Just this month alone, around 2000 crisis calls will be answered by Lifeline Central West volunteers in Orange, Bathurst and Dubbo.

Nationally, around one million calls from people in a crisis will be made to Lifeline.

Bathurst woman Stephanie Robinson is among those on the front line answering those calls.

Calls can be from people who are lonely, depressed, suffering from anxiety, amid a personal crisis, victims of abuse, and sometimes, they are from people who are suicidal.

Working as the Lifeline Central West crisis support services manager, Ms Robinson knows first hand how vital it is to have someone available to answer Lifeline’s 13 11 14 number 24 hours a day, seven-days-a-week.

She said Australia’s mental health sector was also in desperate need of help, and like Lifeline Australia, agrees that the government should recognise suicide as a national emergency.

In 2015, 3027 people died by “intentional self harm” (suicide) the most recent data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) shows.

This is 2.5 times more than the 1205 who died on the nation’s roads during the same time period.

In the past six years (2010-15) 15,914 people died by suicide (the total population of Parkes), by comparison 7471 died on the roads.

Ms Robinson said “the numbers are really concerning” and the risk of self harm was spread across all ages.

“Just this morning [Friday] I had callers in their 50s and 60s – one was at imminent rise of suicide, two had thoughts of suicide,” Ms Robinson said.

“Help seekers range from being young people right up to the elderly.”

Ms Robinson said changes in society, and especially technology, have had an impact on the mental health of the community.

“I think our lives are too complex – financial pressures, pressures to be better, the goal posts keep moving for people,” she said.

Lifeline’s next Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) course commences on July 1, and she has urged everyone to attend.

Training is available for people who would like to volunteer as a Lifeline crisis support worker. Call 1300 798 258 to find out about the ASIST training.