{"id":112818,"date":"2026-03-30T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/?p=112818"},"modified":"2026-03-25T23:51:28","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T12:51:28","slug":"free-mental-health-support-no-referral-necessary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/living\/free-mental-health-support-no-referral-necessary\/","title":{"rendered":"Free mental health support, no referral necessary"},"content":{"rendered":"

IF you happen to be an adult 26 years of age or over struggling with your mental health, but feel bereft of options, there’s a free support service in Bendigo that you can access without a referral.<\/p>\n

Emerging from the 2019 Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System, Mind Australia’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Locals – which has a branch at 3\/15 Hopetoun Street* (the former Council customer service office) – provide face-to-face, outreach, telehealth and telephone services, as well as walk-in consultations on certain days.<\/p>\n

The organisation adopts a ‘how can we help?’ and ‘no wrong door’ approach to help more people to access support, including those who’ve previously been unable to find the right care and\/or experienced barriers to accessing services.<\/p>\n

Mind Australia’s VIC Locals Service operations manager Lisa Henderson said the offering is a consortium partnership.<\/p>\n

“(We’re) the lead organisation, but we also partner with Bendigo Health, Echuca Regional Health, Thorne Harbour, the Salvation Army and the Bendigo & District Aboriginal Co-operative,” she said.<\/p>\n

“(As a result), the support could range from connecting with a peer worker or a community mental health practitioner.<\/p>\n

“We also have the lens of LGBTQIA+, we have First Nations perspectives represented in the space, psychiatry – both a consultant and a registrar – AOD services and trauma therapy.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Mind Australia\u2019s VIC Locals Service operations manager Lisa Henderson said Mind Australia partners with Bendigo Health, Echuca Regional Health, Thorne Harbour, the Salvation Army and the Bendigo & District Aboriginal Co-operative.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

“We pretty much aim to connect with people to work out which of these is going to best support them and to not duplicate any existing services.”<\/p>\n

Ms Henderson said much care and caution has been taken in creating an environment that comes across as welcoming and inclusive.<\/p>\n

“We’ve really thought about how it might feel for people to come in – we want them to feel as if they’re walking into somebody’s home,” she noted.<\/p>\n

She said the other thing that people should understand when they reach out is the Locals’ lived experience workforce.<\/p>\n

“We have people who have a really true understanding of mental ill health from their own perspective – they understand what it might feel like for them.<\/p>\n

“It also inspires trust and recovery for people because they get to see somebody who may have experienced a similar journey or had similar challenges, which you can’t always get from books.”<\/p>\n

Call 5497 5600 or email bendigolocal@mindaustralia.org.au<\/a> for updates.<\/p>\n

*The Bendigo office has temporarily relocated to Myers Street after flood damage to the premises.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

