Twitch Plays Support

hello • 6 September 2021

Twitch Australia and New Zealand and Twitch creators are sharing tips and tools to help you support your friends and family online and IRL

The Twitch community has shown time and time again their powerful ability to mobilize around a common goal. Throughout September Twitch creators are showing how we can play the support role online and IRL.


We all face life’s ups and downs – relationship issues, financial difficulty, stress at work and home, grief and loss – and these can be really challenging. Additionally, many Twitch Creators and the wider Twitch Community are impacted by mental illness – and even suicide – at some stage in their lives, be it personally or through a loved one. The support role is crucial in a lot of video games, but we can also play our part in real life. When the people we know online and IRL face these issues, we can make a difference if we reach out, ask R U OK?, listen with an open mind, and help connect them to support.


Twitch Australia and New Zealand is proud to be supporting suicide prevention charity R U OK? ahead of our annual day of action,  R U OK?Day (9 September 2021). Twitch creators will be streaming in support of R U OK? and discussing simple steps we can all take to support each other through life’s ups and downs, big and small. Twitch creators will educate and empower the Twitch community with tips and tools you can use to support your friends and family, as well as collaborating on a fundraiser to back the development of important R U OK? resources and health promotion activities.


Get involved


If you or a loved on need immediate support, Lifeline is available 24/7 on 13 11 14. Other Australian and New Zealand supports can be found here.


Want conversation tips? Visit our How to Ask page.

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A montage of images of people in relationships

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Announcement from the CEO, Katherine Newton

by Katherine Newton • 16 October 2025
After ten years of teamwork, partnerships, growth, and countless conversations, I will be stepping down as CEO from 1 December 2025. It has been an extraordinary privilege to contribute to the growth of this movement and to witness meaningful change before my eyes. Gavin Larkin founded R U OK? because he believed conversation has the power to change lives. One seemingly simple question, when asked with genuine intent and care, can start a meaningful and sometimes complex conversation. And that’s what Gavin wanted. For people to look beyond responses of “I’m fine” or “All good” and ask, “Are you really OK?”. The notion of going deeper with conversations, of asking a second time, of trusting our guts and moving past our hesitation - is being grasped and moving beyond one day to any day. Whilst saying “G’day how are you?” will always be a greeting - we can do more. When Gavin lost his father to suicide he wanted to try and protect other families from the pain his endured. He wanted to get people talking and having real chats about how they’re feeling with their mates, their family and their colleagues. In locker rooms, lunch rooms, and lounge rooms across the nation. But he approached it from a different angle. Gavin wanted all of us to have the confidence to support the people we care about who might be struggling with life. To make conversations a natural part of our behaviour, to openly show our signals of support. So as R U OK? generations continue to evolve, my chapter is coming to a close. How fortunate I am to have been part of the story. From hesitant glances during presentations in 2015 to queues of people waiting for a conversation in 2025. From yellow wigs in the office, to welcoming yellow-swathed Ambassadors to share their lived experience. From yellow coffee cups in a café, to yellow cars driving into communities nationwide. And yes, there’s been a few cupcakes along the way. Social change is happening, and we are all a part of it. No one organisation can prevent suicide, no one individual can save everyone - but the power of many can make a difference.
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