A temporary mental health centre will be set up in Bondi offering free walk-in services to help Australians grieving and traumatised by the deadly terror attack.
The federal government has invested an extra $42.6 million into a range of mental health organisations, including dedicated funding to support the Australian Jewish community, Bondi locals, first responders, children and young people.
Fifteen people were killed and 40 injured when two gunmen opened fire at the northern end of Bondi Beach where Jewish Australians were gathered for the Chanukah by the Sea event on Sunday.
Read more on the Bondi Beach shooting:
From early next year a Medicare Mental Health Centre will be temporarily established in Bondi in a specific focus on trauma support.
The hours of the Bondi Headspace will also be extended to provide targeted support to young Australians impacted by the attack.
There have also been mental health nurses and psychologists deployed to a hub at the local surf club.
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Federal Health Minister Mark Butler told the ABC the first tranche of funding was aimed at providing immediate support to people accessing assistance via hotlines and online, as well as locally within Bondi.
“This has been an incredibly traumatic event for all Australians, particularly for Jewish Australians given it was so obviously a targeted attack,” he said.
“It’s a time where we want to reassure Australians, particularly Jewish Australians, we’re doing everything possible to protect them and to keep them safe.
“If they are dealing with distress there are services available for them in whatever form they need, whether it’s over the phone, face-to-face, informal or clinical support.”
Mr Butler said he knew the trauma had “reverberated” well beyond Bondi.
“We’re hearing already levels of distress spiking, not just in Sydney, but well beyond,” he said.
More than $14 million has been allocated to Jewish community organisations.
A further $4.5 million will be provided to primary health networks to provide additional psychological therapies in the Sydney region and broader areas with significant Jewish communities.
If you or anyone you know needs help:
- Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467
- Lifeline on 13 11 14
- Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander crisis support line 13YARN on 13 92 76
- Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800
- Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636
- Headspace on 1800 650 890
- ReachOut at au.reachout.com
- MensLine Australia on 1300 789 978
- QLife 1800 184 527
To support first responders, including lifeguards and other community members who witnessed the attack, $5.6 million will be delivered to the Black Dog Institute’s National Emergency Worker Support Service.
Other organisations like Lifeline, Beyond Blue, Headspace and the Kids Helpline will share $7.6 million to scale up their capacity and provide additional crisis support.
Lifeline revealed this week the 24-hour period between midnight on Sunday and Monday had been the busiest day of 2025 with more than 4,300 calls for support across its phone and digital crisis support services.
Its website also had an almost 150 per cent increase in visitors during that time.
Mr Butler said the Commonwealth would work with the NSW government on any further supports needed in the longer term.
