The Hon. David Coleman MP, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, was the Guest-of-Honour at the launch of CASS H-Line Non-Crisis Hotline held at CASS Peakhurst Centre today. Clr Nancy Liu of the Georges River Council was also present on the occasion.

CASS Peakhurst Centre provides day program for people with disability during weekdays, and on every Tuesday, it also provides day activity for a group of Chinese-speaking elderly people. It is located within the electorate of Banks, of whom Hon. David Coleman is the local Federal Member.

CASS Chairperson, Dr Bo Zhou, in his welcoming speech said, “One of the issues that surfaced during the COVID-19 global pandemic is the mental health issues in CALD community. Mental health is a key component of overall health and wellbeing. But sadly, many people in the CALD community find it difficult to talk openly about their mental health. As Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, Hon. Coleman once told me that he noticed the strong demand from the CALD community for culturally and linguistically appropriate mental health services, and he encouraged CASS to take up the initiative to provide mental health services for people of the CALD community to care for their mental wellbeing.” 

“Responding to Minister Coleman’s advice, CASS has since been planning to provide mental health services on its own limited resources. The first service to be undertaken is the H-Line Non Crisis Hotline, which is going to be operated by a group of selected volunteers trained and supervised by professionals, to provide mental wellbeing and emotional support in Mandarin and Cantonese initially.”

Hon. Coleman said, “I am pleased to see that as an important service provider in the multicultural community, CASS is working proactively to respond to the needs of call community for mental health services by the establishment of H-Line Non-Crisis Hotline.”

“H-Line would be particularly helpful to people living under the impact of COVID-19 situation when so many people in the CALD community are experiencing emotional distress. H-Line will provide an opportunity for people in the Chinese community to seek support, which is tailored to meet their language and cultural needs and lowers their overall stress and anxiety. In addition, H-Line will serve as an information hub, helping people to address their mental health issues at an early stage and providing referral information for people to seek professional assistance.”

He then officiated the commencement of the operation of H-Line by making a call to the phone number ☎ (02) 9063 8888, which was answered by a volunteer operator of the hotline.

After the launch, Hon. Coleman was given a tour of the Centre. Participants of the CASS disability day program enthusiastically greeted him for his caring visit.

The Ceremony was attended by a number of Board and senior staff members of CASS, fully in compliance with COVID-19 prevention measures.