Family Drug Support 2024 Annual Report

29 FDS 24/7 Telephone Support Line… Family Drug Support established a National Telephone Support line in March 1998 using a 1300 number. It has operated 24/7 since its launch and in the past year received over 27, 634 calls . The first line is manned by trained volunteers and the overflow line by trained FDS staff. At least 61% of existing volunteers are confirmed peers. In response to meeting the needs of families the following approaches are utilised: o A non-judgemental approach, a listening ear, empathy, time and understanding o Motivated, trained Volunteers who deliver the support line approaches o Referring to other services such as ADIS, Lifeline, Kids Helpline, 1800RESPECT and others o Encouraging ongoing support and use of FDS services such as Support Groups, Stepping Stones and the website We have 130 volunteers on our roster who come from a wide variety of backgrounds. Many have been personally impacted by alcohol and other drug issues within their family. Others are mature students studying alcohol and other drugs and some are people who seek to volunteer in an area of interest. Callers are encouraged to take advantage of our other services – Support Groups, Guide to Coping, Stepping Forward and Stepping Stones courses. The graphs provided over the next few pages are produced from national data. Data is provided to funding bodies every quarter. The telephone service is a confidential service, we do collect statistical information in order to provide the data to funding bodies. The information collected helps us to determine where our services should be targeted, any emerging trends and anecdotal information given external influences such as bushfires and COVID. This year we noted that 19.11% of support calls involved mention of violence and 12.66% of overall calls involved mention of suicide. Feedback from callers to our Telephone Support Line… o “.. I finally felt heard. She has equipped me with coping tools in a 30 min call and has taken the edge off me. It's made all the difference. Thank you.” o “How as a mum, how I can help? For me, but it is a long road to recovery. ____ was an excellent listener and gave me helpful information. Thank you” o “I liked how the person on the phone did not rush me and was a good listener. The positive and understanding feedback was good but I suppose I was looking for an answer which can't be given of course. Keep up the good work.”