My Circle – the social platform that's good for your mental health!

On the My Circle social media platform, a Circle is what we call a space where people come together to talk about a specific topic (e.g. bullying, depression). While you’re in a Circle, you’ll be able to ask questions and have supportive conversations with others to learn more about your experiences and what you can do to cope with them.

My Circle runs on a secure and open-source platform that you can access through your preferred internet browser. There is no app to download. If you join My Circle, you can use the browser on your mobile phone, tablet, laptop or desktop computer to take part.

Once you’ve created an account through the sign-up process and verified your email, your account will be reviewed by a Moderator. This can take up to 24 hours. Keep an eye on your inbox (and your spam/junk folder), we’ll send you an email when your account is ready to go!

If you can't remember your password, try the 'forgot password?' link on the sign-in page. Still stuck? If you're still having trouble logging in using your email address and password, you can email us at mycircle@yourtown.com.au and one of our team will get back to you as soon as they can!

We are here to support you and listen. We won't tell anybody outside of Kids Helpline what you say in My Circle as it’s private and confidential.

The only time we might need to tell somebody is if you or someone else are in a life-threatening situation or are in danger of being significantly harmed or we are legally required to share information. In times like this we have a responsibility to protect you from harm and meet our legal responsibilities. This is called our “Duty of Care”.

We will send you a private message to talk with you about this beforehand wherever possible.

My Circle is supported by a team of qualified Clinical Moderators who work for Kids Helpline. Their job is to monitor the conversations within the Circles every day to make sure conversations stay safe, supportive, and informative. My Circle offers you information, skills, and group feedback you can use to change your own behaviour.

While Clinical Moderators may jump in every now and then to comment on member’s posts, it’s important to note that My Circle is not a counselling or crisis service – if you need crisis support or are having immediate thoughts of ending your life, please seek urgent support from Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800 (24hrs) or Emergency Services (police, ambulance) on 000 (24hrs).

Because My Circle encourages and supports you to tackle any problems on your own with the support of peers, you may find this isn’t enough, especially if you are going through a very difficult situation. Please contact Kids Helpline if you think you may need extra support for what’s happening in your life right now.

You can contact Kids Helpline in the following ways:

• Kids Helpline telephone counselling (free phone call, 24/7) on: 1800 55 1800
• Kids Helpline WebChat counselling (free but requires Internet access)

If you’re needing any more information about My Circle, then please contact us at mycircle@yourtown.com.au so one of our team can assist you.

This is a common question we receive, which is often asked in response to concerns that people have about the uncertainty of the Internet and the risk of interacting with harmful adults online.

My Circle project staff have consulted widely with other digital mental health services, cyber safety, and law enforcement authorities to understand these concerns and develop a service that minimises these risks for young people.

My Circle address these issues and minimise these risks by:

• Employing a team of paid Clinical Moderators (those with undergraduate qualifications in psychology, counselling, or social work) whose job is to screen new accounts, attend to members in high distress, and ensure all conversations on the platform are safe, respectful, accurate, and purposeful as per community guidelines
• Having all members of My Circle maintain strict anonymity to ensure that they are not identifiable in the community or in their real life, and not contactable off the platform
• Restricting Private Messages (PMs) between members of the community and only allowing this communication between Clinical Moderators and members, so all conversations between members are public and can be monitored
• Implementing technology that screens posts and comments for keywords that are associated with high-risk issues, which would be distressing or triggering for community members to be exposed to frequently
• Regular monitoring and review of member behaviour, internal procedure and policy, and development of improved safeguarding technology
• My Circle operates on a secure platform that is regularly maintained by yourtown’s IT team