retail supervisor

counselor

learning and development manager

counsel

warehouse supervisor

Lifeline Australia

A typical day involved serving customers and supporting volunteers in a busy charity retail environment. The community-facing side of the role was consistently engaging and felt genuinely purposeful within Lifeline's mission.
I developed strong customer service skills and learned a great deal about volunteer coordination and the charity sector. I also came to understand just how important reliable management structures are for staff wellbeing.
In my experience, management was the most significant weakness of the organisation. I found communication from the store manager to be limited, and concerns I raised did not feel acknowledged. I experienced multiple scheduled HR meetings that did not go ahead as planned, which left me feeling unsupported. When a positive area manager moved on, what little backing remained seemed to disappear with them.
The workplace culture at a frontline level was warm, purpose-driven and community-focused. However, in my experience this was not reflected at a management level, creating a disconnect I found difficult to navigate.
The hardest part of the job was feeling unsupported after raising genuine concerns, particularly around wellbeing matters where follow-through was lacking.
The most enjoyable part, without question, was the community connection building real relationships with customers and volunteers who cared deeply about the work made every day meaningful.

What is the best part of working at the company?
I truly enjoy working for Lifeline. Being part of an organization that makes such a meaningful impact on people's lives gives me a strong sense of purpose and fulfillment. The team is supportive, dedicated, and genuinely passionate about what they do, which creates a positive and inspiring work environment. Every day brings new opportunities to learn, grow, and contribute to something greater than myself. I'm proud to be part of Lifeline and look forward to continuing to support its mission.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
I haven't found it stressful at all.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The work environment at the company is collaborative, supportive, and dynamic. Employees are encouraged to share ideas, take initiative, and continuously grow both personally and professionally. The culture promotes open communication, mutual respect, and a strong sense of teamwork, which helps foster innovation and a positive atmosphere. Leadership is approachable and values employee contributions, making it a motivating place to work where people feel valued and inspired to do their best.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
In my role, I start early and pick up donations from various locations. I get to converse with other volunteers.

Incredibly rewarding role for me; I was with the company for almost 4 years. Normally Lifeline does not offer paid employment for crisis counsellors, so you may be stuck working nights/early mornings when there is the most amount of calls and the least amount of people to answer. It’s a high pressure job and you have to be able to build a strong rapport with someone and then hang up the phone afterwards and be alright with not having closure, especially when it has been a challenging call. Accurate documentation is crucial. Excellent debriefing and staff support, but definitely need to be able to handle some distressing/upsetting circumstances. So rewarding being able to assist people during that time of need, but you do need some grit. You have to be well versed in suicide, self harm, isolation, grief, addictions, DFV, mental illness and disabilities. They provide excellent and continual professional development. Especially around Christmas there is a dire need for crisis counsellors, with increased calls and less crisis supporters to take them. Results in wait times before the help seeker can speak to someone, and these can be extensive at times, especially when considering someone in distress or at risk. A rewarding role but not for the faint hearted. 

Actual calls can be quite intense and there is always a supervisor there for support, especially with imminent suicides. Because of the type of work it is one's Self Care is a priority so breaks or debriefs are strongly suggested if needed.
Every call is different and a opportunity to learn from callers. We also have opportunities for ongoing training for our Accreditation requirements as well as Group supervision where we can discuss challenging calls and brainstorm methods and areas for improvement. Also a time for recognition.
The management are very supportive, well trained, experienced, fair and appreciative.
We all work together for the purpose of helping the community while 
reducing Suicide and are professional and friendly to callers and each other.
There is much enjoyment and satisfaction through encouraging callers to think of ways they can improve or resolve their issues through enabling them and giving them hope and skills to move forward especially when they are suicidal.

Working for this government organization was a rollercoaster ride. While they didn't exactly fill my pockets, the experience I gained was invaluable. The struggle for fair pay was real, but it pushed me to negotiate and advocate for myself. I saw firsthand how bureaucracy can be maddeningly slow, yet it taught me patience. The silver lining? I got to peek behind the curtain at how things work (or don't) in the public sector, which will undoubtedly benefit my ongoing research on human interactions. The cultural differences between my non Australian roots and the Australian government machinery were stark, a microcosm of my broader journey.

This stint highlighted the importance of resilience and adaptability in my life, which are central themes in my academic research. In retrospect, while it had its share of lows, this chapter significantly enriched my professional and personal growth, helping me appreciate the nuances of trust and rapport in diverse contexts.

The call center in Parramatta is staffed by a bully  trainer who likes to bullies volunteers and is only there to give an impression of doing good for the company. He is only interested in himself and his Indian colleague who is equally appalling. She is short sighted and demands respect, which she doesn't earn with her righteous attitude.These 2 trainer thrives off each other. The senior Indian supervior is the worst, he drives a Mercedes to work and lavish himself in expensive jewellery and suits. He greatly parades around student volunteers and demands students bow to his twisted philosopy. He is not worthy of working in a vital organisation that looks after vulnerable callers while he sees himself above others. A disappointing working environment. Avoid unless you got plenty of time to tolerate that sort of personnel.

A shift at Lifeline consists of continuous phone calls and I have learned to use appropriate intervention skills to reach an optimal outcome.

When it gets too stressful, the supervisors are very supportive in reducing the stress by giving us moral support. 

The work environment is very positive, and this is necessary given the circumstances in which we are working. Everyone is sopprtive of each other, and we use whatever free time we have to debrief with a co-worker. 

The most difficult part of the job is when we are using all the intervention methods we have, and the caller is still uncooperative. It becomes difficult to determine what is appropriate for this caller, but eventually the supervisor and myself reach a unanimous decision on the matter. 

The most enjoyable part is that we all get to work together and have a positive attitude towards each other, which makes it very pleasurable to work at Lifeline.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Learning the CARE framework and implementing it under the guidance of expert counselors. So much support! 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Dealing with more than one help seeker at a time during busy periods. Also recognizing when help seekers are taking advantage or being crude on purpose

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Super supportive, really enjoyed volunteering for lifeline. Its so rewarding

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Work from home, hop onto laptop, sign in, and answer calls for help. Give help seekers your focus and time to message what they want to using the CARE framework. Assess for suicide risk (you are taught this). Debrief with your supervisor if you need to, otherwise write it on paper. Look after yourself afterwards (eg exercise). You also do free group supervisions regularly.

Provide crisis support in crisis situations such as suicide, relationships, mental health issues, loneliness, addictions, bereavement and physical health problems, etc.
Listen with care and acceptance remaining non-judgemental, whatever the circumstance 
Provide referrals.to other national and local services
Provide client-centred telephone counselling.
Provide competent suicide intervention in a crisis support context.
Use the  life line telephone system.
 
this jog requires excellent communication skills its very rewarding but also can be draining at times I am supported by a wonderful team and self care is very important. 

Self development is compulsory to keep my accreditation so I am continually attending Life line training courses and completing the required on line assessments.

My day entailed a variety of roles largely administration and referral/reception duties. Being on call was usually after work hours. I learned a great deal about working in a multidisciplinary team and the public. How to respond to the needs of others when in crisis and making changes in their lives especially families/children/young adults. My management is supportive and encouraging. My co-workers are good people and fun to be around.The hardest part of the job is job insecurity due to government funding and restructuring. The most enjoyable part of the job is the achievement sense of knowing you make a difference and working with intelligent, kind others.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Retail supervisor 4 salaries reported	$34.97 per hour
Counselor 1 salary reported	$90,000 per year
Learning and development manager 2 salaries reported	$15,900 per month
Counsel 2 salaries reported	$85,000 per year
Warehouse supervisor 1 salary reported	$35.00 per hour

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