Our Impact
Our Events & Community Impact
At THEIRS, impact is measured not just in numbers — but in conversations started, stigma reduced, connections strengthened, and lives changed.
From small regional towns to national platforms, our work continues to demonstrate that youth-led, trauma-informed mental health initiatives can create meaningful and measurable change.
Community Launch Events – Smithton & Wynyard
THEIRS officially launched through two large-scale community mental health events in Smithton and Wynyard, intentionally designed to challenge stigma and create safe, accessible spaces for open conversation in regions where mental health support has historically been limited.
The Wynyard panel launch event sold out prior to delivery and, due to venue capacity constraints, ultimately had to be cancelled highlighting the overwhelming demand for this type of engagement.
The Smithton event proceeded and was attended by 147 community members, a number that far exceeded expectations. To contextualise this impact, previous mental health events in Smithton often regarded attendance of around 10 people as a major success.
The scale of engagement demonstrated not only community readiness but an urgent unmet need for visible, locally led mental health initiatives. The event sparked widespread discussion, strengthened trust between community members and services, and was still being referenced by the local newspaper more than a year later.
This launch firmly established THEIRS as a credible and trusted voice in regional mental health advocacy.
Guest Speaker Schools & Community Tour – Matthew Caruana (2023)
In March 2023, THEIRS delivered a three-day schools and community mental health tour with lived-experience advocate Matthew Caruana, designed to educate, empower and equip young people and the broader community with practical prevention strategies. Delivered in collaboration with the Circular Head Aboriginal Centre, Circular Head Council, and Stitch, the tour included sessions at Circular Head High School and a large community event.
Across the three days, more than 500 students, educators, service providers and community members were directly engaged. The tour served as a pilot for future large-scale speaker initiatives and resulted in the release of a preventative mental health toolkit co-developed by THEIRS and Matt.
This toolkit provided practical guidance on early intervention, help-seeking and peer support, and continues to be actively used and shared within schools and community settings. Feedback from students and staff indicated long-term behavioural change, with many reporting increased confidence in recognising distress and supporting others. Plans are underway to further develop the toolkit into an online, accessible resource to extend its reach.
Drive-In Cinema Mental Health Event
THEIRS delivered a drive-in cinema mental health event screening The Girl on the Bridge, a documentary by New Zealand mental health advocate Jazz Thornton, offering a non-traditional and stigma-free way for the community to engage with complex mental health themes.
The event intentionally removed many of the barriers associated with formal mental health settings, allowing families, young people and community members to participate in a shared, reflective experience. The screening generated strong engagement and post-event discussion, particularly among young people. Following the event, Jazz personally reached out to THEIRS to express support for the work being done in regional Tasmania.
Shortly after, conversations with local high school students highlighted how impactful it would be to have someone of Jazz’s profile come to a community like Smithton to help validate local experiences and amplify the call for support. These conversations directly informed the decision to pursue a large-scale schools and community tour, laying the groundwork for THEIRS’ most ambitious project to date.
North-West Schools Tour & Community Event – Jazz Thornton
In October, THEIRS delivered its largest and most complex initiative, hosting Jazz Thornton for a three-day schools tour across Tasmania’s North-West, alongside a major community event.
The project took two years of planning, involving extensive grant writing, partnership development, stakeholder engagement, and collaboration with councils, schools and support services. Over the three days, Jazz engaged with students across multiple schools, while more than 300 people attended the community event. Through school networks, media coverage, online engagement and community sharing, the event reached tens of thousands of people, with total estimated impact exceeding 80,000 individuals.
The event’s momentum extended nationally, with the project being referenced at an interstate conference shortly afterwards as an example of effective, youth-led regional mental health engagement. The tour validated the power of lived experience storytelling, strengthened local service connections, and significantly increased awareness of help-seeking pathways across the region.
Advocacy
At THEIRS, we believe the people most impacted by mental health and suicide prevention challenges should have a meaningful role in shaping the solutions. Young people and communities should not simply be consulted after decisions have been made; they should be active contributors to the conversations, ideas and changes that influence their lives.
One of the reasons THEIRS was formed was because we identified a significant gap within the mental health and wellbeing sector. Young people were often spoken about, but there were limited opportunities for them to be genuinely heard, valued and involved in shaping the future of mental health and suicide prevention. We wanted to help change this by creating a platform where young people could share their experiences, identify gaps, challenge existing approaches and work alongside communities, services and decision makers to create meaningful change.
Advocacy is a key part of THEIRS’ work because we believe prevention requires more than individual support; it requires communities, organisations and systems to listen, learn and adapt. We work to amplify the voices of young people, families and regional communities, ensuring their experiences and perspectives are reflected in conversations about mental health, suicide prevention and wellbeing.
Our advocacy approach is grounded in lived experience, community knowledge and evidence. Through research projects, community consultations, surveys and ongoing conversations with young people and stakeholders, we gather insights into the challenges communities are experiencing and use this information to inform our work, strengthen partnerships and advocate for improved approaches.
