The archive · Public & Social · Marketing decision · 2009–2024
R U OK? Day brands one question into Australia's national suicide-prevention ritual
After his father's suicide, adman Gavin Larkin launched R U OK? Day in 2009 — one question became a national ritual with 78% awareness by 2017.
R U OK? (suicide prevention charity)
What it had to solve
Gavin Larkin was a successful advertising executive who, after his father Barry died by suicide in 1995, feared he might follow the same path. A self-development course asked him to build a community project, and he chose suicide prevention — where stigma stopped people from even asking for help.
How it works
R U OK? began with one family's grief. Barry Larkin died by suicide in 1995, leaving his son Gavin — then a high-flying advertising executive — with a fear that he might end up the same way. When a colleague suggested a communications course that required building a community project, Gavin chose suicide prevention.
Working with documentarian Janina Nearn, he realised a film alone would not change behaviour and created R U OK? in 2009: a national day of action around the question 'Are you OK?', promoted through Larkin's media contacts, celebrity ambassadors and free resources teaching people how to ask and listen. Larkin attended the first three days of action, working from his hospital bed during the third, before dying of cancer in 2011 aged 42; his family carried the cause on.
Independent research by University of Melbourne's Centre for Mental Health showed the campaign's reach compounding over time: awareness grew from 66% in 2014 to 78% in 2017 while participation rose from 19% to 32%, and those exposed to the campaign were up to six times more likely to reach out to someone struggling. The question has since moved beyond a single day — 'Ask R U OK? Any Day' campaigns, like the 2024 Hogarth Australia film, teach regular check-ins year-round.
Why it lands
- It condensed a complex problem into one universally askable question anyone can use, removing the excuse that starting the conversation is a specialist's job.
- A named national day gave the question a ritual slot in the calendar, so media, workplaces and schools all amplify the message at once.
- The origin story — one family's loss, told relentlessly — gave the campaign emotional authenticity rather than institutional authority.
- Free, practical conversation guidance converted awareness into skill, teaching people not just to ask but to listen and follow up.
What it did
University of Melbourne researchers found campaign awareness among Australians rose from 66% in 2014 to 78% in 2017, with participation up from 19% to 32%; people exposed to the campaign were up to six times more likely to reach out to someone struggling, and two to three times more likely to intend using recommended helping actions.
What you can take
A single, well-branded question can lower the barrier to a hard conversation: give the public one simple action plus the skills to perform it, and a health message becomes a shared ritual.
Since then
R U OK? grew into a permanent Australian not-for-profit and a fixture of the national calendar, with the organisation describing a generation of young Australians who have never known life without the question. Campaigns evolved from the single September day into year-round 'Ask R U OK? Any Day' work, including 2022's 'No Qualifications Needed' and 2024 films directed for the charity, while workplaces, schools and sports clubs run their own activities. The charity's impact reporting now measures asking behaviour, confidence and help-seeking rather than awareness alone.
Sources
- Gavin Larkin & Our Story
- In 2009, Gavin Larkin founded R U OK? Day. He died just three years later.
- Research highlights the importance and relevance of R U OK?
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