We are here to talk with you and listen. We won’t tell anybody what you say to us and our conversations are private. The only time we might need to tell somebody is if you or someone else are in a life-threatening situation or are in danger of being significantly harmed or we are legally required to share information. In times like this we have a responsibility to protect you from harm and meet our legal responsibilities.  We will talk with you about this beforehand wherever possible. If you have any questions or concerns, please speak with your counsellor.

No, you don’t have to tell your parents that you’re contacting us. Kids Helpline is a service for young people to call anytime, for any reason. For some families, it can help to talk to your parents about what’s going on for you. But we understand not everybody is comfortable telling their parents. 

If you want your parents/carers to be involved in chatting with Kids Helpline, you can give Kids Helpline permission to talk to them.

We’ve got a system here that keeps track of what we are doing. It can help you too, because it means our team can quickly know what you’ve been talking about and know how best to support you.

You can request access and changes to your personal information by emailing [email protected]

If you prefer not to give your name, that’s ok! Sometimes people don’t feel comfortable sharing their name, especially if they’re new to Kids Helpline. As you start to feel more comfortable with us you might like to exchange names with a counsellor.

We’ve worked with telephone companies to try and keep your calls private. In many cases, Kids Helpline won’t show up on your telephone bill, but we can’t guarantee this.

We protect the information you give us. We have strict security and encryption for any information we collect. Only our team can access your information and we won’t share it with anybody without your agreement, unless you or someone else are in danger. In times like this we have a responsibility to protect you from harm.

Like other organisations, we sometimes record calls so we can review them and make sure our team is doing the best job they can. If you prefer that your call not be recorded, then just ask your counsellor to switch it off.

We care about you and want you to be safe. We also have a responsibility to protect you from harm which is called our “duty of care”. This means that if we think you’re in a dangerous or unsafe situation or we are legally required to share information we’ll take some action such as telling somebody or another organisation. It can also include times when somebody else might be in danger and we need to protect them too.  We will talk with you about this beforehand wherever possible. If you have any questions or concerns, please speak with your counsellor.