As Australia’s largest mental health support website, supported and funded considerably by various state governments, it is hard for Lifeline to be considered unreliable. Nevertheless, a reliability analysis is nonetheless essential. While the service is not government-run, substantial funding in the millions of Australian Dollars is provided by the Federal and State Governments.
There are no hints of advertising on the Lifeline website, where almost every page is dedicated to support and information. The only areas looking for money are the fundraising and donation sections. While merchandise exists, it is scarcely mentioned in the site, appearing only in the header navigation area. Any data from external sources, such as on the data and statistics page, have the sources clearly stated (in this case, mostly the government sources ABS and AIHW). Additionally, there exist statistics about the service itself and the information provided are guides on how to cope with and overcome certain issues. No external sources of information were found for these articles, possibly because they were created especially for Lifeline. However, this was unable to be confirmed. Likewise, such information generally does not need to be kept up to date, as there is no real change that could occur in these guides. There is, however, a feedback section under the articles, suggesting that the site is probably consistently updated.