<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Lifeline's national crisis support hotline for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people has recorded a surge in calls following the March for Australia protests.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>13YARN, the 24/7 number run by Indigenous crisis supporters, receives an average of 91 calls each day, or 33,215 calls a year, according to new data from Lifeline today.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The figure is up from last year's average of 65 calls each day, or 23,725 calls a year. </span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/uncontacted-indigenous-groups-risk-vanishing-within-a-decade/b685dd2d-7fcd-46ee-b3f1-646fc644c9c0" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Warning isolated Indigenous groups could vanish within a decade</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The crisis line recorded its busiest year since launching in March 2022 in October, off the back of the March for Australia protests and the alleged </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/melbourne-australia-camp-sovereignty-clash/016a5889-6504-40e1-bf4f-52992d734c06" rel="" target="_blank" title="attack on Camp Sovereignty in Melbourne"><span>attack on Camp Sovereignty in Melbourne</span></a><span> on August 30.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Thousands of people protested against immigration nationwide on the same day that a group of neo-Nazis, including prominent white nationalist Thomas Sewell, stormed the sacred Indigenous, allegedly assaulting women and hurling racist abuse.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>March for Australia protests have been held several times since then. </span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/lifeline-13yarn-indigenous-crisis-support-hotline-records-surge-in-calls-after-march-for-australia-protests/cc8b2107-1174-4a74-96b7-07fe3a6cf589" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It had a big impact on the Aboriginal community Australia-wide, because we're not seeing the same outrage with racism against Aboriginal people," Lifeline's head of Indigenous affairs, Marjorie Anderson, said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Anderson said the protests and alleged attack on Camp Sovereignty stoked a fear of personal safety within Indigenous Australians, who feel that they will not be protected in the event of an incident.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/telcos-forced-to-make-outages-public-in-realtime-with-fines-for-triplezero-impacts-increased-to-30-million/49a0146c-2afc-44ea-a749-e9e28fb6a03a" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Telcos forced to make outages public with fines for triple-zero failures increased to $30m</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>13YARN has recorded increased demand year-on-year - a trend that is only expected to continue.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Productivity Commission's Closing the Gap report in July found that the rates of suicide among Indigenous Australians had worsened, with 30.8 people per 100,000 taking their own lives in 2023.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Suicide accounted for about 20 per cent of deaths among Indigenous Australians under 24 between 2019 and 2023, and the leading cause of death for Indigenous children, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Anderson said the crisis support hotline is "really critical" for the community. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It's often the last point of call for people. We have people out in the community coming up and saying we saved their lives," she said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/tax-return-deadline-october-31-hundreds-of-thousands-yet-to-file/358f513d-a879-4a9f-b5fe-a9e9f23226d1" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Half a million Aussies have three days to dodge $1650 fine</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>13YARN is working to get federal government support to create a text and webchat service, particularly for young people and those in domestic violence situations to access help.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Our youth won't ring a line, but they'll text for help," Anderson said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Let's face it, you could be sitting on the other end of the lounge from a young person, and they'll text you rather than talk to you."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The service is also trying to secure more funding to hire more staff to keep up with the increasing demand.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We are victims of our own success, but we will always make sure that those lines get answered," Anderson said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>For 24/7 crisis support run by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, contact 13YARN (13 92 76).</span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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