Kind July Kindness Brunch: Stay Kind founder Ralph Kelly and social researcher Hugh Mackay encourage one small act of kindness

Kindness, says psychologist and social researcher Hugh Mackay, is the antidote.

Mr Mackay has joined Stay Kind director Ralph Kelly to launch a community-building exercise as part of Kind July.

They're calling it Australia's Kindness Brunch and it aims to restore the connections within communities - on our streets and in our neighbourhoods.

It's a simple concept: reach out to others and invite them for brunch on July 17 or 18. And just like throwing a stone in a pond, Mr Mackay said, the ripples of one act of kindness could become hundreds.

"I think we are coming to understand that kindness is not some remarkable quality you can develop if you work hard enough at it, it's what comes naturally to us," he said.

"It's good to think of kindness as being true to our human nature, we can think of kindness as a way of being in the world, not something we turn on for special occasions - it's like breathing."

Ralph Kelly knows the damage a lack of kindness can do. His son Thomas was killed in an unprovoked attack in Sydney's Kings Cross 10 years ago. Four years later he lost his other son Stuart to suicide, after a bullying episode at university.

It sparked Mr Kelly's drive to make Australia kinder.

"When Thomas died, my brother-in-law as we left the ICU whispered in my ear, 'get angry'," Mr Kelly said. "I never forgot that. I did get angry. I lost an 18-year-old boy for no reason - he was walking along the street and became a homicide victim.

"This was Sydney. It was meant to be a generous, kind and loving place but there was this terrible culture of drinking and violence. I couldn't fathom how my son had been killed by a total stranger. It didn't make sense to me."

As he researched preventative measures, he kept coming back to the value of kindness.

Ten years later he's the head of Stay Kind, the charitable foundation that he and wife Kathy began with a mission to promote kindness and prevent Australians harming each other and themselves.

"There's 25 million Australians, if we all do an act of kindness in July, that's 770 million acts of kindness," he said.

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You can register to take part in Kind July or Australia's Kindness Brunch at staykind.org, and receive daily ideas for simple acts of kindness for the month.

Mr Mackay, whose latest book is titled The Kindness Revolution, reckons "when we are true to the essence of what it means to be human we are kind".

"We treat each other kindly and respectfully because that's how we flourish and repair the damage that has been done to our society by too much emphasis on our independence," he said. "It's the recognition that we all exist in this shimmering, vibrating web of interconnectedness - that's how we survive."

Stay Kind began as a family foundation to promote kindness and protect young people like Thomas Kelly, who lost his life to violence, and Stuart Kelly, who lost his life to suicide after being targeted by bullies. Kind July is the foundation's annual invitation to Australians to do something kind each day in July, with the aim to make Australia a kinder and safer place for all.

In 2022 Stay Kind is encouraging Australians to organise a brunch on either morning of the Australia's Kindness Brunch weekend (July 17 and 18). This could be for your household, neighbours you don't know well, people living alone, new Australians to our shores, making a meal for a person who is homeless, empty nesters, or the elderly in aged care facilities.

Stay Kind CEO Ralph Kelly said Australia's Kindness Brunch would encourage connection, engagement and kindness through the sharing of a meal and a conversation.

"If you act kindly towards someone, research also shows that the person receiving the act of kindness is likely to pay it forward three times," he said. "It just ripples out."

Visit staykind.org to register and participate in Kind July and Australia's Kindness Brunch.