Safe Havens pop-up mental health clinics close across Northern Rivers

After losing his wife, Christine Ray, to cancer, Greg Clitheroe thought he was mentally tough enough to carry on, but that changed quickly.

"After three weeks, I hit rock bottom, and I didn't know what to do," he said.

"I thought I was strong and would cope with my wife's death, but all of a sudden, it hit like a ton of bricks."

The Murwillumbah resident turned to his local Safe Haven, one of four pop-up versions of a statewide network of free, mental health drop-in clinics that were opened across the Northern Rivers after devastating floods in 2022.

"It was a lifesaver for me," Mr Clitheroe said.

He said the Safe Haven centre offered support without judgement.

"This is just a life-mental problem. It doesn't need drugs, it needs someone kind who can listen to you for a while to give you some hope that there is a way through it," he said.

A stroke of luck

Michael Maloney is another client who is dismayed by the prospect of the Murwillumbah Safe Haven closing.

Mr Maloney suffers from bipolar disorder, and at the end of 2022, he was deeply depressed.

Shortly afterwards, he stumbled across the Safe Haven pop-up, where a staff member told him he was very unwell and that the service had a duty of care to get him help

"I was walking down the road and by a stroke of luck I found it," he said. "It saved my life.

"I live in hope that something can be done [to save Safe Haven]."

NSW Health has 23 Safe Haven centres based on or near hospital grounds around the state.

They are run as part of the Towards Zero Suicide initiative.

The four Safe Haven pop-up sites in the Northern Rivers were set up in 2022 as a crisis response under the NSW government's Mental Health and Wellbeing Flood Recovery Project, with programs delivered by The Buttery.

18,500 hours of counselling

Healthy North Coast said since the pop-ups opened, almost 19,000 people had been supported, with more than 18,500 hours of counselling provided free of charge.

The doors closed in Woodburn in October, but in recognition of the enormous need in the region, the government extended Safe Haven services in Lismore, Murwillumbah and Mullumbimby to this month.

"Where do we go now?" Mr Maloney said.

"Safe Haven is everything. It's a caring, non-judgemental environment where I feel safe, and it always starts with a cup of coffee."

Community disappointed

Lismore Medicare Mental Health Service psychologist and clinical service manager Emma Schubert said demand for support was high in the Northern Rivers.

"We will try and see people as a walk-in if we can. To be booked into an intake here [in Lismore] is usually around a week," she said.

"The mental health problem is so great that we are a well-funded and large service, and we're still not able to meet the need.

"We have 450 people [in Lismore] on our books, and we are still struggling with the demand."

Healthy North Coast chief executive Monika Wheeler said regular Safe Haven users were being connected with other providers for ongoing support.

"I understand that people in the community may be feeling disappointed about these changes," she said.

Face-to-face services available in Murwillumbah include Healthy Minds, Men's Wellbeing Matters and Choice of Mind.

There is also a 24/7 Medicare Mental Health Service line on 1800 595 212.

In Lismore, there will be a temporary reprieve, with some funding to be set aside for an outreach service.

Ms Wheeler said the Lismore site had double the demand of the Murwillumbah and Mullumbimby Safe Havens.

"We've been able to continue for just 12 months on an outreach model, but I must emphasise this is using under-spends in the program, not new funding," she said.

"Our understanding today is that no, there is no additional funding.

"If the NSW government makes that available, then of course we would do what we can to keep the service going, but that's not the case."

The established Tweed Heads South Safe Haven is not affected by the changes.