R U OK? Day
Also: R U OK?
“A conversation could change a life”
Australian national day of action founded in 2009 by advertiser Gavin Larkin, whose father died by suicide, asking people to check in with anyone who may be struggling by asking 'Are you OK?'. Held on the second Thursday of September.
- Years
- 2009–now
- Country
- Australia
- Coined
- R U OK?
- Topic
- Mental healthSuicide prevention
- Asks people to
- Talk to someone
- Strategy
- Coined termSelf efficacySimple instruction
- Channel
- EventsSchoolSocial (organic)Social (paid)TV
- Audience
- General public
Evidence
Quasi-experimentalMixed
Quasi-experimental analysis of national survey and administrative data (Black 2026): R U OK? Day raised self-reported mental well-being by 4% of a standard deviation (9% among men 25-49), with no detectable effect on mental healthcare use and no significant short-run change in suicide deaths (low power). Post-campaign online survey 2017 (Ross et al., 2019; n=2,013): awareness 78% (66% in 2014), participation 32% (19%); exposed respondents reported stronger helping beliefs, 2-3x higher intentions and were up to 6x more likely to have reached out to someone. Cross-sectional and self-reported; no data on suicides. Safe messaging: upstream connectedness message; does not depict suicide.
Sponsor (who paid)
- R U OK? (R U OK? Limited) NGO, creator
Credits (who made it)
Related campaigns
- Seize the Awkward 2018–now
- Small Talk Saves Lives 2017–now
Sources
- Ross AM et al. Australian R U OK?Day campaign: improving helping beliefs, intentions and behaviours. Int J Ment Health Syst 2019;13:61 evaluation · 2019 · DOI 10.1186/s13033-019-0317-4 · PMID 31534474
- R U OK? (Wikipedia) reference
- Black N, Deer L, Johnston DW, Kunz JS. Are You OK? Effects of a National Peer-Support Campaign on Mental Health. J Marketing 2026 evaluation · 2026 · DOI 10.1177/00222429261467752
- Mok K et al. Stimulating community action for suicide prevention: findings on the effectiveness of the Australian R U OK? Campaign. International Journal of Mental Health Promotion 2016 evaluation · 2016 · DOI 10.1080/14623730.2016.1209423
Research notes
Some commentators have questioned whether a single 'day' without service capacity helps; look for critiques. First day was 29 November 2009. Credits checked 2026-10-22 against fetched pages: Gavin Larkin (Wikipedia infobox: founder; inaugurated 29 November 2009). Evidence updated 2026-10-22: level raised from observational to quasi-experimental and outcome changed from positive to mixed after adding Black 2026 (DOI checked on Crossref, abstract from Crossref; no PubMed record yet). Evaluation sources added 2026-10-22 (citation snowballing / helpline pass): Mok 2016; evidence level and outcome unchanged.
Record cases/r-u-ok-day.json, updated 2026-10-22· Link to this campaign