Get help when you need it
Asking for help should be the easy part. In First Six you do not have to work out the right door, the right email, or the right person — the app routes what you write to the people who can act on it. Two things worth knowing up front: a real person answers your help requests, and your check-ins stay private. Asking does not put you on any list.
This guide walks the options, from a quick factual question to reaching a person, and what happens if something is urgent.
For a specific question, use Ask Anything. To reach a person, raise a help request from the Help screen — you will get a real reply, usually within a day. If something is urgent, immediate support appears right away; you never have to search for it.
Walk through it
- Ask a quick question with Ask Anything
For something specific — "when's the census date?", "where do I get my ID card?" — Ask Anything searches the answers your university wrote for your campus. If nothing fits, it hands you straight to a help request rather than leaving you stuck. See asking anything.
- Raise a help request to reach a person
Open Help, pick the category that fits, and say what is going on in a sentence or two. You can choose "just point me to what I need" to keep it self-serve, or "I'd like someone to check in with me" to open a conversation with a real person. A staff member reads what you wrote and replies, usually within a day. See raising a help request.
- Know what happens if something is urgent
As you type, First Six watches for signs that you are unsafe and surfaces immediate support straight away — before you have even sent anything. Your request still goes to the team, flagged as urgent, so two things happen at once: you get options you can act on now, and a person is alerted to follow up. See the crisis path.
- Find support resources
Your university gathers its real services — counselling, financial help, housing, IT, the library — into one place, with crisis lines front and centre. Browse them when you would rather find something yourself. See finding support and resources.
If you are in immediate danger, call 000. You can reach Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 any time, day or night. You do not have to wait for a reply in the app, and you do not need the right words to call. See the crisis path.
Quick checklist
- Try Ask Anything for a quick, factual question
- Know where the Help screen is
- Raise a help request when you want a person, not a page
- Save the crisis numbers somewhere you can find them
- Have a look at your university's support resources
Common questions
Is a real person actually reading my help request?
Yes. When you ask for a person, a staff member at your institution reads what you wrote and replies, usually within a day. Your requests and their replies stay together under Help → your requests.
Does asking for help affect how staff see me?
Your check-ins are only ever shown to staff as a cohort total, never as an individual answer. A help request is the one thing with your name on it, and that happens because you chose to send it.
Will calling a crisis line tell my university?
No. Crisis lines are independent services you reach directly, and a call to them is not reported back through First Six. The only thing your university sees is a help request you chose to send.
Related
The fastest answer is usually one question away.