West Australian children reaching out to Kids Helpline increased by 74 per cent in just one year, revealing the staggering amount of young people struggling with their mental health across the State.

The latest Kids Helpline 2025 Impact Report revealed 10,392 youth in WA called the mental health service in 2025 — 4420 more enquiries than the previous year.

The high rates in WA made up eight percent of contacts to Kids Helpline nationwide.

Around 80 per cent of young people who reached out were from major cities in WA while 14 per cent were from outer regional and remote areas — six per cent higher than the national average for regional youth.

It comes as the report also unveiled that remote WA children were three times more likely to report suicidal thoughts than their city peers.

Kids Helpline have to contact emergency services or child protection authorities when a young person is at immediate risk of harm.

Child abuse claims made up 45 per cent of those interventions while 32 per cent were for suicide attempts and seven per cent were for mental illness escalation.

Non-profit yourtown chief executive Tracy Adams said the increase in young people contacting Kids Helpline when they are in crisis highlights the challenges Australian children are experiencing.

“We know at Kids Helpline that stigma remains one of the biggest barriers stopping young people from reaching out to the service. They worry about being judged, dismissed or becoming a burden if they speak up about what they’re feeling,” she said.

“Our data shows that because of this stigma, young people are waiting until the breaking point to seek the help they need, and these numbers are growing.

“We are seeing this pattern continue in 2026, which is not just staggering, but shows the reality our kids are facing every day.”

The main reasons for contacting Kids Helpline included emotional wellbeing, mental health concerns, family relationship issues, suicide concerns, peer relationships, self-injury, child abuse, dating, and bullying.

Kids Helpline responded to almost 129,000 enquiries nationally in 2025, averaging around 353 responses per day.

More than 70 per cent of these were outside business hours and webchat overtook phone as the preferred method of communication.

Kids Helpline is now calling on increased funding from Federal, State, and Territory governments to ensure the helpline can keep providing support.

“Kids Helpline is the only youth mental health service in Australia that provides 24/7 professional support to young people. To ensure we can continue to provide this critical service, we need essential funding,” Ms Adams said.

“We’re here to support young people, and meet them where they’re at, but that comes at a cost.”