Nellie is a free, automated SMS (text message) service run by the South Eastern Melbourne Primary Health Network, a government-funded organisation that works with local general practices and other primary health providers to improve the wellbeing of the community.  

The messages in Nellie’s mental wellbeing program were written by doctors, nurses, and allied health clinicians.

Nellie is an SMS service which sends you messages to help you with both your physical and mental health while you’re staying home during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

If you are concerned about your mental health and wellbeing, you should seek help (for example, asking your GP or calling Lifeline on 13 11 14).

The service is time-limited and will automatically end after four weeks.  

Nellie will regularly check in with you to ask how you're feeling, and will suggest way to improve your wellbeing. You should always see your GP (or call Lifeline on 13 11 14) if you're worried about your physical or mental health.

If you feel that you or someone close to you is at risk of harm, call 000 immediately. 

Nellie does not give clinical advice. 

Your phone number is securely stored on an Australian server and is only used as required for the purpose of operating the Nellie service: 1) to register an individual record in the Nellie service; 2) send and receive the messages according to the Nellie COVID-19 program.

No individual-level or identifying data, including your number, will be passed on to a third party. Overall reports about uptake, and usefulness of Nellie across South Eastern Melbourne may be shared with government and other government-funded organisations.  

You do not provide any identifiable information to Nellie, so we don’t know your name or anything about you, other than your phone number. We do ask for your postcode, which is purely for evaluation of the Nellie service.  

For more detail, see our Privacy Policy.  

No, you will only get text messages from the Nellie service. You can opt out at any time by replying with STOP.

We may share evaluation reports with the government. For example, the number of people using the Nellie service, the postcode coverage, grouped percentages of wellbeing responses, and percentages of usage, such as the proportion who asked Nellie for more information.  None of this information can identify you or is about you personally. 

You can opt out at any time by replying with STOP. However, the program is time-limited and the messages will automatically end after 3 weeks.  

Yes, your record will remain in the database but it will not be used for any other reason other than the Nellie COVID-19 program. If you reply STOP to Nellie, you will not receive any more messages.  

Nellie will only help you in relation to looking after yourself while you stay safe at home in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic.  You should continue to look after any other health conditions as you would normally, including seeking urgent medical attention according to your health action plan as set by your doctor. Nellie does not give clinical advice.

No, but it’s always helpful to your healthcare providers to know about how you are managing your health. 

No, this is considered to be clinical advice and you should speak to your GP or pharmacist about medication you may need to take.

Nellie will ask you for your postcode to proceed with the service, and this is to help us evaluate usage across our catchment. The only other essential information we need is your mobile number so you can interact with Nellie using text messaging. 

Nellie is provided as a service by the South Eastern Melbourne Primary Health Network free of charge. If your mobile plan is fully inclusive of unlimited text messages (which most packages are) there is no additional cost for using Nellie. If you are using a mobile plan that charges for each message you send, then your carrier will charge the standard rate for each reply that you send to Nellie.  

Anyone with flu-like symptoms should get tested for Covid as soon as possible. If you’re not sure what the symptoms are you can check at https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/symptom-checker/tool/basic-details.

To find out where your nearest testing centre is, see https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/where-get-tested-covid-19.

No.

No, this is considered to be clinical advice and you should ask your healthcare provider (your GP or pharmacist) about suitable medications. 

No, you will only receive SMS messages. But, all the messages sent to or received from Nellie will be available in your phone message history. 

You can provide feedback via our feedback form.

You can also call South Eastern Melbourne PHN’s digital health team on ph: 03 8514 4460 (during business hours) or email nellie@semphn.org.au