Lifeline appoints new CIO

Crisis intervention hotline Lifeline has found itself a new chief information officer (CIO) after conducting a swift search.

Lifeline said today that Chris Hardy, who hails from Medibank Health Solutions, started the job four weeks ago, but he already has big plans for the company's IT beyond its existing VoIP and identity management system overhauls.

"Lifeline's information technology environment is, as you would expect, extremely complex. In the short time I have been with the organisation, I've realised there is a significant amount of work to do to enhance and expand Lifeline's role as a major crisis intervention service," Hardy said in a statement.

The new CIO added that his first job is to finish the overhaul of Lifeline's contact centres.

"My immediate focus is to ensure the successful delivery of our 13 11 14 service improvement program that will provide greatly improved delivery of our telephone crisis support line. This involves bringing a number of projects together in the infrastructure, information management and telephony space."

Lifeline takes 1250 calls a day through its 24-hour hotline with over 11,000 volunteers focused on providing mental health awareness and suicide prevention.

Hardy also plans to improve the organisation's "extremely complex" IT infrastructure.

Lifeline CEO Dr Maggie Jamieson welcomed Hardy's appointment.

"I know that his breadth of knowledge in the information technology sector will be an invaluable addition to our team. I look forward to seeing his contribution to furthering Lifeline's reputation as a forward-thinking, innovative and highly professional organisation," she said in a statement.