Join the MOST-NEXUS Lived Experience Co-Design Group
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Join the MOST-NEXUS Lived Experience Co-Design Group

Help shape how Ai could be used to personalise therapy content for young people using MOST.

Orygen Digital is looking for 8-10 young people from across Australia to join a lived experience co-design group for MOST-Nexus. During the first stage of this project, we’re co-designing an AI-based recommender system to help young people find therapy content on MOST that is more personalised to their needs and preferences. 

MOST is a free digital mental health service for young people aged 12-25, which provides access to: 

  • Therapy content 
  • Human support: peer support, clinical support, career and study support 
  • A supportive online peer community 

what is most-nexus about?

Many young people experience depression and anxiety, but digital mental health support isn’t always tailored to their needs. MOST-Nexus is a new five-year international research project exploring how we can make digital mental health support more personalised to each young person. 

As part of the first stage of MOST-Nexus, we’re developing a new recommender system for MOST. A recommender system helps suggest content that might be useful or relevant to you, a bit like how online streaming platforms recommend things based on your interests and preferences. In MOST, it could help young people find therapy content that better matches their needs, preferences and what might be helpful to them at the time. 

The recommender system will use artificial intelligence (AI), but lots of important decisions about how it should work haven’t been made yet. We want to design it together, with young people.

HOW YOU CAN SHAPE MOST-NEXUS

We want young people involved from the beginning to help decide things like: 

  • What a helpful content recommendation actually looks like 
  • What information the system should or shouldn’t use 
  • How much control young people have over their recommendations 
  • How the system can be safe, transparent, fair and inclusive

You don’t need to be an expert in AI or technology to join. We’re looking for young people with different experiences and ideas. This includes people who are excited about AI, concerned about it, or somewhere in between. As part of the lived experience co-design group, your ideas and decisions will directly shape what we build and how it works for young people using MOST. 

WHAT IS ORYGEN DIGITAL?

Orygen Digital is the digital mental health division of Orygen. We’re always working to create new and better technology that genuinely helps young people experiencing  mental health challenges to feel better and build the lives they want. We have a team of researchers, software engineers, psychologists, designers, artists and peer specialists who work together to develop these digital tools.  

what does participating in the co-design GROUP look like?

If you take part in the MOST-Nexus lived experience co-design group, activities will mostly take place between October 2026 – March 2027 (including one month’s break over the holiday period). You will be invited to: 

  • Join 6-8 online group co-design workshops (approximately two hours each)  
  • Take part in 1-2 individual usability testing sessions and a feedback interview 
  • Share your experiences and ideas about mental health care and technology 
  • Work with the group to make decisions about how the recommender system should work and look 
  • Collaborate with other young people, clinicians, designers, researchers and technology experts 

You don’t need any previous experience with AI, technology or co-design. We will support you to learn what you need along the way. Co-design is about learning and designing together. 

All sessions are held online via Zoom and fully supported by our team. You’ll need to join via a desktop computer/laptop to use an online whiteboard platform called Miro.

reimbursement

This is an entirely voluntary opportunity. However, you will be reimbursed for your time and advice throughout the project. You will receive $90 per two-hour  workshop, up to approximately $900 in total (including user-testing sessions). 

who can take part?

You may be eligible if you: 

  • Are aged 16–25 (inclusive) 
  • Live in Australia 
  • Have experience of mental health challenges (we call this ‘lived or living experience’) 
  • Have experience accessing mental health support or services 
  • Are comfortable participating in online group activities in English 
  • Can reliably attend the scheduled online workshops 
  • Can reliably attend online workshops via a desktop computer/laptop 
  • Are interested in sharing your experiences and ideas to help shape digital mental health support 

I'm interested, what's next?

Applications only take 15 minutes to complete and you don’t need to provide a resume.

If you’re ready to make a difference in youth mental health, apply now, using the form below.

Applications will close on Thursday, 17 September at 5pm AEST.

For further information, check out our FAQs page or email Lived Experience Participation Lead Shona Lewis: [email protected].

This study has been approved by the University of Melbourne Human Research Ethics Committee. 
Reference Number: 2026-33987-76799-3 Approval date: 24/02/2026 

Are you currently aged 16-25 inclusive?:
Are you currently living in Australia?:
Have you previously accessed, or are you currently accessing, mental health support

or services?:
Are you comfortable speaking, reading and participating in online group

activities in English?:
The co-design workshops will be held online and involve activities using platforms such as Zoom or Miro. Do you have regular access to a laptop or desktop computer that you can use to take part?:
Which of the following experiences would you bring to the co-design?

Select all that apply to you:
We want the co-design group to include young people with a wide range of backgrounds and life experiences. If you feel comfortable, please tell us whether any of the following apply to you. This will help us consider diversity of experiences across the group. Select all that apply:
Are you currently or have you previously used the MOST service? Note: We encourage applications from both MOST users and non-MOST users:
Have you used AI tools or applications before?:
Note: You might like to tell us what interests you about the project or experiences that have shaped your perspective. (Max. 200 words)
Note: You might think about what would make recommendations helpful, what could go wrong, how much choice or control young people should have, or what information the system should or shouldn’t use. There are no right or wrong answers - we’re just interested to hear how you think about it. (Max. 200 words)
The co-design will involve up to 10 online workshops between October 2026 – March 2027 (including one month’s break over the holiday period). The workshops will be held on a Monday or Tuesday, 5–7pm Melbourne time (AEDT/AEST depending on the date). We will provide specific dates at least three weeks in advance. We will choose a consistent day (Monday or Tuesday) based off responses to this question. Before applying, please consider whether you can realistically make this commitment. Are you currently able to attend and participate in most of these workshops?:
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