Tell us about the first time you heard about Housing All Australians.
David: I was working as General Manager at the Crowne Plaza in Melbourne when I received a letter from Robert Pradolin, asking that we donate the bedding we’d be discarding during a renovation to an accommodation shelter. I said, “No problem, done.” We donated around 90 beds.
Sometime later, we caught up for a coffee and he told me more about his work with Housing All Australians. I said to him then, “Whatever you need from me, whenever I can help you, I will.” At that stage, my support was mainly about helping raise awareness and providing furniture from hotel renovations. It’s always a struggle for hoteliers when they’re trying to renovate. What do they do with the old stuff? 90%-95% of perfectly good furniture can go to landfill during renovations.
Can you tell me about some of the projects you have partnered with Housing All Australians on?
David: One of our standout projects was Garden House in Box Hill, Melbourne. My executive team was able to influence our entire property development supplier-based ecosystem of painters, carpenters and tradespeople. That project was a true collaboration, made possible by like-minded partners from our network.
And Ascott Australia was recently involved in another project in Hobart, providing furniture from a major hotel redevelopment to a transitional housing facility for women at risk of homelessness.
I’m also the Chair of Accommodation Australia, and Housing All Australians is one of our key philanthropic partners.
I’m incredibly proud of the work we’ve done with Housing All Australians, and I’m proud to have played a small role in helping the movement grow. Housing All Australians is becoming a very recognisable leader in the space of addressing homelessness in this country, which is exactly what I had hoped to see.
How did the Hobart project — the Amelie shelter — come about?
David: That happened pretty organically. My colleague – GM of Brand and ESG at Ascott Australia, Anthea Dimitrakopoulos – and I were on a call with HAA Chair and Co-Founder Louise Rutten, and Louise, just off the cuff, mentioned something about a project in Hobart. She explained it to us, and we said, are you serious? We are about to close a hotel that has 95 hotel rooms in Hobart. Immediately from that call, all I had to do was call one of my direct reports, and the furniture donation happened.
How do you personally feel about the homelessness and housing crisis in Australia?
David: We are obligated, as citizens of the country, to do something. Due to various circumstances, through no fault of their own, people can find themselves living rough, with no comfort or security.
As Australians, if we can’t look after our own, well, shame on us.
There are so many legislative barriers – local government and councils set parameters and legislation, hence the need to do more to help the private sector better activate and support organisations like HAA.
As a busy executive at a large organisation, how does it feel to be part of Housing All Australians’ mission?
David: We don’t spread ourselves thin across lots of causes. We’ve chosen this one, and we’ve gone all in with it. We’ve made a real commitment, and our team understands why. The partnership has been in place for over five years now. Whenever there’s a volunteering opportunity, I have no shortage of people putting their hands up. It’s completely aligned with our values. We’re not just ticking a box, we’re genuinely invested.
At our organisation, we have a brand belief: “Everyone deserves a place to be themselves. We create moments that matter.” Our brand belief is very important to us as a team; everything we do supports our brand belief.
It’s born out of our values of mutual respect and has become the fabric that holds our team together. It applies to everyone – our guests, our staff, and the people we support through Housing All Australians.
Our brand belief came after we began our work with Housing All Australians, and in many ways, it was shaped by that journey.
Housing All Australians has also helped shape our thinking around our policies. We have probably one of the most progressive parental leave policies in the country. We offer menstrual leave and menopausal leave as well, and we’ve built policies that support career continuity for women. Around 60% of our workforce is female, and over 40% are in leadership roles. There are deep, unconscious biases in corporate Australia. If a woman chooses to have children, it often limits her career. That’s not right. It shouldn’t be a choice between family and financial security.
What’s it been like working with other Housing All Australians partners?
David: It’s always been great. One of the first collaborative events we supported was the Under Cover film screenings. We hosted them along the Eastern Seaboard with Robert, gave speeches, showed the film, and brought together developers and business leaders who could contribute to Housing All Australians’ projects. And so that was where I started to see real collaboration. Robert’s vision was to get real private sector activation.
What was most impressive was the series of conferences that HAA hosted last year over breakfast. We invited developers who build our hotels to come along. We only partner with organisations that share the same values – if you’re not committed to doing good or being better, you won’t work with us. Our partners have the same mindset. We work with a company called Programmed, who do most of our renovations and construction. And when we invited them to some of those HAA events, they said ‘This makes sense to us. We’re fully invested, whatever you need from us.’
From a business point of view, does being a corporate partner of Housing All Australians take up a lot of time or resources?
David: Not really. Our role is to raise awareness and connect HAA with our network. When there’s a property or opportunity, the Housing All Australians team knows we have a supportive ecosystem they can tap into.
We also hosted those Under Cover screenings to bring the right people into the room. That’s where real engagement happens. One connection leads to another — and now it’s a self-perpetuating machine of goodwill. It’s brilliant.
