Dame Phyllis Irene FrostACDBEJP (née Turner; 14 September 1917 – 30 October 2004) was an Australian welfare worker and philanthropist, known for her commitment to causes, such as helping prisoners. She chaired the Victorian Women's Prisons Council for many years, established the Keep Australia Beautiful movement, worked for Freedom from Hunger and raised millions of dollars for charity.
Frost was born Phyllis Irene Turner in 1917 in Brighton, Melbourne to parents Irene Turner née Rickard (1887-1973), and Harry Turner (1884-1977). She had two sisters, Caroline Nancy Cats née Turner, and Elizabeth Kathleen Turner and they grew up in Croydon.[1] She attended Presbyterian Ladies' College, Melbourne and the University of Melbourne, training in physiotherapy and, later, criminology. The latter would help her to better understand the female offenders, to whom she had committed her assistance.[2]
At university she met Glenn Frost, whom she was to marry in 1941; the couple had three daughters.[3]
On 1 January 2001, Frost was awarded the Centenary Medal, "for long and dedicated voluntary service to welfare at local, state and national levels".[7]
The Victorian government recognised her achievements with women prisoners by renaming the Deer Park Metropolitan Women's Correctional Centre the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre in 2000.[3]
The Victorian premier at the time, Steve Bracks paid tribute to Frost, acknowledging her work with around 47 charitable committees and associations. He said that "This work marks her as truly one of the great women this state has produced.''[3]
^Doery, Mary K. (February 2000). "The Victorian Naturalis: A Tribute". The Victorian Naturalist (117 ed.). Victoria: Field Naturalists Club of Victoria. pp. 77–79. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
