Rio Tinto Backs the People Who Answer The Call

Rio Tinto Backs the People Who Answer The Call

Major Investment In The Mental Health of WA’s Volunteer Crisis Supporters

At Lifeline WA hundreds of dedicated West Australians volunteer to answer calls from people in crisis. Now, for the first time, a major corporate partner is investing in looking after them.

The leading suicide prevention agency has announced a new four-year, $1.8 million partnership with Rio Tinto, with $1.2 million of the funding to support the mental health and wellbeing of its 540 volunteer Crisis Supporters.

It marks the first time a corporate partner has directly funded the organisation’s Crisis Supporter Wellbeing Program, a dedicated internal support service that costs Lifeline WA nearly $3 million annually to run and sustains the people who sustain others.

The partnership will also support Lifeline WA to deliver mental health outreach and capacity-building training in regional communities, schools and frontline services across Western Australia, helping build practical skills that stay long after each visit.

Lifeline WA CEO, Lorna MacGregor, said retaining volunteers was at the heart of the investment.

“Training a Crisis Supporter is a significant investment of time and resources. But more than that, these are people who carry a profound emotional load for the good of our community,” she said.

“Rio Tinto’s support recognises that the mental health of those on the frontline of crisis care matters too.

“This funding gives us the capacity to better retain and care for the extraordinary volunteers who answer the call.”

The Lifeline WA Wellbeing Program employs four dedicated part-time Wellbeing Officers who provide one-on-one debriefs, weekly check-ins and access to mental health resources for Crisis Supporters.

They also develop wellbeing activities, podcasts and training materials tailored to the unique pressures of crisis line volunteering.

Rio Tinto Iron Ore Chief Executive Matthew Holcz said: “Crisis Supporters offer compassion, stability and hope to people experiencing distress when they need it most.

“They support thousands of Western Australians every year, but they also need support themselves. That’s why our newest partnership with Lifeline WA is about helping sustain the people who sustain others.

“Access to mental health support can be harder to come by in regional WA and for FIFO workers. This partnership is one of the ways we are making a difference.”

Rio Tinto has been a long-standing partner of Lifeline WA, previously investing $860,000 over two years to fund the training of Crisis Supporters including 60 new volunteers trained in the last 12 months.

The new partnership represents a deliberate evolution: from building the workforce to sustaining it.

“Rio Tinto has been with us through the training of our volunteers, and now they’re with us in caring for them. That continuity of support is something we don’t take for granted,” Ms MacGregor said.