Celebrating 20 years of Parentline

On 9 August 2016, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk met with Parentline counsellors at the yourtown head office to discuss key issues faced by people contacting us.

PROVIDING COUNSELLING, EDUCATION & SUPPORT...

Premier Palaszczuk congratulated Parentline for 20 years of dedicated service, recognising the huge difference we've made to the community and then joined in our anniversary celebrations.

Parentline has responded to more than 200,000 telephone and online contacts from parents and carers from across Queensland and the Northern Territory since opening 20 years ago.

Over the last 20 years, the top reason why parents and carers have contacted us has been to seek guidance and support about children’s challenging behaviour, making up around 15% of contacts each year.

Our seven-day-a-week professional counselling and information service responds to parents and carers about issues ranging from parenting strategies for challenging child behaviours, relationships between children and their parents, through to family custody and access, domestic violence and abuse.

Parentline came about because close to 10% of calls (15,000) to Kids Helpline in 1995 were from parents and carers asking for help about parenting. Many of these people were over the age of 25 years.

“In response, we trialled a parent-focused service across south east Queensland in 1995. The aim was to provide a professional counselling service that educated and encouraged parents and carers to build on their strengths to better understand and work with their family, and find solutions to challenges.” Tracy Adams, yourtown CEO

The trial was an overwhelming success with Parentline officially launched across Queensland in 1996 then extended to the Northern Territory in 2004.

The most notable change to contacts to the service over the decades was around the mental and emotional health of children.

“Contacts about mental and emotional health have almost doubled, going from 6% to 10% in 20 years. This is likely due to increased community awareness about mental health issues and how it affects behaviour.” Tracy Adams, yourtown CEO

Contacts about other issues have consistently remained the same over 20 years with challenging behaviour topping the list closely followed by parent-child relationships, parenting strategies and parent relationships.

It's not surprising that much has stayed the same. Being a parent today is no less rewarding and often presents similar challenges to that experienced 20, 50 or 100 years ago.

"Today, Parentline continues to be a great support for parents and carers looking to talk things over with a professional counsellor or find out what other help is available." Tracy Adams, yourtown CEO

All Parentline counsellors are trained Kids Helpline counsellors, giving them a unique understanding of issues facing parents and their children. In addition to other counselling and support, we've also offered the phone-based Triple P (Positive Parenting Program) since 2002.

For more insights about why parents and carers have contacted Parentline over the last 20 years, check out our recently released 2015 Parentline Insights 20 Years report.

About Parentline...

Parents or carers in Queensland and the Northern Territory looking for support can contact Parentline on 1300 30 1300 or parentline.com.au. The telephone and email service operates between 8am-10pm, seven days a week. Web counselling is available from 11am-2pm, Tuesday and Thursday. The service is funded by the Queensland and Northern Territory Governments.

About yourtown...

We’re a community funded organisation that’s taking on the challenges young people face including Mental Health, Unemployment, Family and Domestic Violence.  Get the latest news and updates on our Facebook page.

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