Government Funding Cut Puts Ask Izzy Help at Risk

The Albanese government faces calls to restore $2 million a year in funding for Ask Izzy, a free online directory that helps people find food, housing and emergency assistance. Services Australia confirmed the funding agreement ended on June 30. No federal government minister has publicly explained the decision beyond referring to government processes.

Almost 200 charities and community organisations have joined a campaign to bring back the funding, up from 24 at its launch. More than 2,000 Australians have contacted politicians to push for action. During the next parliamentary sitting week, a delegation of frontline workers and people with lived experience of homelessness, family violence and financial hardship plans to travel to Canberra to make its case.

Independent MP Allegra Spender has urged the government to keep supporting the digital tool. “Ask Izzy is a fantastic service connecting the most vulnerable members of our community to support when they really need help,” she said. “Our office uses it when we're trying to find emergency assistance for people in our electorate.”

Who Relies on the Directory

Ask Izzy logged a record 9.1 million searches last financial year, up 7 per cent. Food accounted for almost a third of requests, followed by financial assistance, housing and mental health support. The figures show what the funding dispute means for people seeking basic help: the directory connects them with services, but the agreement that paid for it has ended.

Women account for 63 per cent of users, and one in five people searching for housing assistance are escaping family violence. In the Victorian electorate of Mallee, home to about 88,000 people, users made approximately 28,000 searches for assistance last year. Coalition MPs in regional Queensland have asked for detailed electorate-level figures ahead of Senate estimates hearings later this month.

Not-for-profit Infoxchange operates the service, which lists more than 500,000 charities, government programs and community organisations. Infoxchange chief executive David Spriggs said the government helped set up Ask Izzy and should keep funding it amid record demand. “The government helped establish Ask Izzy, and its agencies, funded services and countless vulnerable Australians rely on it every day,” he said. “The government should restore the funding.”

A Cross-Party Campaign, No Reversal Yet

The Coalition, Greens, One Nation and crossbench MPs have backed the campaign in Canberra. But One Nation and crossbench independents have expressed support in discussions with campaign organisers without making formal commitments. The Coalition has stated its support, yet neither that backing nor support from independents has restored the funding.

The office of Tasmanian Liberal senator Claire Chandler told a constituent that the Coalition supported restoring it. “When in government, the Coalition always provided financial support to the Ask Izzy service,” the office said in correspondence. “Labor must explain why it has stripped funding away from a service helping 9.1 million Australians seeking assistance in hard times.” That statement sets out the Coalition’s position; campaigners are asking the current government to act.

Organisers are seeking $6 million over three years and estimate the service delivers $83.1 million in annual public value. Services Australia pointed to alternative government referral services, saying they don't require additional licensing or subscription costs. The government hasn't publicly given a ministerial explanation for ending the agreement beyond its reference to processes. Search numbers have hit a record, and organisations across the country back the campaign. Yet that remains the answer from the institution holding the purse strings.