Reforms only on paper are courting failure
Posted on 11 Nov 2026
On everything from gambling to climate, charities to disability reform, Australian federal and…
Helping parents to put their kids' mobile use on hold
Posted on 10 Feb 2025
By Greg Thom, journalist, Institute of Community Directors Australia
Share this article
Australian parents are banding together to ensure their kids are not robbed of their childhoods by mobile phone addiction.
That’s the premise behind Wait Mate, a new initiative that urges parents to support each other’s efforts in keeping at bay the negative effects of too much mobile use at too young an age.
Wait Mate co-founder Jessica Mendoza-Roth said participating parents were asked to sign a pledge which bound them to hit pause on their children’s smartphone use until at least high school.
The program connects parents with likeminded families in their children’s school year, giving them the confidence to push back against their own children’s resistance to forsaking mobile use by showing them others in the network who are doing the same thing.
Research has shown the negative consequences of mobile phone addiction for young Australians range from distraction from school and daily life to increased suicide rates, self-harm, anxiety and depression.
Mendoza-Roth said the objective of the Wait Mate movement was to help kids be kids for longer.
“It’s to give kids their childhood’s back and to enable them to have a play-based childhood without being addicted to a screen.”
Mendoza-Roth said she was inspired to start Wait Mate in Australia after seeing a similar program operating in the United States.
She said the Australian version had met with great success since its launch just over six months ago.
Hear more from Mendoza-Roth on Wait Mate in the Community Advocate podcast.
It’s just not cricket: charities warn cost-of-living pressure is pricing Australians out of vital sport participation
Posted on 11 Nov 2026
The persistent cost-of-living crisis is affecting Australians in many ways, but two charities have…
What will Australia be like in 2046? Social cohesion summit pushes past fear to see a better future
Posted on 11 Nov 2026
The question of what Australia might look like in 2046 – only 20 years away – can cause anxiety and…
New $24 million initiative targets fathers at risk of using family violence
Posted on 11 Nov 2026
The Paul Ramsay Foundation has announced $24 million in funding for programs aimed at helping…
Climate charity warns that Australia is not doing enough to prepare for increased fire risk
Posted on 11 Nov 2026
As Australia faces a record-breaking “super” El Niño weather system that has arrived ahead of…
The data is in: to rebuild Australian social cohesion, we need to repair political and community connections
Posted on 05 Nov 2026
Mapping Social Cohesion 2026, published today, has found that 48 per cent of Australian adults are…
The answer to tough economic times is collective action
Posted on 04 Nov 2026
I watched an angry man on the TV news. “Australia is stuffed, going backwards,” he said. “No one is…
When meaningful work becomes too much
Posted on 04 Nov 2026
Working for a cause you believe in can be deeply rewarding, but it can also lead to burnout. Jackie…
Human rights advocate urges Australia to adopt National Anti-Racism Framework to drive social cohesion
Posted on 04 Nov 2026
Leading lawyer and anti-racism advocate Mariam Veiszadeh has told a Human Rights Commission…
Community sector must contribute to migration debate
Posted on 04 Nov 2026
A leading advocate and service provider for new arrivals in Australia has urged the nation’s…
To understand social cohesion, embrace its complexity, says research institute head
Posted on 04 Nov 2026
As the Scanlon Foundation Research Institute prepared to release its annual social cohesion report…
Australia has an anger problem. Here’s what we can do about it
Posted on 28 Oct 2026
Altering Australia’s path from anger and potential violence needs more than asking one another to…