GriefLine is Australia’s only dedicated grief helpline service that provides counselling support services free of charge to individuals and families who are experiencing loss and grief.
Accepting the reality of the loss of someone or something we value can be challenging. Many people find the best way to deal with their feelings is to share them with someone they trust.
GriefLine provides free, confidential telephone counselling services to anyone in the community who may need support in order to express their feelings and experiences.
Our volunteer counsellors are trained to listen, care and support.
People who want to access support can call between:
Midday and 3.00am
7 days a week, 365 days a year
Share your story anonymously and confidentially with people who will listen.
Our services include:
Telephone support
Online counselling
In-house one-on-one counselling
Education and training
Health support programs
GriefLine counsellors listen, care and support in times of:
Bereavement
Relationship and family issues
Family Violence
Suicide
Terminal illness
Unemployment
Natural disasters
Pet bereavement
Farming hardship
Economic hardship and financial anxiety
Mental health concerns
Migrant and refugee support
Carer support
Isolation or loneliness
University of Queensland Psychology Clinic Program for Grief Support
In 2018, Sunset Vets and the University of Queensland Psychology Clinic established a partnership to help support clients through the initial stages of grief associated with the loss of an animal companion.
This program allows for anyone struggling with the loss of a pet to access complimentary services by professionally supervised, provisional psychologists who are undertaking advanced postgraduate study in Clinical Psychology.
This is a referral based program that supports clients with up to 90mins of one-on-one support, as well as access to further subsidised consultations through the Clinic if additional follow up care is required.
If you would like to apply for this support, please contact the Sunset Office
Please Note: We welcome referrals from other veterinarians across Australia. Please get in touch to find out how we can best support your clinic.
If you know someone who is grieving the loss of a pet, Pet Sympathy Cards is a line of cards that specializes in pet grief; these cards are designed to show those around you suffering that you understand their sorrow and are there for them through this difficult time.
These cards are a unique addition to any veterinarian office in particular; if you would like to stock these cards, please do so here: https://petsympathycards.com.au/
Looking to send a card to your grieving friend or relative?
These Cards are available From ProVet, Zebra Vet, SVS and Saxon
Grief Centre
The Grief Centre is a charitable trust, established in 2009. Our mission is to support every person, regardless of financial circumstance, through their individual loss and grief journey by providing quality counselling and support groups, appropriate training and resources, and effective community engagement.
We have a wonderful team of highly qualified and compassionate grief counsellors who offer grief counselling for all forms of loss and grief in-person, online and over the phone.
Grief is a natural response to loss. It might be the loss of a loved one, relationship, pregnancy, pet, job or way of life. The more significant the loss, the more intense the grief is likely to be.
Everyone experiences grief differently. Some people may grieve for weeks and months, while others may describe their grief lasting for years.
Grief is something that takes time to work through. While everyone finds their own way to grieve it’s important to have the support of friends and family or someone else, and to talk about your loss when you need to.
Beyond Blue provides information and support to help everyone in Australia achieve their best possible mental health, whatever their age and wherever they live.
Service Locations & Appointments
“We’re here for everyone in Australia – at work, home, school, university, online, and in communities across the country.” – Beyond Blue
The beyondblue Support Service provides advice and support via telephone 24/7 (just call 1300 22 4636), daily web chat (between 3pm–12am) and email (with a response provided within 24 hours).
Cost
The cost of getting medical or psychological treatment for anxiety, depression or a related condition from a health professional varies. However, in the same way you can get a Medicare benefit when you see a doctor, you can also get part or all of the consultation fee subsidised when you see certain mental health professionals for treatment of anxiety and depression. It is important to recognise that treatment doesn’t have to cost very much and can have lifelong benefits.
Lifeline provides all Australians experiencing a personal crisis with access to online, phone and face-to-face crisis support and suicide prevention services. 13 11 14 is a confidential telephone crisis support service available 24/7 from a landline, payphone or mobile. Anyone across Australia experiencing a personal crisis can contact Lifeline.
Lifeline says: “Feelings of loss and grief can be experienced after we lose someone or something we care about like; the death of a loved one; loss of a relationship; loss of a pet; loss of a job; a change to your way of life; or loss of important possessions. The grief you experience in these instances is not an illness – it is a normal response to a life event that everyone must face at some point. It takes time to adjust and to learn to live our life without that person, thing or way of life.”
Our trained Telephone Crisis Supporters will answer your call and:
Listen to your situation
Provide immediate support
Assist to clarify options and choices available to you
Provide you with referral information for other services in your local area.
Your call will be answered as soon as possible by the next available crisis supporter. If your call isn’t answered straight away, it means we are experiencing high demand for our service and helping other Australians in need. Please stay on the line or call back later.
Call Costs
Most calls to 13 11 14 from a landline will be charged the cost of a local call, however additional charges may apply for some home phone plans. Calls to 13 11 14 from mobiles are free. This includes Pre-Paid and Post-Paid customers.
Other Services
Lifeline also uses instant messenger technology to offer real-time support for people who are overwhelmed and having difficulty coping. See more at: Crisis Support Chat Service
Thanks to a Pets & People initiative, grieving animal lovers can now call a national hotline to be connected with a qualified and experienced counsellor who can help them cope with their loss.
Dr Michael O’Donoghue established the service so that people could call and arrange to make an appointment to talk a specialised pet loss counsellor about the loss of any kind of companion animal.
Location and Service Area
At the time of launch there were 10 service counsellors based across Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane – with the service continuing to expand and offer connections with more and more professionals. As of August 2018 the service now extends to New Zealand with a dedicated hotline established for local NZ callers.
Appointments
Calls are answered by a receptionist 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and transferred to a suitable counsellor if there is one available on the line, otherwise the caller will be contacted by return phone within 24 hours.
Cost
The hotline is a toll free number, but once connected with professional, their counselling rates will vary according to the service provider. These charges will be discussed with the caller before proceeding. Dr Michael O’Donoghue has also curated a list of free and donation-based options on the Grief & Bereavement Support Services page.
The Grief Australia Grief Australia is an independent, not for profit organisation which opened in January 1996.
Grief Australia operates a state-wide bereavement counselling and support service for Victorians. The specialist bereavement counsellors provide counselling and group services to bereaved individuals, young people and children at the Mulgrave office as well as via telephone or telehealth services. Counsellors at the service come from a variety of disciplines including social work, psychology and psychotherapy.
Please note: The Australian Centre for Grief and Bereavement is not a crisis support service. In an emergency please call 000, or if you require urgent counselling, please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.
Location and Service Area
The Grief Australia Counselling and Support Service Melbourne office is located at Suite 3.04, 2 Nexus Court, Mulgrave VIC
Australia 3170
We also provide bereavement counselling to those outside of Melbourne who live in rural and regional Victoria through our telephone and online counselling service which uses high-quality videoconference technology. This provides a convenient, private and secure way of connecting with a bereavement practitioner from your home.
Cost or Contribution
This is a free service for Victorians.
Telehealth or telephone counselling is available for individuals outside of Victoria at a fee for service rate.
For further information phone (03) 9265 2100 or go to www.grief.org.au
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