Minister Coleman Highly Praised The Initiative In Providing The Service Catering The Community Needs

The COVID-19 pandemic has seriously affected Australia in the past two years, not only dealt a heavy blow to the economy, but also triggered an increased the prevalence of social and mental health issues in the community.  All along, people in the Chinese Community are reluctant to talk openly about their mental health condition, language barrier further impedes them from seeking support and assistance.  Under the current circumstances, there is an urgent and acute needs requiring the stepping up of mental health service for the Chinese community. CASS launched a service, H-Line Non-Crisis Hotline, in November 2021 to help addressing the community needs.

The Hon. David Coleman MP, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, attended The CASS H-Line Non-Crisis Hotline Project Progress Briefing Session held in the morning of 4 April 2022 at CASS Peakhurst Centre.  He highly praised the initiative to establish and provide mental health and psychosocial support since November last year, playing a significant role in catering the community during the Pandemic.     

Hon Coleman said, “The rising call number received reflected the unprecedented level of demand for mental health services and well-being support. It is pleasing to see how CASS H-Line responded to the pressing needs of the community.”

Hon Coleman emphasized, “Good mental health is absolutely fundamental to overall health and well-being of any community. The Federal Government values the importance of mental healthcare of people in Australia, therefore, substantial resources and funding have been set aside in the Budget to provide extensive support to people in the community.” 

CASS Chairperson, Dr Bo Zhou, in his welcoming speech said, “We are very concerned about the mental health of people in our community and thus started running this CASS H-Line Non-Crisis Hotline on our own financial resources. With the participation of experienced and professional mental health personnel and a group of well-trained and dedicated volunteers, we hope to help and look after the mental and emotional needs of people in the community.”

The phone number of CASS H-Line Non-Crisis Hotline is (02) 9063 8888, and it is open to incoming calls on every Monday and Thursday, between 10am and 2pm.  

The Briefing Session was attended by Clr Nancy Liu of the Georges River Council, and a number of Board and senior staff members of CASS.