Impact

A world-first program tackling youth suicide

Since 2018, we’ve been empowering young people and their communities, and collaborating with local governments, policymakers and social media platforms around the world to encourage safer online communication.

Here’s some of the impact we’ve made so far.

1. Equipping young people and their communities with evidence-based advice

In 2018 we published the first edition of the #chatsafe guidelines for young people. Our expanded evidence base informed a suite of resources for parents and carers, educators and community organisations and the mental health sector, helping young people and the key adults in their community to support safe online conversations about self-harm and suicide. To date, our resources have been downloaded over 400,000 times.

2. Reaching millions through social media

#chatsafe campaigns have reached more than 13 million Australians. Our educational, engaging and evidence-informed content is informed by regular co-design workshops and consultations with young people, and tailored for young people, parents, carers, and educators across platforms.

3. Shaping national conversations

As Australia, and the world, discusses the relationship between youth mental health and social media use, Prof Robinson offers an important voice in the cultural discourse, including pieces in The Conversation, a spotlight as part of Q+A’s focus on youth online safety, and interviews on Sky News.

4. A truly global resource

We've partnered with governments and mental health organisations around the world, including Canada, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria and Norway, to translate and culturally adapt the #chatsafe guidelines, making them accessible and relevant to diverse communities around the world.

5. Supporting parents and carers worldwide

Our translated and locally adapted resources for parents and carers have been downloaded over 160,000 times across 30 countries, providing practical guidance to support safe conversations online.

6. Shared internationally by the world’s biggest social media platforms

Our experts sit on the safety advisory boards of Meta and TikTok. #chatsafe resources are embedded in Meta’s Help Centre in multiple languages, helping users navigate conversations about self-harm and suicide safely.

7. Equipping educators

Our resource, #chatsafe for Educators, was created in consultation with educators across Australia. It’s since been translated into 22 languages and distributed internationally. Our partnership with the New South Wales Department of Education involved a series of webinars which were attended by teachers and school staff.

8. Empowering community leaders

In May 2025, we launched #chatsafe for Communities: using social media for suicide prevention and postvention (edition two). This updated resource was created with primary health networks across Australia, leading suicide prevention experts, and community leaders. Designed for coaches, religious leaders, youth workers and volunteers, with a set of downloadable resources and social media posts. It was downloaded 380+ times in its first month.

9. Supporting influencers

Edition Two includes a dedicated section for content creators and influencers. In 2024, we collaborated with AiMCO (Australia’s industry body dedicated to setting standards, ethics, and best practices for influencer marketing), to deliver a webinar supporting responsible messaging online.

10. Helping communities affected by suicide

We work with local health departments across Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia and New Zealand to activate localised postvention responses. These campaigns support communities impacted by suicide with social media content that supports safe conversations, help-seeking and wellbeing.

11. Expanding the evidence base

Our team has published 11 peer-reviewed papers on youth suicide prevention and safe online communication, and continues to present at leading conferences globally to drive innovation and collaboration.

12. Informing public policy

In 2024, Prof Robinson, #chatsafe researchers and youth representatives presented our research and a set of recommendations to federal policymakers in Canberra. Prof Robinson continues to provide consultation to the Victorian government on youth online safety policy.

Follow our work

📱 Follow us on Instagram for youth-focused campaigns 
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📢 Follow us on X and Bluesky to keep up with our research and news

Together, we're creating a safer online world for young people.