Reachout and Windsorborn deliver mental health campaign to young Aussies

Reachout has successfully delivered “targeted mental health campaigns that have reached tens of thousands of young people in Australia” via a partnership with Windsorborn.

The announcement:

ReachOut has partnered with full-stack marketing studio Windsorborn to deliver targeted mental health campaigns that have reached tens of thousands of young people in Australia seeking support during an evolving national debate about social media use. The Australian Government’s Online Safety Amendment Bill 2024 marks a significant shift in social media regulation by implementing a minimum age requirement of 16 for social media use. It’s set to become law in December this year.

While aimed at protecting young people from online risks, this legislation creates complex challenges for both platforms and users, particularly in mental health support accessibility. The debate around what this legislation looks like and what platforms are included continues. Windsorborn has been engaged to help continue the effectiveness and flexibility of ReachOut’s campaigns to provide crucial mental health support and information to young people and their families during this time and beyond.

As Australia’s leading youth mental health organisation, ReachOut is an advocate for engaging in the conversation around youth social media usage and its associated risks, including exposure to harmful content, cyberbullying, and mental health challenges. Each year, the organisation connects with more than two million users across Australia.

Windsorborn Managing Director Will Reynolds says: “ReachOut’s digital presence is crucial for youth mental health support, so we prioritised both engagement and safety in our approach. Our campaigns create meaningful connections between young people and their support networks while adhering to evolving platform requirements.”

Through strategic digital channels, Windsorborn demonstrates how social media can be a powerful force for positive mental health outcomes. Ongoing campaign optimisation ensures ReachOut can stay responsive to changing user behaviours, parental collaboration, platform requirements, and performance metrics while maintaining our commitment to youth wellbeing.

Will further states: “ReachOut’s strategic digital outreach campaigns have demonstrated measurable cutthrough via initiatives such as fostering peer support networks, increasing online engagement across platforms and creating safe online environments for mental health discussions.”

Since the Government’s announcement of the bill in November 2024, the campaigns have achieved:

● A significant increase in service utilisation for Reachout’s PeerChat (a free, anonymous, online support session)
● More than 60,000 users visit the online community for young people
● Approximately 1,040 on-demand PeerChat sessions delivered
● Expanding reach to target demographics

Gary Groves, CEO at ReachOut says: “While social media poses risks, simply raising the age barrier isn’t the solution – it’s like teaching someone to swim by keeping them away from water. Young people need guided exposure to develop digital resilience. While we agree social media must be made safer, we must ensure these reforms don’t create a dangerous digital divide, cutting vulnerable teens off from vital mental health support

“Unless reforms that will truly make platforms safer are also implemented, the fundamental harms inherent in the platforms themselves will still exist when young people do access them. There are many challenges to these restrictions such as the need for age verification, privacy concerns, and the potential migration of young people to less regulated platforms. Rather than implementing blanket age, we’d like to see more nuanced platform improvements.”

ReachOut’s research reveals that social media serves as a crucial gateway to mental health support, with 73 per cent of young Australians accessing mental health information through these platforms – (predominantly TikTok, YouTube and Instagram). Additionally, 40 per cent of young people sought professional support after encountering mental health information on social media and 49 per cent of ReachOut’s youth service users access our services via social media.

ReachOut’s solutions include:

● Default safety settings for users under 16
● Limitations on addictive features like infinite scroll
● Greater algorithm transparency
● Enhanced user control over content exposure

ReachOut has actively engaged with the government alongside Beyond Blue and Black Dog Institute to advocate for youth mental health access. Its Youth Advocates have presented directly to the Joint Select Committee on Social Media and Australian Society, ensuring young people’s voices are heard in this crucial debate.

Source: Humanfind