Thursday, July 31, 2025
6:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Time Zone: (UTC+12:00) Auckland, Wellington [Change Time Zone]
Register for the Free Webinar
Description

Young people’s mental health is under strain like never before, and the digital world is both part of the problem and the solution. While online spaces can fuel comparison, isolation, and overload, they also offer an unprecedented opportunity to reach young people where they are, with support that’s immediate, relevant, and accessible.

In this important conversation, we're bringing together experts from Australia's foremost Centre of Excellence in youth mental health research and innovation, Orygen, and the nation's leading and most trusted online mental health service for young people, ReachOut Australia.

  • Orygen is Australia's Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health, globally renowned for its pioneering research and evidence-based clinical care. For over 30 years, Orygen has led the field in preventing and treating mental ill-health in young people, offering innovative digital supports like MOST and Mello, alongside programs such as #chatsafe and specialized residential care, all while providing education and training to improve youth mental health worldwide.
  • ReachOut Australia is the nation's leading and most trusted online mental health service for young people and their parents. A true pioneer in youth-driven, evidence-based support, ReachOut has spent over two decades creating safe, peer-informed online spaces. It provides free, anonymous, and confidential digital resources, peer support, and expert coaching, enabling young people and families to build resilience and navigate life's challenges on their own terms before they escalate.

Together, they'll explore how digital services are evolving to meet the very real and rising needs of young people, from early intervention to crisis care. What's truly working? Where do the gaps still lie? And how do we ensure that innovation stays grounded in integrity, evidence, and, most importantly, the authentic voices of the young people we're here to support? This isn't just a check-in on digital mental health innovation; it's an invitation to rethink care: connected, compassionate, and truly designed for this generation.

 

Key Discussion Points

  1. Setting the Scene: What is the current state of youth mental health in Australia?  
  2. Defining Young People's Needs: What do young people want and need from a digital service? 
  3. Beyond the Buzzwords: How digital services are evolving to address the unique needs of today’s youth in mental health. 
  4. Youth-Led Design: How incorporating youth perspectives is crucial in designing effective digital interventions.
  5. Evidence-Based Impact: The importance of building an evidence base to ensure digital services are effective and trusted.
  6. Future of Youth Care: What’s next for digital mental health services, and how we can expand access worldwide.
Fiona Costello
Fiona Costello
Fractional Strategic Initiatives Lead and Webinar MC
eMHIC
ENGLAND

Fiona Costello is a seasoned healthcare professional with over 15 years of experience spanning the NHS, private, and non-profit sectors. Currently serving as Strategic Initiatives Lead at eMHIC, International Business Development Director at Aire Innovate, and SVP Partnerships at Brain+, Fiona has consistently demonstrated her commitment to improving health services through technology. Her notable achievements include expanding digital mental health technology within NHS services at SilverCloud Health, contributing to the Canadian Mental Health App Assessment Standard with ORCHA, and enhancing digital health delivery in India. At Aire Innovate, Fiona advocates for the adoption of low-code platforms in healthcare, believing these tools can streamline processes and enhance patient care. With a focus on driving innovation safely and effectively, Fiona remains dedicated to learning and growing in the digital health field, always striving to contribute positively to healthcare outcomes through innovative solutions.


Linda Williams
Linda Williams
Senior Manager Clinical Governance
ReachOut
AUSTRALIA

Linda Williams is Senior Manager of Clinical Governance at digital youth mental health service, ReachOut. Linda oversees the organisation’s duty of care approach and provides expert mental health advice.

Linda is a Senior Psychologist with more than 10 years of experience working across telephone and digital mental health services. Linda’s areas of expertise include youth mental health, and she is knowledgeable across a wide range of concerns, including anxiety and depression, complex mental health issues, crisis and everyday issues.

Linda is passionate about accessibility and reducing mental health stigma, backed by a strong belief that everyone should be able to access the support they need, free of judgment. Linda has a Bachelor of Psychology (Hons) and a Postgraduate Diploma in Applied Psychology.


Chase (he/him) Carlisle
Chase (he/him) Carlisle
Youth Ambassador and Advocate
ReachOut Australia

Chase is 25 years old and from Geelong, Victoria. He is a ReachOut Youth Ambassador and Advocate. He has a lived experience of being neurodiverse, transgender and having anxiety.

Chase is passionate about advocating for better access to mental health care, having personally experienced additional barriers accessing support due to being from a regional area.

When Chase first began seeking support for his mental health, he found watching other young people share their lived experience online very empowering. This encouraged him to start the conversation with his family and friends about mental health.


Samuel McKay
Dr. Samuel McKay
Research Fellow
The University of Melbourne & Orygen, Centre for Youth Mental Health, Australia
AUSTRALIA

Dr Sam McKay is a postdoctoral researcher at Orygen, and the Centre for Youth Mental Health, University of Melbourne where he currently leads the education research stream in the Suicide Prevention research group. His work is supervised by Associate Professor Jo Robinson.

Sam's research interests center on youth mental health and the factors that promote healthy development during adolescence and emerging adulthood. He is currently leading the NHMRC funded Multi Modal Approach to Preventing Suicide in Schools (MAPSS) trial that is running across high schools in North West Melbourne.

His other research explores the ways adapting to other countries and cultures influence international students' identities, skill development, mental health, and wellbeing.

Sam Completed his PhD as part of a partner program through Swinburne University and the University of Bordeaux. His doctoral research assessed the outcomes and underlying change mechanisms of university exchange programs with Australian and French students.


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