About Waypoint

Waypoint helps anyone in Melbourne find free local support — mental health, food, housing, family violence, financial help, legal aid, parenting, multicultural and youth services. We're free to use, work in 9 languages, and you don't need to log in or download anything.

We were built because most people who need help don't know where to start. A worried mum doesn't know which Headspace centre is closest, what hours they keep, or whether they speak Vietnamese. A dad reaching out for the first time doesn't want to sit in a waiting room. A family who needs groceries this week shouldn't have to fill in five different forms to find out who's open today.

So we made it as simple as it can be: text us, or search the directory. We figure out the rest.

Three ways to find help

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Search the directory

By suburb, issue, or language. Every service shows what it costs, what languages it speaks, when it's open, and what to expect when you walk in.

💬

Text us on +61 468 094 368

Tell us what's going on in your own words. Our AI will ask one or two gentle questions, then text back the 2–3 best free services for you, in your language. Average response time: under 30 seconds.

🚨

In a crisis?

We always show 24/7 crisis services first. If you tell us you're in immediate danger, we connect you to the right line straight away — and a real person from our team is alerted in case you need follow-up.

How Waypoint is different

We're not Lifeline. We're not Ask Izzy. We do something the others don't.

Lifeline

Who you call when you know you're in crisis. They're brilliant at it. We send people straight to them when that's what's needed.

Ask Izzy

A national search box for thousands of services. Useful, but it assumes you already know what you're looking for.

Waypoint

For the moment before that. When you just know something's wrong and you don't know where to start. You can text us in three words and we'll figure it out — in Vietnamese, Arabic, Punjabi, Hindi, Karen, Amharic, Dinka, Macedonian, or English. Hyper-local to Melbourne. Verified by the organisations that run the services, not scraped from the internet.

Languages we work in

English
Tiếng Việt
العربية
ਪੰਜਾਬੀ
हिन्दी
Karen
አማርኛ
Thuɔŋjäŋ
Македонски

If you write to us in another language, we'll do our best — and tell you honestly when we can't.

What we cover

Mental health
for adults, young people, parents, men, women, LGBTQIA+
Free food and emergency relief
food banks, community meals, vouchers
Housing and financial help
rental crisis, homelessness, financial counselling
Family violence
safety planning, refuges, intervention orders
Legal aid
tenancy, fines, intervention orders, immigration
Alcohol and other drugs
counselling, withdrawal, family support
Parents and families
parenting groups, family services
Multicultural support
bicultural workers, settlement services, interpreting
LGBTQIA+ services
affirming, safe, non-judgemental
Youth services
Headspace, school-based support, youth health
Healthcare
bulk-billing GPs, dental, sexual health, refugee health

Privacy

We don't ask for your name. We don't ask for your address. We never share your phone number with anyone. We store your messages only as long as we need to help you — never sold, never linked to advertising. If you text us, your phone number is hashed and only resolved when our team needs to reply to you.

Who we work with

Waypoint is run in partnership with Western Health, IPC Health, and a network of community health and social services across Melbourne. Every service in our directory has been verified by the organisation that runs it — not scraped from the internet, not crowd-sourced.

For services and partners

If you run a free service in Melbourne and want to be listed, get in touch. Existing partners can claim and update their listing through our partner portal — we'll prompt you every 90 days to confirm anything's changed.

When we say "free"

We mean free to the person using it. No subscription. No login. No data sold. The directory and SMS line are free for everyone in Melbourne, supported by our partner organisations and grant funding. Standard message rates from your phone carrier may apply when you text us — but the service itself is and always will be free.