Our terms
of service.
Mello is made and designed by Orygen Digital, which is based in Melbourne, Australia. Many of us at Orygen Digital live and work on the land of the Boon Wurrung and the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation. Orygen Digital acknowledges the traditional custodians of the lands we are on and pays respect to their Elders past and present. Orygen Digital recognises and respects their cultural heritage, beliefs and relationships to their ancestral lands.
What is Mello?
Mello is a free mental health app designed for young people aged 16 to 25 years old. The app works by helping young people get unstuck from negative thinking loops, which is an underlying cause of mental health problems.
Stuck thinking is the experience of having recurrent negative thoughts that are hard to break out of. Sometimes this is called rumination or worry.
Mello combines effective, evidence-based techniques from CBT, ACT, MCT, MBCT and DBT to help young people break free from stuck thinking in the moment they’re experiencing it. There are also a range of short courses to build skills for managing stuck thinking long term.
Mello is currently freely available on the App Store (iOS) and on Google Play (Android) for anyone residing in Australia.
Mello is not an emergency or a crisis support service. If you need urgent help please call 000.
On the Mello app you will also find links to additional crisis and counselling supports including Lifeline (13 11 14) and Kids Helpline (1800 55 1800).
Can I call Mello for crisis support?
Does Mello cost anything?
Mello is currently delivered to young people completely free of charge thanks to our funding partners Telstra Foundation and the William Buckland Foundation. At no point will you be charged money to use Mello.
Who developed Mello?
Mello was developed by Orygen Digital, a team of world-renowned researchers and psychologists in youth mental health. We’re based at Orygen in Parkville, which is the Centre for Youth Mental Health at the University of Melbourne.
The Mello app was developed by members of the Orygen Digital team with the support of product designers, app developers, and psychologists. Young people with personal experience of mental health challenges were also involved throughout the development process.
Use of data?
Orygen Digital collects information about your use of Mello to:
customise therapeutic content
improve the service
conduct research
When you sign up, we ask for your name and email address so we can create an account for you. After you make an account, you’ll be asked to complete some questions about you and your mental health. You will be given the option to answer these questions each fortnight to track your progress.
When you use Mello, we record basic information, like the time of your visit, how long you stay, the pages you visit, your responses to questions in the app, and what features you spend time on.
All the data we collected in Mello is stored separately from your account information (name and email address), so it is not linked to you. This is called ‘de-identified’ data.
Why do you need my personal details?
The information we collect from Mello users helps us to understand who is using the app, how they are using it, and evaluate whether it’s helping them with their mental health. Without this information, we wouldn’t know if Mello was benefiting the young people it was designed to help and how we could improve it over time. It also helps us to understand how to improve Mello over time.
If you ever want to gain access to the personal information we’ve collected about you, or read Orygen’s privacy policy, please contact Orygen Digital orygendigital@orygen.org.au.
Who do you share my personal information with?
he information collected may be used by the Orygen Digital team to assess the safety, usability, quality and effectiveness of Mello.
The information collected may also be shared with researchers, evaluators, and funders from other organisations, but only in de-identified form and combined with other Mello user’s data. This means that the data can never be traced back to you. The information collected may also be used for promotional purposes. You can read more about our privacy policy here.
One reason we might share de-identified information is for quality assurance and independent evaluation purposes, so others can make sure Orygen Digital is doing the best job we can. Another is to report back to our funders about how Mello is going, how many young people are using it, how effective it is, or when and where demand for services is highest. We might also share the data with other researchers for closely related research projects.
Where is my personal information stored?
All the data collected in Mello are hosted on secured cloud-based servers indefinitely in accordance with local regulations, under password and username protection. No one outside of Orygen Digital can access this data.
How do you protect my personal information?
Mello has been developed using the best practice for user-authentication and data processing. Interactions with Mello occur through secure HTTPS connection, which means that all the data we collect is secure.
How long do we keep personal information?
We will store all data indefinitely in a de-identified format that cannot be linked back to any individual.
Can you tell me more about the research? Can I get involved? Do I have to get involved?
By using Mello, you consent to the de-identified data we collect in the app to be used by us for the purpose of research and evaluation. This helps us to improve Mello and allows us to share our findings with others in publications or reports. We might also reach out via the email address you provide when you signed up to invite you to be a part of research we are conducting. This research is aimed at improving Mello and understanding ways to help young people with their mental health.
One way we communicate our findings is through research papers written for scientific journals and evaluation reports. These articles and reports can improve our understanding of mental health challenges and how to treat them effectively. Again, your data will be de-identified if we use it in a publication or report.
You can opt out of your data being used in research and evaluation by emailing us at orygendigital@orygen.org.au. You can also change your mind at any time by sending us an email. Choosing not to take part in further research and evaluation would never impact on your use of Mello or any other service at Orygen Digital.
How long will my account stay active on Mello?
Your Mello account will stay active until you choose to stop using it. You may delete your account at any time by going to settings in the app. If you delete your account there will be no further information collected or stored from you.
Will Mello ever change?
Yes, definitely! Based on what we learn from young people who use Mello, we aim to continuously update and improve the app over time. We may refine the app, introduce new exercises and content, or improve the user experience in other ways.
Will these terms ever change?
It’s possible that our terms of service might change if we make significant changes to the Mello app. The updated version of the terms of service will be published through Mello and you would be notified. Any changes would take effect immediately from the date of publication.
Okay, I’ve read the terms of use.
So, where do I sign?
You don’t need to sign anything! By using Mello, you accept and agree to be bound by these terms and by the laws of Australia.
Data deletion request
You can request that we delete any personal data you provided via our Data Deletion form or by emailing us at admin@mello.org.au. You can also delete your account at any time under ‘settings’ in the app.
Copyright
The therapy content on Mello has been developed by Orygen Digital and is covered by our copyright. Please do not copy and distribute the content outside of Mello.
Last updated 8 April 2024