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If there are large numbers of young people trying to access WebChat counselling, there is a chance that you might not get through to a WebChat counsellor today.

You can always call us for free on 1800 55 1800 as our phone lines are open 24/7!

If you need urgent help because your life is in danger, please call 000 immediately.

There are times of the day (usually in the evenings) where there are lots of others just like you who are trying to get online and chat with a counsellor at Kids Helpline. This can mean that it takes a longer than usual time to get through - sometimes over an hour. If you need urgent help because your life is in danger, please call 000 immediately. If you are happy to wait that's totally cool - you can spend the time looking through the rest of our website and You'll receive a message on your WebChat counselling screen when a counsellor is ready to talk to you. Otherwise you can give us a call on 1800 55 1800 or try again at another time of the day when it might not be so busy. Its entirely up to you!

When you use our WebChat or Email counselling services what is written during this time is not shared with any person or organisation outside of Kids Helpline. The only time this would be different is if you told us something that was serious and we needed to get urgent help for you or we are legally required to share information (see below "We Take Things Seriously"). If you have any questions or concerns, please speak with your counsellor.

If you are working with a counsellor over a period of time sometimes the counsellor will need to check back to see what happened in earlier sessions. This means that Kids Helpline needs to keep a record of your counselling sessions. These transcripts are securely stored on Kids Helpline premises at all times.

Something else to think about is how secure your messages are on the Web. We protect the information you provide us at our end with a whole heap of really strict security and great encryption. We even get some really smart people to come in and check the security of our systems regularly.

You can read more about your privacy and what we do with your information by clicking here. If you like you can also ask a counsellor.

At Kids Helpline we take things very seriously - especially when we think that you or someone else you know might need some urgent help. This includes situations where:

• someone is hurting you or not looking after you properly
• you have hurt yourself or are seriously thinking about hurting yourself
• if you or someone you know are seriously thinking about hurting someone else
• if we are very concerned about your health and safety
• if we are legally required to share information

If this happens your counsellor will let you know about their concerns and will work with you to try and make sure that you or others are safe. This may mean that the counsellor will encourage you to give enough information about yourself (like your name and where you are) so that we can act to try to make sure you and others are safe.

You can talk with us any time and for any reason. For some people, that means one session is enough - but there are lots of others who contact us regularly, usually once a week. Sometimes, when things are really tough - it might be more often - but that's something you should discuss with your counsellor.