By SUNNY LIU

Australians are getting farther away from their neighbours despite their physical closeness, a survey of 1000 Australians has revealed.

The survey was conducted by Nabo, an online social media platform that connects neighbours.

It shows that less than 50 per cent of Australians have connections with their neighbours, besides a greeting over the fence.

Nabo CEO Adam Rigby said they aimed to incorporate local community groups and local councils onto their social media platform and encourage them to interact with their community online.

“It’s the people that socialise with their neighbour over the garden fence or those that influence groups, local initiatives and projects that make a suburb a sought-after place to live,” Mr Rigby said.

Local councils are also seeking ways to increase the interactions among their residents. To improve communication and information provision within the local suburbs, Glen Eira City Council has developed the newsletter Connect, providing a platform for information forums and community events.

Glen Eira resident Anne Norris said councils could play an important role in maintaining an interactive neighbourhood.

“People are getting isolated – you are lucky if you even know your neighbour’s name,” Ms Norris said.

“But people usually make new friends at community events hosted by the city council.”

However, neighbourhood social events may not attract many residents to attend.

Box Hill resident Jesse Hu said his neighbours down the street had organised a picnic day and had sent invitations through mail to all the local residents, but Mr Hu did not attend.

“I got the letter from one of the neighbours inviting me to gather together, have a chat and enjoy the food, but we missed it,” he said.

Being too busy is one of the main reasons why people do not attend local social events, and people are losing the opportunity to get to know their neighbours.

The Nabo survey also revealed fewer than 30 per cent of people were Facebook friends with their neighbours.

“I don’t have my neighbours on Facebook, as we don’t speak that often,” Ms Norris said.

“I think social media is built on a virtual reality and people do not have many real interactions on Facebook.”

Having a close relationship with neighbours has been found to have a strong link to good mental health, according to the Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand. The MHF said “neighbourliness” helped build positive social capital and contributed to improved mental wellbeing in communities.

Following the introduction of the Neighbours Day Aotearoa in New Zealand, the Australian Mental Health Coordinating Council hosts Meet Your Neighbour events in cooperation with local councils and other community organisations.

Meet Your Neighbour coordinator Mark Clarkson said relationships had been established or strengthened through Meet Your Neighbour events.

“People get to meet and learn more about each other, and find ways to work better together,” he said.