02 S E C T I O N Methodology Kids Helpline gathers information on a range of issues directly stated by children and young people to the service. Counsellors record non-identifying demographic data and classify contacts according to a defined set of problem types. Some children and young people raised more than one concern related to COVID-19. These multiple mentions are included in the totals of the concerns raised. Percentages shown in the report may not total 100 due to rounding. The information collected is based on counselling sessions where the focus is on helping children and young people who have contacted Kids Helpline. It is not collected for scientific or research purposes. Therefore, some data fields are not completed. It should be acknowledged that where children and young people contacted Kids Helpline and did not mention COVID-19, it does not mean that they were not affected by COVID-19 but rather that there is no way of determining whether they were or not. In some instances, counsellors also collect qualitative information from children and young people to provide case management assistance and to give voice to their concerns. Counsellors collected qualitative information in relation to COVID-19. It is recognised that the source for the data is from children and young people actively seeking help, and this group of children and young people may differ from those who do not seek help about their concerns. As a result of this, a possible respondent bias may exist in the data set. However, this does not detract from the value of the data in providing an evidence base for the development of support strategies for those children and young people who are seeking help. For this analysis, the Australian Human Rights Commission coded each mention of COVID-19 in the case notes under broad themes. The broad themes were identified through an analysis of approximately 700 cases which comprised 30% of all calls mentioning COVID-19 during the relevant period. Concerns related to COVID-19 were mentioned either as a primary concern, co-existing concern and sometimes in relation to the counselling session itself. Only contacts which specifically mentioned COVID-19 were included in the analysis. 6 Section 4 includes, under each of the themes, short case studies based on what children and young people told Kids Helpline. All names and identifying details for children and young people have been removed to protect the identities of the children and young people. Pseudonyms have been used for each case. While based on real cases, the details have been amended so that the cases do not necessarily reflect any one person’s story.