It comes as one Tumut woman – who wished to remain anonymous – said she waited more than two hours for AccessLine clinicians to return her call. 

For more than 15 years, the Murrumbidgee mental-health telephone triage, information, advice and counselling service has offered 24-hour support to anyone in the region, seven-days a week. 

The Tumut woman said the service was often the first point of call for south-west residents seeking mental health help and although she praised the work of clinicians, she added the wait was “not good enough”.

The 39-year old also reported there were times only one or two clinicians were working.

The Tumut woman said she heavily relied on the support line.  

“It’s the reason I’m alive,” she said. 

“But I don’t think it’s good enough that people are waiting up-to two-and-a-half hours to talk to someone.”

However, Murrumbidgee Local Health District (MLHD) chief executive Jill Ludford countered the woman’s claims and said the telephone service had consistently exceeded state targets, answering more than 70 per cent of calls within thirty seconds and also offered a call-back option. 

“In this case, the caller selected a call back option,” Ms Ludford said. “Several attempts were made by AccessLine to contact the caller and messages were left on each occasion.”

Ms Ludford said, “people requiring urgent assistance should go to the nearest emergency department”.

Wagga councillor and psychologist Daniel Hayes said his heart went out to AccesLine. 

“To be honest, I couldn’t have done my job without them,” Cr Hayes said. 

“How do you prepare for everyone’s needs on a day-to-day basis when you don’t know how many calls are going to be coming in.”

Cr Hayes said even though he heard stories of extended wait times, he knew a higher percentage of calls were answered. He said it wasn’t a perfect system but the work of AccessLine and other telephone services helped callers and professionals. 

If you or someone you know has a mental health or drug or alcohol problem and you would like to talk to someone, call AccessLine on 1800 800 944.