Merri Outreach Support Service

What Merri Outreach Support Service does

Merri Outreach Support Service Ltd (MOSS) is a registered Australian not-for-profit charity (ABN 42 318 912 323), founded in 1989 and headquartered in Broadmeadows, Victoria, with additional offices in Northcote and Brunswick. It delivers community-based homelessness, housing, family-violence, youth, and aged-care support services to vulnerable Victorians across more than 10 local government areas in Melbourne's northern and western suburbs, including Darebin, Banyule, Nillumbik, Whittlesea, Hume, Moreland, Brimbank/Melton, Hobsons Bay, Maribyrnong, Melbourne, Moonee Valley, and Wyndham.

MOSS operates 12 distinct support programs organised around the full lifecycle of housing vulnerability: crisis accommodation (Catchment Youth Refuge, 24/7 staffed), short-term intensive outreach (Crisis Response Program), transitional and medium-term housing support (TOST, Hume Transitional Support Program), assertive community outreach (DACO in partnership with Darebin City Council), specialist child and family services (Bright Futures, North and West Regional Children's Resource Program), aged-care housing support (OPHRSP, HSAP, Connections Program), planned social activity groups for seniors, and the M Digital Mentor Program for senior digital inclusion. There is no proprietary technology platform; service delivery is human-mediated case management, outreach, and wrap-around support underpinned by formal standards (AS/NZS ISO 9001:2015, Department of Human Services Standards, tri-annual Homelessness Accreditation).

The revenue model is government-grant-dominated: primary funding flows from the Victorian Department of Human Services (DHHS) and the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH) for homelessness, housing, family-violence, and child-services programs, supplemented by tax-deductible individual and corporate donations (processed via a third-party donation portal), corporate partnerships, and volunteer fundraising. Services are free to recipients. The organisation employs approximately 75 staff, serves more than 1,300 individuals annually with 46,157 service contacts, and is governed by a Board of Directors chaired by Stephen Gagen, with executive leadership comprising CEO Mark Goodie, General Manager Hardeep Saini, and General Manager – Growth & Transformation Jordan Papadopoulos.

Name

Merri Outreach Support Service

Legal name

Merri Outreach Support Service Ltd

Website

https://merri.org.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

1989

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Merri Outreach Support Service (MOSS) is a registered Australian not-for-profit charity founded in 1989 that delivers community-based homelessness, housing, family-violence, youth, and aged-care support services across Melbourne's northern and western suburbs through 12 specialised programs, funded primarily by Victorian state government grants.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Homelessness and Housing Support Services

NAICS

Community Housing Services (62422), Temporary Shelters (624221), Individual and Family Services (6241), Child and Youth Services (624110), Other Community Housing Services (624229)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Housing Assistance & Homeless Services (BPAGAEAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Affordable Housing & Community Development (Housing, Community Land Trusts) (BPAGALAC), Wraparound Student Support & Case Management Services (At-Risk K–12) (EDAJAEAJ), Youth Housing, Foster Care & Wraparound Support (Education-Linked) Nonprofits (BPAGADAO), Financial Assistance & Benefits Navigation Services (BPAGAEAK)

Keywords

• Homelessness support services
• Community housing assistance
• Crisis accommodation programs
• Youth and family outreach
• Transitional housing support

Headquarters

HQ city

Broadmeadows

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Government Funding: Primary funding from DHHS (Department of Human Services) and DFFH (Department of Families, Fairness and Housing) for homelessness and housing support programs.
2. Donations: Tax-deductible donations from individuals, corporations, and community members through their donation portal.
3. Corporate Partnerships: Partnerships with corporations and businesses providing financial and resource support.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Merri Outreach Support Service (MOSS) is a community-based not-for-profit that delivers free homelessness and housing support services to vulnerable Victorians across Melbourne's northern suburbs. The organization operates 12+ distinct programs spanning crisis accommodation, transitional housing, youth and family case management, aged care housing support, assertive community outreach, practitioner support, and digital inclusion. Services are delivered directly through office locations in Broadmeadows, Northcote, and Brunswick, a 24/7 staffed youth refuge, and field-based outreach teams.

