When AFL legend Danny Frawley first opened up to the public about his struggles with mental health, he was tackling a stigma that has been in place in Australian society for generations.
While the former St Kilda captain’s tragic death in 2019 was a heartbreaking loss to his loved ones and the community, his legacy continues through the work of the Danny Frawley Community (the nationwide impact arm that has evolved out of the Danny Frawley Centre for Health & Wellbeing), spearheaded by his eldest daughter Chelsea.
Founded in 2022, the organisation recently joined forces with the Black Dog Institute to scale its vital programs across the country and encourage vulnerability, open conversation and access to mental health and suicide prevention services.
Now, Quest Apartment Hotels has partnered with the Danny Frawley Community through our Doing Better initiative, bringing practical mental fitness workshops to our corporate network and broader communities.
Mental health is everyone’s business
Mental health challenges impact people across all ages and demographics - and the numbers are a reminder of the impact we can make when we make it our business to care:
● 43% of Australians aged 16–85 experience a mental health disorder in their lifetime
● 27,195 community members have participated in DFC programmes addressing mental fitness, suicide prevention, and discrimination.
● 2,143 professionals have completed the MindFit for Work corporate coaching series.
● 418,000+ visits have been made to the centre for physical health, community swim lessons, and low-cost psychological services.
For Chelsea Frawley, Head of Operations at DFC, shifting the national mindset towards early intervention and everyday practice is the ultimate goal.
“We’re so good at understanding the importance of working on our physical fitness, but we need to start treating our mental fitness the same way,” she says.
“To continually invest in the tools that we have, whether that’s mindfulness or gratitude or other daily skills, sets us up for success when we go through challenges.”
Shifting the onus from the individual
“Taking the onus off the individual to have to put their hand up and reach out for help themselves is vital,” Chelsea continues. “If we look at it as a social issue, it’s important that we’re all able to identify and jump in and help our friends, family and colleagues when it comes to mental health.”
Quest’s commitment to creating safe, supportive, and high-performing environments has continued to grow over the past few years, and as an evolution of this, Quest has incorporated DFC's MindFit for Work program throughout the network, and stands alongside the Danny Frawley Community as an official partner of Spud's Ride and Spud's Game, helping raise awareness and vital funds for mental fitness.
Speaking on the rollout of the program across the business, Anthea Dimitrakopoulos, General Manager, Brand and ESG at Quest, notes that high-performing culture cannot exist without robust mental health support.
“High-performing culture and psychological safety go hand in hand,” she explains.
“By embedding the Danny Frawley Community’s mental fitness framework into our leadership development and daily operations, we are empowering our teams across Australia to navigate life’s pressures with resilience. Danny Frawley’s message was about looking out for one another, and we are incredibly proud to champion that ethos across our network.”
A Mindfit webinar available to the general public will also be brought to you by Quest Apartment Hotels.
Whether on the field, in the office, or within our local apartment hotels, we are honoured to back the Danny Frawley Community in ensuring no one has to walk through life's challenges alone.
If you or someone you know is struggling or needs support, help is available:
● Lifeline: 13 11 14
● Beyond Blue: 1300 22 4636
● MensLine Australia: 1300 789 978
