Ask Izzy
Type of site | Service directory / referral website |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| Owner | Infoxchange |
| Website | askizzy |
| Commercial | No |
| Launched | January 27, 2016 |
| Current status | Active |
Ask Izzy is a free, anonymous mobile website that helps people in Australia locate nearby housing, food, health, financial and family violence support services. It was developed by the not-for-profit technology organisation Infoxchange in partnership with Google, realestate.com.au (REA Group) and News Corp Australia, and was launched in January 2016 by then Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.[1][2]
History
The project that became Ask Izzy originated as "Homeless Assist", a concept submitted by Infoxchange to the Google.org Impact Challenge Australia. In October 2014, it was one of four projects awarded a A$500,000 grant in the challenge, alongside entries from the Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience (AIME), Engineers Without Borders Australia and The Fred Hollows Foundation.[3]
Ask Izzy launched on 27 January 2016, with Pro Bono Australia reporting the launch occurred against a backdrop of a Productivity Commission finding that more than 220 people a day were being turned away from specialist homelessness services nationally.[1] US technology outlet Inverse covered the launch internationally, citing 2015 research that 62 per cent of homeless youth in surveyed populations owned a mobile phone as context for the service's mobile-first design.[2]
In February 2017, the service was expanded with features specifically intended to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people experiencing homelessness, developed in consultation with the Aboriginal Homelessness Network and homelessness service Ngwala Willumbong.[4]
Function
Ask Izzy draws on Infoxchange's Service Seeker database to list services across categories including housing and homelessness support, food relief, financial assistance, family violence support, health and mental health services and legal advice.[non-primary source needed] The service is free to use and does not require users to create an account or provide identifying information.[non-primary source needed] Telstra and Vodafone have provided unmetered access to the site for users on their mobile networks.[non-primary source needed]
Academic evaluation
Ask Izzy has been the subject of academic study by a research group spanning the University of Melbourne and Swinburne University of Technology. An initial evaluation, based on semi-structured interviews with 30 participants who were homeless, formerly homeless, service providers or software developers involved with the application, was presented at the 17th European Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work in 2019.[5] The study reported that the service was attracting more than 10,000 users a month at the time.[5]
An extended version of this research was subsequently published as a peer-reviewed article, "Technology for societal change: Evaluating a mobile app addressing the emotional needs of people experiencing homelessness", in Health Informatics Journal in October 2022.[6] The study used an emotion-led, Living Lab evaluation approach to examine engagement with the app and its design.[6]
Government and institutional use
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare has referenced Ask Izzy in its annual reporting on specialist homelessness services as a tool used to help people locate services.[7] The Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing also separately lists an "Ask Izzy" Disability Advocacy Finder tool, used to search for independent disability advocacy providers.[8]
See also
- Infoxchange
- Homelessness in Australia
- Digital divide
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Turnbull Launches Homeless App". Pro Bono Australia. 2016-01. Retrieved 2026-06-19. Check date values in:
|date=(help) - ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Australia Rolls Out AskIzzy, an App for the Homeless". Inverse. 2016-01. Retrieved 2026-06-19. Check date values in:
|date=(help) - ↑ "NFPs Share $3.5 million in Google Challenge". Pro Bono Australia. 2014-10. Retrieved 2026-06-19. Check date values in:
|date=(help) - ↑ "Ask Izzy Apps Expands to Help Indigenous Homeless". Pro Bono Australia. 2017-02. Retrieved 2026-06-19. Check date values in:
|date=(help) - ↑ 5.0 5.1 Burrows, R.; Mendoza, A.; Sterling, L.; Miller, T.; Pedell, S. (2019). "Evaluating Ask Izzy: A Mobile Web App for People Experiencing Homelessness". Proceedings of the 17th European Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work. European Society for Socially Embedded Technologies (EUSSET). doi:10.18420/ecscw2019_ep17.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Burrows, R.; Mendoza, A.; Pedell, S.; Sterling, L.; Miller, T.; Lopez-Lorca, A. (2022). "Technology for societal change: Evaluating a mobile app addressing the emotional needs of people experiencing homelessness". Health Informatics Journal. 28 (4). doi:10.1177/14604582221146720.
- ↑ "Specialist homelessness services annual report 2019–20". Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Retrieved 2026-06-19.
- ↑ "Ask Izzy". Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing. Retrieved 2026-06-19.
External links
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