Product overview

Merri Outreach Support Service (MOSS) is a community-based not-for-profit organization offering a comprehensive portfolio of housing support and homelessness services across Melbourne's north. The organization operates as a unified service platform providing 12 distinct support programs including crisis accommodation (Catchment Youth Refuge), transitional housing support (TOST, Hume Transitional Support Program), youth and family services (Youth and Family Program, Bright Futures), aged care housing support (OPHRSP, HSAP, Connections Program), and community outreach (DACO). Programs are designed to address the full spectrum of homelessness from crisis response to long-term housing sustainability, with complementary services like the NWRCRP for practitioner support and the M Digital Mentor Program for digital inclusion.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Older Persons High Rise Support Program (OPHRSP) Support program for older persons residing in high-rise housing towers in Northcote and Brunswick, providing case-managed and after-hours response to COVID-19 and other support needs.
• Housing Support for the Aged Program (HSAP) Program providing assistance to people aged 65 and over who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
• Transitional Outreach Support Team (TOST) Provides case management support to individuals and families in the North East Melbourne Area who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, focusing on addressing support needs that led to housing instability.
• Connections Program Program providing support and connections to services for older persons in the community.
• North and West Regional Children's Resource Program (NWRCRP) Program ensuring children are seen as clients in their own rights, providing resources, training, secondary consultation, networking, advocacy, and brokerage for practitioners working with children experiencing homelessness and family violence.
• Bright Futures - Children's Specialist Support Service Enhanced case management and therapeutic group work responses to children (0-17) whose families are being supported by homelessness and/or family violence case managers, with three streams: assessment, enhanced case management, and therapeutic group work.
• Crisis Response Program Short-term intensive outreach case management (up to eight weeks) for people experiencing homelessness or at risk in Darebin, Banyule, Nillumbik, and Whittlesea areas.
• Catchment Youth Refuge Provides 24/7 safe and secure short-term crisis accommodation and support for young people (16-25 years) and their children who are homeless, with a homelike environment staffed around the clock.
• Youth and Family Program Offers case management support to young people (16-25 years) who are homeless or at risk, including locating accommodation options and providing support for family reconciliation and family conflict resolution.
• Darebin Assertive Community Outreach (DACO) Assertive outreach program in partnership with Darebin City Council providing proactive case management to assist people sleeping rough in the City of Darebin, including actively seeking out and engaging rough sleepers.
• Hume Transitional Support Program Medium to long-term transitional housing support through team case management, helping people address barriers to obtaining and maintaining appropriate accommodation in the Hume and Moreland areas.
• MOSS Planned Activity Groups Social support groups for older persons providing activities, connection, and community engagement for seniors.
• M Digital Mentor Program Digital literacy program in partnership with Moreland Libraries and Moreland City Council that trains volunteer Digital Mentors to work one-on-one with senior residents to build their confidence and skills in using computers and the internet.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 1,300 individuals served annually with homelessness services
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Darebin City CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Darebin City Council to deliver the Darebin Assertive Community Outreach (DACO) program. This program provides proactive outreach case management to assist people who are homeless and sleeping rough in the City of Darebin.
• Your Community HealthcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership arrangement with Your Community Health to deliver services. MOSS entered a six-week COVID-19 After-hours Health Concierge Service contract with DHHS and partnered with Your Community Health to deliver COVID related services to disadvantaged public-housing tenants and individuals living in Supported Residential Services accommodation.
• Moreland City CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Moreland City Council to deliver the M Digital Mentor Program, which invites community members to become Digital Mentors for senior residents of the Barkly St High Rise.
• Moreland LibrariescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the M Digital Mentor Program alongside Moreland City Council. Moreland Libraries hosts training sessions for Digital Mentors who support senior residents with technology skills.
• Haven Home SafecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal access point for homelessness services. Referrals for Hume Transitional Support Program are received from Haven Home Safe - VincentCare Housing in Glenroy.
• Merri HealthminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the High-Risk Accommodation Response project supporting older people in high-rise Office of Housing towers during the pandemic.
• Various Corporate PartnersminorGTM or Marketing PartnerMOSS partners with corporations and businesses who wish to see an end to homelessness. Multiple logos displayed including community organisations, local councils, and service providers.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Unison Housing: Victorian community housing provider with homelessness and tenancy support programs across metropolitan Melbourne. Directly comparable in housing-support service design and government-funder model.
• Haven Home Safe: Victorian homelessness, housing and family-violence service provider; one of MOSS's named referral partners for the Hume Transitional Support Program. Comparable service model, funder base, and northern-Melbourne catchment overlap.
• Berry Street: Large Victorian child, youth and family services organization running family-violence, homelessness and out-of-home-care programs. Directly overlaps with MOSS's Bright Futures, youth and family-violence portfolios and competes for similar DHHS/DFFH funding.
• VincentCare Victoria: Major Victorian homelessness and housing provider, with which MOSS directly coordinates referrals (Haven Home Safe/VincentCare Housing in Glenroy). Offers overlapping crisis, transitional and family-violence programs funded by the same DHHS pool.
• Sacred Heart Mission: Melbourne-based homelessness and community support organization offering crisis accommodation, meals, case management and community programs. Comparable wrap-around service model and government funding profile to MOSS, with a stronger city-fringe focus.
• Melbourne City Mission (MCM): Large Victorian community services organization delivering homelessness, youth, family and education support programs. Overlaps significantly with MOSS's youth/family, crisis and children-specialist offerings and competes for similar DHHS/DFFH contracts.
• Launch Housing: One of Victoria's largest specialist homelessness organizations, operating crisis accommodation, transitional housing and support programs across Melbourne. Directly comparable to MOSS in service model and funder base (DHHS), but at significantly larger scale.

Broad incumbents

• Mission Australia: National community services organization delivering homelessness, youth, family and mental health programs across Australia, including significant Victorian operations. Competes for similar state-government funding with broader geographic reach.
• Anglicare Victoria: One of Victoria's largest community services agencies, providing family-violence, homelessness, youth and out-of-home-care services statewide. Directly comparable service categories to MOSS, but at substantially greater scale and statewide footprint.
• The Salvation Army (Salvos): National organization with substantial Victorian homelessness, crisis accommodation and family-violence operations, plus a wide social services portfolio. Overlaps with MOSS but at much greater scale and geographic breadth.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles18 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Merri Outreach Support Service