I would have loved something like this when I was younger. We have
young people calling to talk about their experience at school, their
experience with their friends, their experience with love interests,
and I would have loved to be able to call and talk to someone about
that – it would have made things a whole lot easier.I came out in my mid-20s – it’s a part of myself I knew existed
for a long time, but was not something I felt comfortable
exploring in my hometown of Brisbane. When I moved to
Melbourne, suddenly I felt like I could not only explore that
part of myself, but celebrate it in this open and inclusive
community. Having this kind of service in that phase of my
life would have been super-handy! We operate a web chat as
well – it’s run in the exact same way, by peers. When I was
growing up it was MSN, so imagine having had some kind of MSN
chat for questioning queers! It would have been incredible.
When I started as a volunteer, I was worried I wouldn’t be good
at it, and that I’d screw up, or people would call and I wouldn’t
be able to help them. But the more I did it, the more I understood
it wasn’t about that at all – it was just about being there for
another person.
The most common feeling I’d have when I left a shift was joy and
connection; I didn’t leave feeling exhausted or down or anything
like that. People’s assumption is that this work is really difficult
and exhausting and tough. Sometimes it is, but most of the time
it’s not – it’s wonderful to connect with people in your community
and just talk about your shared experiences. Any call I’ve taken,
at the end I’ve felt happy about it – I’ve gotten to talk to a person,
and that conversation may have been positive, it may have been
negative, but that person picked up the phone....................
To talk about identity-related stuff, you can reach Switchboard on
1800 184 527 or chat online at qlife.org.auto keep up with demand. There were more calls coming through
in that period and since then, too, and they’re more severe in
nature – more distressed. That was such a difficult period for so
many people in our community, and it continues to be.
Because Switchboard is anonymous and run by peers and
volunteers, people really have to care to be involved, to give their
time, and a lot of people were looking for something meaningful
they could do while the postal survey was happening. The beauty
of Switchboard is that it’s nameless and you don’t have to go to a
professional or clinical person if you don’t want to – you can just
call and chat to someone about how you’re feeling. I think that’s
why we had an increase in calls, but also an increase in people
wanting to volunteer.
Because we’re a not-for-profit, we don’t have a huge budget, and
rely 100 per cent on funding. The more funding we have – from
the community, from donations, from the government, from
grants – the more we can spread the understanding of the service.
My role on the board is community engagement, so I’m trying to
get the message out to people who need it. A few months ago,
I went out to Castlemaine for their Pride celebration, set up a stall
with my dog, handed out a bunch of stickers and chatted with
people there. In regional and rural areas, the service is especially
important – in smaller communities, it’s harder to find people who
are like you. What we’d really love to do is have more of a presence
in regional and rural Australia, so that people who want to talk
about their identity can have that opportunity.
Working on the phones can be a big job. When I was doing it,
I would be smart about when I picked shifts – making sure I didn’t
have a big day at work the next day, for example, and making time
for myself before a shift to clear my head. Even just having a nice
plan for when I got home: having dinner organised; taking my dog
for a walk; listening to music. Just having a space where I could
process what had happened over the shift.
it’s about
being there
for another
person
nine to five