A Canberra pilot project has demonstrated that community-based, peer-led programs can meaningfully reduce loneliness and strengthen social connection among young adults – and that addressing the problem requires collective action, not individual solutions.
Findings from Connect Up 2617, developed and delivered by the University of Canberra's Health Research Institute (HRI) between March 2024 and October 2025, has been released today. The project supported residents aged 18-30 in the suburbs of Belconnen and Bruce – culturally rich communities where the population rates of young adults (over 40%) significantly exceed the ACT average (16%) – to make meaningful social connections.
The project reached 645 participants, delivering an average of 28 activities per month over 12 months, spanning arts and crafts, team sports, hiking, board games, music nights, markets, and social dinners at local venues. These socially connective activities were deliberately low-stakes, free or heavily discounted and held at consistent times in accessible local venues, and participants were welcomed and supported by Community Connectors who were employed and trained as peer social catalysts and facilitators, and up to 15 volunteers who got on board by the end of the project.
Survey data from participants showed statistically significant improvements across key measures of loneliness, with feelings of lacking companionship dropping by 32%, feeling isolated falling 36%, and feeling left out reducing by 32%. Over 70% of participants had more friends they connected with monthly; almost 50% had more friends they could rely on for help in a crisis; over 75% felt part of a like-minded group. Nearly 90% reported an improved sense of belonging through Connect Up 2617.
Participants also described a range of positive personal outcomes – moving from social anxiety to social confidence, from isolation to friendship; many saying they felt more at home in Belconnen than ever before, with some choosing not to relocate because of the connections they had formed.
Dr Barbara Walsh, Project Lead of Connect Up 2617 said the large reductions in reported isolation and significant gains in belonging, friendships, and social support were not accidental, but a product of deliberate design features.
“Loneliness among young adults is the result of societal conditions – not personal failings – that can hopefully be addressed by designing connective environments and building community capacity for social connection,” she said.
The report’s recommendations call on governments to embed social connectivity as a whole-of-government responsibility; to prioritise 18-30 year olds through dedicated, co-designed policies; to create incentives for ‘socially connective’ venues; invest in trained peer facilitator roles; and normalise social connection as a civic 1 value – shifting public messaging away from the stigma of loneliness toward collective responsibility for community social health.
Professor Rachel Davey, Director of the Health Research Institute, said loneliness among young adults is no longer a fringe wellbeing concern.
“Social connection is a fundamental public health issue with consequences comparable to smoking. This pilot provides some practical lessons to support governments to treat social connection as essential infrastructure and invest accordingly,” she said.
The Connect Up 2617 project has been adopted by Capital Region Community Services (CRCS) as an ongoing program, with plans for regional expansion beyond Belconnen and Bruce.
Read the full report here.