Former AFL premiership player and mental health advocate — founder of PukaUp.
Wayne Schwass played more than 280 games of AFL football, won a premiership with North Melbourne, and quietly battled a mental illness throughout the years he was at the top of the game. The story he has since told publicly — and the work he has done as founder of PukaUp, a social enterprise focused on suicide prevention and emotional wellbeing — has made him one of the most credible voices in Australia on men's mental health.
Wayne's keynotes are personal without being self-indulgent. He moves carefully between his own experience, the broader picture of mental illness in workplaces, and the specific things leaders, teams and individuals can do to make a difference. The tone is measured, often warm, and grounded in years of conversations with people working through the same territory.
For event organisers, Wayne is a strong fit for wellbeing programs, leadership events, R U OK? campaigns, safety days in heavy industry and any workplace audience where the conversation needs a credible voice to open it. He works both in-person and virtually, and is particularly effective in male-heavy industries and operational environments.
Wayne Schwass is a keynote speaker based in Victoria who speaks on inspiration, mental health & wellbeing and sport. Book through Executive Speakers Australia.
The PukaUp Purpose
PukaUp’s vision is to end suicide.
As mental health advocates and storytellers, PukaUp believes that education and facilitating open conversations about mental and emotional wellbeing is the key to keeping people healthy and ultimately preventing suicide. We work in the prevention, rather than the crisis space for a very important reason: we don’t believe that people should become unwell, or reach crisis point, before taking control of their wellbeing.
Presentations & Webinars
For the past 16 years, Wayne has delivered his entertaining and engaging presentations to hundreds of organisations and community groups across the country. Wayne’s powerful storytelling ability, humour, authenticity and vulnerability coupled with his practical and relatable delivery skills, allows him to connect with and inspire audiences to take action.
The Topics of Conversation:
- Normalising mental health conversations as part of everyday life
- Connecting physical and mental health
- Understanding what’s holding us back from beginning our wellbeing journey
- Practical ways to communicate to others about our mental health
- Strategies and techniques that you can use to prioritise your mental health
- The motivation to take action today
The Details
- Wayne delivers either in-person presentations at your workplace or virtual webinars according to your covid safe practices and where your team is located
- Webinars can be recorded and forwarded to your organisation as a valuable educational resource
- Wayne facilitates these engaging presentations by asking questions of the audience throughout the conversation. Questions give your people opportunity to partake in the discussion, reflect on their own wellbeing journey and walk away with the tools to take action today
Wayne was brilliant! He is an excellent speaker and has such passion about improving the stigma around mental health and wellbeing. I previously saw him speak at another event and knew he was perfect for our group. He exceeded my expectations and was such a hit with our group.Ray White Real Estate Ferntree Gully
Lots of positive feedback from delegatesExpert Events
Very engaging, understood the crowd and was very impactful sharing personal experiences and perspective.Mars
Tell us about your event and our consultants will return a curated shortlist within one business day.
