News
9 April, 2025
Surge in kids reaching out
A RECENT report has revealed an increase in young children reaching out for support in relation to suicide-related issues since 2019, with one in six counselling contacts made to Kids Helpline in the past 12 months being related to suicidal thoughts.
Kids Helpline, a service of yourtown, launched their 2024 Kids Helpline Impact Report, with the statistics outlining the prevalence of deep distress in children and young people.
yourtown CEO, Tracy Adams, said counselling presentations were for a range of issues, including suicidal thoughts, child abuse, and sextortion.
“Children as young as seven are among the 11,682 Kids Helpline counselling contacts related to thoughts of suicide in 2024,” Ms Adams said.
“Disturbingly, the children making contact to Kids Helpline for suicide-related concerns are getting younger and younger.
“We have seen a 5% increase in the contacts made by 11-year-old children in relation to suicide-related issues since 2019.”
According to Ms Adams, the data also highlights a rise in safety interventions, with 4,632 safety interventions undertaken in 2024, a 19 percent increase compared to 2023. In number, this is approximately 89 interventions every week, increasing from 3,893 to 4,632.
“There has been an alarming surge in young people — driven by school-aged children — at risk of a suicide attempt contacting Kids Helpline,” she said.
“Counsellors undertook 1,803 crisis or emergency interventions in 2024 to protect young people facing an imminent risk of harm from a suicide attempt — up from 573 a decade ago (2014).”
Ms Adams concluded that yourtown, along with many key youth mental health sector organisations, supports Mental Health Australia’s call for free mental health care for all children and young people.
Read the Kids Helpline Impact Report in full here: https://kidshelpline.com.au/impact-report-2024
