For psychologists & allied health professionals
Helping young people find their people.
FriendWorX is an Australian, non-clinical friendship and social connection service. It creates opportunities for young people aged 8–17 to build friendships through small, facilitated online groups and shared gaming activities.
For young people who find traditional social settings challenging, FriendWorX offers another way to explore friendship through shared interests and small, supported online groups.
The game provides the shared experience. Connection is the purpose.
Why this may matter to families
Another way to create opportunities for connection.
Some young people find traditional social environments difficult to navigate. This is not true for every participant.
Initiating conversation, entering unfamiliar settings, fear of judgement, larger groups, difficulty finding shared interests or limited local opportunities can all reduce opportunities for connection.
A shared activity provides a natural focus. A young person does not need to carry the entire conversation because there is something to explore, create, decide or discuss together.
FriendWorX’s social framework
BRIDGE — creating the conditions for connection.
BRIDGE guides the social environment FriendWorX creates. It is not a therapeutic framework, clinical measure or treatment model.
- BBelonging
- Creating opportunities for young people to feel welcomed, included and part of a group.
- RRelationships
- Supporting repeated opportunities to spend time with peers and discover natural connections.
- IInteraction
- Using shared activities to make communication and participation feel more natural.
- DDevelopment
- Recognising that confidence, participation and social connection can grow through experience.
- GGuidance
- Providing an adult Guide who supports inclusion, positive group dynamics and appropriate boundaries.
- EEnvironment
- Creating small, structured, age-appropriate online spaces designed to reduce unnecessary social pressure and online risks.
Why shared gaming?
Conversation is easier when conversation isn’t the activity.
For some young people, face-to-face conversation or traditional social activities can feel demanding. A shared game offers a common focus, decisions to make, things to create and explore, opportunities to cooperate and moments of shared achievement.
Gaming is used intentionally as a facilitated environment for peer interaction. FriendWorX does not claim that gaming itself produces therapeutic benefits.
Small & consistent
Small groups. Familiar faces. Shared experiences.
Groups normally include up to four young people plus a Guide. Similarly aged peers meet in facilitated online sessions, creating a smaller environment than a large public group.
Consistent opportunities to interact can help participants become familiar with one another, understand the group rhythm and have more room to contribute.
FriendWorX creates the opportunity and structure; it does not promise a particular friendship or social outcome.
Discovery & matching
Friendship cannot be assigned.
Young people participate alongside similarly aged peers before an ongoing group is established.
We don’t decide who a young person’s friends should be. We create opportunities for them to discover who they connect with.
FriendWorX considers age, interests, communication preferences, availability, group dynamics and natural peer connections. Discovery is not a clinical assessment, social skills test or competitive selection process, and it does not guarantee friendship, placement or an ongoing group.
Learn how Discovery and matching workThe Guide’s role
Guidance without taking over.
FriendWorX Guides are Australian-based adults who hold Working with Children Checks, have police checks and complete FriendWorX training before assignment.
They facilitate participation, support inclusion, help manage group dynamics and maintain appropriate boundaries. As peer relationships develop, a Guide can become less central to the interaction while remaining present and responsible.
Safeguarding
Online connection, with safeguards by design.
FriendWorX uses connected safeguards to reduce unnecessary exposure to anonymous online interaction. No online environment can be described as risk-free, and platform capabilities differ.
- Known groups
- Small, age-appropriate groups in private or controlled session environments.
- Checked Guides
- Australian adults with Working with Children Checks, police checks and FriendWorX training.
- Managed identity
- FriendWorX-managed gaming identities separated from personal gaming profiles.
- Controlled access
- Access windows around scheduled sessions where platform capabilities permit.
- Boundaries
- Clear expectations for conduct, communication and appropriate participation.
- Visibility & response
- Parent/carer visibility, Guide intervention and organisational response when concerns arise.
Goals & progress
Goals give us direction. Relationships create the opportunities.
Parents, carers and young people can help identify personal goals. Guides then support natural opportunities to practise participation during shared activities.
Goals might include feeling more comfortable joining a group, initiating interaction, sharing ideas, cooperating, contributing with greater confidence, expressing preferences, advocating for personal needs or building familiarity with peers.
These are examples, not clinical treatment goals. Meaningful moments and milestones can be recognised, while individual progress may be non-linear. FriendWorX does not provide clinical assessment, standardised scoring, diagnostic reporting or participant rankings.
We can recognise progress. We don’t score friendship.
Learn about goals and progressExploring suitability
Who might benefit from another way to connect?
FriendWorX may be worth exploring for a young person aged 8–17 who would like more opportunities to make friends.
- They would like more opportunities to make friends
- They feel uncomfortable in large groups
- Conversation feels easier around shared activities
- Finding peers with similar interests has been difficult
- They prefer familiar, smaller social environments
- Local opportunities for connection are limited
These are possibilities, not diagnostic eligibility categories. Neurodivergence is not a requirement, and FriendWorX will not suit every young person or every support need. Families can explore suitability through registration and the welcome process.
Professional boundaries
A complement to support, not a replacement.
FriendWorX is a non-clinical friendship and social connection service. It may complement support provided by psychologists, allied health professionals, educators and families, but does not imply formal collaboration with or endorsement by a treating professional.
FriendWorX does not provide:
- Psychological treatment
- Counselling
- Diagnostic assessments
- Clinical social skills therapy
- Mental health treatment
No claim is made that FriendWorX is an evidence-based treatment or eligible for NDIS funding.
Referral options
Help a young person take the next step.
Choose the pathway that reflects who will submit the expression of interest. These links open the existing FriendWorX registration service.
For professionals
Refer a young person
Professionals who have the parent or carer’s consent can submit an expression of interest on behalf of a young person.
Refer a Young PersonFor families
Share FriendWorX with a family
Families can explore FriendWorX and submit their own expression of interest.
Share Parent RegistrationA different environment for connection
Give a family another option to explore.
Share FriendWorX with a parent or carer, or submit a referral when you have their consent.
Review Referral Options