Our first community research project explored community experiences and perspectives around mental health education and awareness, providing valuable insight into the need for greater prevention-focused education. This research, alongside the feedback we receive through our programs and events, continues to guide our priorities and future projects. THEIRS is also developing further research initiatives that will continue exploring opportunities to improve mental health education, suicide prevention and community connection.
Through our advocacy, THEIRS has contributed to conversations with government, policymakers, peak bodies, schools, services and community organisations. We use these opportunities to share the experiences of the communities we work alongside, highlight challenges faced by regional communities and advocate for approaches that are more accessible, preventative and informed by those with lived experience.
We do not advocate to replace existing services. We advocate to strengthen the systems around them. By connecting communities, young people, services and decision makers, we aim to create a future where prevention is prioritised, lived experience is valued and young people are recognised as leaders in creating change.
School Engagement & Youth Outreach Tour (2024)
Throughout 2024, THEIRS founder Laura Johnson OAM conducted a school engagement tour across northern Tasmania, focusing on honest, lived-experience-led conversations around mental health, resilience and help-seeking. Laura visited 12 schools, engaging directly with students in assemblies and smaller group settings designed to foster trust and openness.
The impact of these sessions was immediate and sustained, with 9 schools formally requesting return visits involving the full THEIRS team to deliver more tailored, in-depth workshops aligned to student needs.
Feedback from school leaders highlighted the rarity and value of youth-centred, trauma-informed delivery, particularly in regional and rural settings.
The tour reinforced both the scale of unmet need and the willingness of young people to engage when given safe, authentic spaces to do so.
Suicide Prevention Burnie Walk
THEIRS has maintained a strong and consistent presence at the Suicide Prevention Burnie Walk, attending and speaking at the event for four consecutive years. This ongoing involvement reflects a long-term commitment to suicide prevention, remembrance and community healing.
By speaking at the walk each year, THEIRS has helped normalise conversations about loss, grief and hope, while also connecting participants with support services and resources.
In 2025 stepped up and helped bring together the service providers and VIP list seeing members from surrounding councils join and show their support. The repeated invitation to speak demonstrates the trust placed in THEIRS by the community and event organisers and ensures that lived experience and prevention messaging remain central to the event.
Blue Tree Project
As part of its commitment to visible, community-led suicide prevention, THEIRS has delivered one Blue Tree Project within a local council area, with additional projects currently in development.
The project involved painting a public tree blue as a symbol of hope and a prompt for conversation, encouraging community members to check in with one another and seek support when needed. The installation became a focal point for discussion and reflection, particularly among young people, and helped reduce stigma by making mental health visible in everyday spaces.
Future Blue Tree Projects will continue to build on this momentum and expand the reach of suicide prevention messaging across the region.
7-Up Youth Centre Drug & Alcohol Awareness Event – Smithton
THEIRS supported 7-Up Youth Centre to deliver a large-scale drug and alcohol awareness event in Smithton, in partnership with LDAT, focused on prevention, harm minimisation and early intervention.
The event was attended by two schools, reaching over 200 students, and supported by a whopping 28 service providers, creating a highly coordinated response that connected young people directly with local supports.
THEIRS assisted with planning, on-the-ground delivery and engagement, ensuring the event was youth-friendly, trauma-informed and practical. The strong turnout from both students and services demonstrated the value of collaborative approaches to complex community challenges.
Community Events, Campaigns & Ongoing Support
In addition to delivering its own initiatives, THEIRS actively supports and contributes to a wide range of community events and awareness campaigns, including Youth Fest, Mental Health Week, Suicide Prevention Week, NAIDOC Week, Pride in the Park, as well as local sporting club events, forums and conferences.
Through these activities, THEIRS provides mental health resources, lived-experience speakers, workshops and event support, allowing the organisation to reach diverse audiences who may not otherwise engage with formal services.
This consistent presence strengthens community capacity, fosters collaboration and embeds mental health conversations across everyday community life.
ABC Heywire Trailblazer Program (2024)
In 2024, THEIRS was selected to participate in the ABC Heywire Trailblazer Program, providing a national platform to share its youth-led, regional approach to mental health and suicide prevention.
As part of the program, THEIRS pitched its work on the National Parliament stage, outlining a vision to scale its impact beyond Tasmania.
The experience elevated THEIRS’ profile, strengthened national connections, and positioned the organisation as a credible contributor to youth mental health conversations at a policy and systems level.
ABC Take Over – Social Shuffle (2026)
Building on growing national momentum, THEIRS will deliver the ABC Heywire Take Over event in Burnie – Social Shuffle in early 2026, working alongside young people to co-design and lead a large-scale activation focused on connection, wellbeing and youth voice.
The project will centre young people as leaders and decision-makers, reinforcing THEIRS’ commitment to youth-led change and preventative mental health approaches with broad, national reach.
Grounded in community.
Led by lived experience.
THEIRS is built on youth leadership, trauma-informed practice, and genuine connection — working alongside communities to create safer, more supportive pathways to mental health and wellbeing.
