CHARITY
PARTNER
R U OK?
8 LIVES LOST* TO SUICIDE
EVERY DAY IN AUSTRALIA
R U OK? is a national suicide prevention charity and registered public health promotion that encourages us to stay connected and start conversations which can build connection and belonging.
Our work focuses on building the motivation, confidence and skills of the help-giver – the person who can have a meaningful conversation with someone who is struggling.
R U OK? contributes to suicide prevention efforts by encouraging people to invest more time in personal relationships and building informal support networks – friends, family and colleagues - to be alert to those around them, have a conversation if they identify signs of distress or difficulty and connect someone to appropriate support, long before they're in crisis.
*Australian Bureau of Statistics, Causes of Death, Australia, 2023
R U OK? aims to inspire and empower everyone to meaningfully connect with those in their world and lend support when they are struggling with life.
Lift the Weight is a partnership between R U OK? and Anytime Fitness to raise funds and awareness for suicide prevention across Australia.
Anytime Fitness are determined to help R U OK? reach as many Australians as possible and encourage us to meaningfully connect with each other, to look out for our mates. If you're concerned about a mate, R U OK? provides free tools and resources to give you the confidence and resources to ask, 'are you OK?'. Because we believe conversations can change, and even save, lives.
8.8 people take their lives every day in Australia. *
An estimated 55,000 Australians make a suicide attempt every year. **
More than seven million Australian adults are
close to someone who
has died by suicide or
attempted suicide. **
* ABS, Causes of Death, 2023
** ABS, National Study of Mental Health and Wellbeing, 2020-22
THE R U OK? STORY
In 1995, much-loved Barry Larkin was far from OK. His suicide left family and friends in deep grief and with endless questions. His son Gavin Larkin chose to champion just one question to honour his father and to try and protect other families from the pain his had endured. That question was, 'are you OK?'.
While collaborating on a documentary to raise awareness, Gavin and the team quickly realised the documentary alone wouldn’t be enough.
To genuinely change behaviour across Australia, a national campaign was needed. From this realisation, R U OK? was born.
R U OK? was born from lived experience. The valuable insights, storytelling, and expertise of those with lived experience continues to be weaved throughout everything we do. Across our team, Board, Advisory Groups and Ambassadors, we remain respectful and proud of those who share their journeys to help continually improve our work.
