Mental Health Support Services
Quick access to trusted mental health support services and crisis contacts.
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Download our guide to managing your teams mental health
If there is someone you are worries about there are a number of ways you can help them, see here (link to how to help).
There are several organisations that provide support and education for people with mental illness and their families and carers throughout Australia.
Mental Health Services
Lifeline 13 11 14 – 24/7 crisis line, available to help over the phone, also has chat and text support.
Beyond Blue – offers both phone and online chat, online peer-led forums and New Access Mental health coaching for QLD and NSW or Call 1300 22 46 36
Q-Life – QLife provides anonymous and free LGBTIQ+ peer support and referral for people in Australia wanting to talk about sexuality, gender, bodies, feelings or relationships. Call 1800 184 527 or webchat https://qlife.org.au/
Suicide Call Back Service provides 24/7 support if you or someone you know is feeling suicidal. Call 1300 659 467.
Butterfly Foundation – Talk to someone now. Call our National Helpline on 1800 33 4673. You can also chat online or **email or** Call 1800 33 4673
13 YARN – 13 92 76 The first national crisis support line for mob who are feeling overwhelmed or having difficulty coping or Call 13 92 76
SANE Australia provides support to anyone in Australia affected by complex mental health issues, as well as their friends, family members and health professionals. Call 1800 187 263 or chat online.
Blue Knot Foundation Helpline is the National Centre of Excellence for Complex Trauma. It provides support, education and resources for the families and communities of adult survivors of childhood trauma and abuse. Call 1300 657 380.
Open Arms provides 24/7 free and confidential counselling to anyone who has served at least one day in the ADF, their partners and families. Call 1800 011 046.
Relationships Support Services
Relationships Australia – subsidised counselling and mediation (sessions to help you resolve conflict with a partner or other person) offered in a range of locations around Australia https://www.relationshipsnsw.org.au/
1800 RESPECT – national domestic family and sexual violence support line
Mensline – free telephone and online counselling for men 1300 789 978
Money Concerns
National Debt Helpline and 1800 007 007 – offers free, confidential financial counselling over the phone and online
Financial Counselling Australia – 1800 007 007 – Access free resources and advice from a private financial counsellor. Call 1800 007 007 to speak to someone in your state.
Parenting Support Services
Parentline – 1300 30 1300 – free advice and counselling for parents, available 8am-10pm on the phone and 8am-9pm online
The Gidget Foundation – a not-for-profit with the mission of supporting new parents emotionally, offering counselling and support services
Perinatal Anxiety and Depression Australia (PANDA) – and 1300 726 306 (Mon – Sat) – provides free support to parents in the first year of their child’s life
Tresillian – 1300 272 736 – provides support to families on all things baby, including looking after parental mental health.
Grief and Loss Services
Griefline – offers counselling and support to people experiencing grief and loss
National Centre for Childhood Grief – offers counselling for kids and teens who have lost a parent, sibling or other close loved one.
Remember that if you are worried about someone who feels like they can’t stay safe, and they need immediate support, they can call 000 or Lifeline on 13 11 14.
Answers to the frequently asked questions.
Our last EAP was barely touched. Why would this be different?+
Most EAPs go unused because of how they're accessed, not because staff don't need them. Phoning a stranger, explaining yourself, then waiting weeks is enough to stop most people before they start. Foremind removes all three steps: staff see real counsellor profiles, pick someone themselves, and book the same day.
If you already have a provider, the question worth asking is what your current utilisation is. Most traditional EAPs sit in low single digits, which means you're paying for cover your people aren't reaching. If yours is being used, staff can get seen quickly, and it covers your psychosocial obligations, there's no reason to move. If not, it's worth knowing what you're getting for the spend.
Do you offer 24/7 support?+
Yes. A 24/7 after-hours crisis line means staff can reach someone immediately at any hour, including nights and weekends.
Counselling appointments are also available outside standard business hours, so shift-based and on-call teams aren't limited to a nine-to-five window. Those are two different things, and it's worth checking any provider offers both rather than just the crisis line.
Are your EAP counsellors based in Australia?+
Yes. Every practitioner on the platform holds current membership with an Australian professional body and practises under Australian standards, codes of ethics and disciplinary frameworks. There are no offshore call centres.
Practitioners hold membership with the Australian Counselling Association, the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia, or the Australian Association of Social Workers, along with a current Working with Children or Vulnerable People Check.
How much does an EAP cost?+
Pricing is usually per employee per month, based on total headcount rather than how many people use the service. Costs vary widely depending on whether sessions are bundled in and whether compliance tooling is included.
A more useful comparison is cost per employee who actually uses it. An EAP with 2% utilisation can work out several times more expensive per person helped than one that gets used. Foremind offers pay-as-you-go, inclusive session plans and compliance-inclusive plans, with discounted pricing for not-for-profits and charities.
For full breakdown of our plans, see our EAP pricing page or request a quote for a tailored proposal.
What information does an employer receive about EAP usage?+
Nothing that could identify anyone. All counselling is completely confidential and all reporting is anonymous - you'll never see who booked, when, or what was discussed.
What you do see is the aggregated picture: how many people are using it, what psychosocial risks are prevalent in the business, and which teams are under pressure. Enough to know the investment is working and where to act, never enough to identify a person. Reporting thresholds mean small teams can't be reverse-engineered from the data.
Does having an EAP meet an employer's psychosocial duty of care?+
No. An EAP is a control measure, and a valuable one, but it only addresses harm after it has occurred. It doesn't identify hazards, assess risk, or evidence that controls are working.
Australian WHS law requires you to identify psychosocial hazards, assess the risk, control it so far as is reasonably practicable, and review whether those controls are working — with documented evidence at each step. Offering counselling on its own leaves three of those four steps undocumented.
Foremind covers both in one platform. See how the compliance side works in our product tour.