Local Support
offers outreach, support and community development with the Youth Bushfire Response Project.
Young people aged 10 and 21 are able to access free services through this program. The Youth Bushfire Response Officer is available from 9 - 5 on Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday weekly as well as Monday & Friday fortnightly. For further information or to access this service please contact 5448 1000 or drop in to the office at 47 High Street Bendigo. (Just down from McDonalds)
Centacare offers a range of community development, counselling and group therapy based services that can assist during times of stress.
CentaCare's Bushfire Recovery Service is free and has been made possible through the Catholic community's generous donations to the Archbishop's Bushfire Appeal and through funding from the Department of Families, Housing and Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA). The services are available to any individual, family or community in the Bendigo and Redesdale Fire affected regions who wishes to access them, free of charge. If you feel as though the bushfires have had a lasting impact on your emotional or physical wellbeing, your relationships, or any other
aspect of your life, talking it over with a counsellor could help. Counselling provides a confidential, respectful and safe environment in which you can express your feelings and thoughts and be supported to move forward. If you can relate to any of these signs you may be experiencing stress or trauma and may benefit from counselling:
- Lack of concentration or ‘fuzzy' thinking
- Not able to make decisions or feeling confused
- Unable to wind down or relax
- Withdrawal from people close to you
- Angry or short fused
- Unmotivated
- Feeling hopeless
- Increased use of drugs or alcohol
- Difficulty sleeping
Lack of interest in food - Not interested in intimacy
- Loss of fun and playfulness
- Arguments in the family
Counselling appointment times and locations can be negotiated to complement your preferences. If you would like to talk to the CentaCare Team about how they can support you, your family or your community, please call 5438 1300. If a Team Member is unable to take your call, please leave your name and contact details and a Team Member will return your call as soon as possible.
Other useful contacts
- Rural Financial Counselling Service Victoria 5442 2424
- Victorian Bushfire Information Line 1800 24 0667
- Community Health Centres
- Bendigo and surrounds 5448 1600
- Castlemaine and surrounds 5479 1000
- Kyneton and surrounds 5421 1660
- Lifeline 13 11 14
- Kid's Helpline 1800 55 1800
- Beyond Blue 1300 22 4636
- Mensline Australia 1300 78 9978
- WIRE (information for women) 1300 13 4130
- Bushfire Legal Help 1800 11 3432
- CFA
- DSE
- Department of Human Services 5434 5555
