reasonable steps to ensure that the information being transferred will not be held, used or disclosed by the recipient in a manner inconsistent with the Australian Privacy Principles.
Lifeline WA may provide donors’ personal information to other separately incorporated Lifeline entities for local fundraising and marketing purposes. Lifeline entities may also supply personal information to Lifeline Australia when in accordance with their privacy policy.
Lifeline WA will not disclose donors’ personal information to a third party for their marketing purposes. We may include messages from partner organisations or sponsors in our direct marketing. We do not trade, rent or sell our donor lists.
How to correct personal information or change communication preferences
To update your information or to opt-out of marketing and fundraising communications, you may phone 9261 4414 or email fundraising@lifelinewa.org.au. We will endeavour to action your request within two weeks.
Some direct marketing communications involve a long production time. Therefore, in some cases you may still receive a communication within 90 days of your communication preference update.
Security Policy
Lifeline WA uses the eWAY Payment Gateway for its online credit card transactions. eWAY processes online credit card transactions for thousands of Australian merchants, providing a safe and secure means of collecting payments via the Internet.
All online credit card transactions performed on this site using the eWAY gateway are secured payments.
Payments are fully automated with an immediate response.
Your complete credit card number cannot be viewed by Lifeline WA or any outside party. All transactions are performed under a 128-bit SSL certificate.
All transaction data is encrypted for storage within eWAY’s bank-grade data centre, further protecting your credit card data.
eWAY is an authorised third-party processor for all the major Australian banks.
eWAY at no time touches your funds; all monies are directly transferred from your credit card to the merchant account held by Lifeline WA.
For more information about eWAY and online credit card payments, please visit www.eWAY.com.au.