IF you happen to be an adult 26 years of age or over struggling with your mental health, but feel bereft of options, there’s a free support service in Bendigo that you can access without a referral. Emerging from the 2019 Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System, Mind Australia’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Locals […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":187,"featured_media":112821,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-112818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-living"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFree mental health support, no referral necessary - Bendigo Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Access free Bendigo mental health support at Mind Australia. No referral needed for adults 26+. Walk-ins, telehealth, and peer support.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/living\/free-mental-health-support-no-referral-necessary\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Free mental health support, no referral necessary - Bendigo Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Access free Bendigo mental health support at Mind Australia. No referral needed for adults 26+. Walk-ins, telehealth, and peer support.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/living\/free-mental-health-support-no-referral-necessary\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Bendigo Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-29T17:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2026\/03\/TNG-25-mar-2026-51.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Adam Carswell\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Adam Carswell\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/living\\\/free-mental-health-support-no-referral-necessary\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/living\\\/free-mental-health-support-no-referral-necessary\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Adam Carswell\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/adf4371b5a9ae0b61f7839c29319f35c\"},\"headline\":\"Free mental health support, no referral necessary\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-29T17:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/living\\\/free-mental-health-support-no-referral-necessary\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":449,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/living\\\/free-mental-health-support-no-referral-necessary\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/24\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/TNG-25-mar-2026-51.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Living\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/living\\\/free-mental-health-support-no-referral-necessary\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/living\\\/free-mental-health-support-no-referral-necessary\\\/\",\"name\":\"Free mental health support, no referral necessary - Bendigo Times\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/living\\\/free-mental-health-support-no-referral-necessary\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/living\\\/free-mental-health-support-no-referral-necessary\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/24\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/TNG-25-mar-2026-51.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-29T17:00:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"Access free Bendigo mental health support at Mind Australia. No referral needed for adults 26+. Walk-ins, telehealth, and peer support.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/living\\\/free-mental-health-support-no-referral-necessary\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/living\\\/free-mental-health-support-no-referral-necessary\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/living\\\/free-mental-health-support-no-referral-necessary\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/24\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/TNG-25-mar-2026-51.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/24\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/TNG-25-mar-2026-51.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630,\"caption\":\"Homely habitat: According to Mind Australia\u2019s Lisa Henderson, much care and caution has been taken in creating an environment at the Wellbeing Locals that comes across as welcoming and inclusive. Photos: Supplied\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/living\\\/free-mental-health-support-no-referral-necessary\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Free mental health support, no referral necessary\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/\",\"name\":\"Bendigo Times\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Bendigo Times\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/24\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/BDT-logo-masthead-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/24\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/BDT-logo-masthead-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":491,\"caption\":\"Bendigo Times\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/adf4371b5a9ae0b61f7839c29319f35c\",\"name\":\"Adam Carswell\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/author\\\/adamcarswell\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Free mental health support, no referral necessary - Bendigo Times","description":"Access free Bendigo mental health support at Mind Australia. No referral needed for adults 26+. Walk-ins, telehealth, and peer support.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/living\/free-mental-health-support-no-referral-necessary\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Free mental health support, no referral necessary - Bendigo Times","og_description":"Access free Bendigo mental health support at Mind Australia. No referral needed for adults 26+. Walk-ins, telehealth, and peer support.","og_url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/living\/free-mental-health-support-no-referral-necessary\/","og_site_name":"Bendigo Times","article_published_time":"2026-03-29T17:00:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2026\/03\/TNG-25-mar-2026-51.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Adam Carswell","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Adam Carswell","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/living\/free-mental-health-support-no-referral-necessary\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/living\/free-mental-health-support-no-referral-necessary\/"},"author":{"name":"Adam Carswell","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/#\/schema\/person\/adf4371b5a9ae0b61f7839c29319f35c"},"headline":"Free mental health support, no referral necessary","datePublished":"2026-03-29T17:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/living\/free-mental-health-support-no-referral-necessary\/"},"wordCount":449,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/living\/free-mental-health-support-no-referral-necessary\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2026\/03\/TNG-25-mar-2026-51.jpg","articleSection":["Living"],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/living\/free-mental-health-support-no-referral-necessary\/","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/living\/free-mental-health-support-no-referral-necessary\/","name":"Free mental health support, no referral necessary - Bendigo Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/living\/free-mental-health-support-no-referral-necessary\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/living\/free-mental-health-support-no-referral-necessary\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2026\/03\/TNG-25-mar-2026-51.jpg","datePublished":"2026-03-29T17:00:00+00:00","description":"Access free Bendigo mental health support at Mind Australia. No referral needed for adults 26+. Walk-ins, telehealth, and peer support.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/living\/free-mental-health-support-no-referral-necessary\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/living\/free-mental-health-support-no-referral-necessary\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/living\/free-mental-health-support-no-referral-necessary\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2026\/03\/TNG-25-mar-2026-51.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2026\/03\/TNG-25-mar-2026-51.jpg","width":1200,"height":630,"caption":"Homely habitat: According to Mind Australia\u2019s Lisa Henderson, much care and caution has been taken in creating an environment at the Wellbeing Locals that comes across as welcoming and inclusive. Photos: Supplied"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/living\/free-mental-health-support-no-referral-necessary\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Free mental health support, no referral necessary"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/#website","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/","name":"Bendigo Times","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/#organization","name":"Bendigo Times","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2021\/02\/BDT-logo-masthead-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2021\/02\/BDT-logo-masthead-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":491,"caption":"Bendigo Times"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/#\/schema\/person\/adf4371b5a9ae0b61f7839c29319f35c","name":"Adam Carswell","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/author\/adamcarswell\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112818","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/187"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112818"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112818\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/112821"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112818"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=112818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}