Timeline

A life of purpose

From Lilydale and Fremantle to the community, projects and chosen family Andy found in Darwin.

Some dates are exact; others are kept as life chapters until family records complete the chronology. Together they trace the places, people and work that shaped Andy’s life.

  1. Born in Lilydale

    Andy was born in Victoria, the youngest of four children after his brothers John and Mark and his sister Tina.

  2. A period in England

    After Mark was gravely injured during the Falklands conflict, Andy lived for a time in England with his mother.

  3. Painter, decorator and door frames

    Andy trained in a trade and later maintained that door frames were the only true enemy he had ever faced.

  4. Learning to walk again

    A serious road accident badly injured both femurs, his pelvis and an arm. Recovery required patience and the hard work of learning to walk again.

  5. Australia by Kombi

    Andy travelled around Australia with his best mate in a Kombi, sporting long hair and a perm that survived in photographs.

  6. A promise on the Cappuccino Strip

    Unable to find work along the strip, Andy promised himself he would one day rule it. Metropolis nightclub became the professional turning point.

  7. Friday lunch with Mario, Joe and Ross

    NT News dates Andy and Dani’s first meeting to 2003. His fixed Friday order at La Porchetta was how seventeen-year-old Danielle Gough first came to know him.

  8. A collision and a coffee

    After years apart, Andy and Dani literally turned the same corner into one another. Coffee restored the friendship.

  9. Building a life together

    Friendship became partnership. Dani, her dad Peter Gough, Carol, Aston, Merrill, Kev and Greggy became the family around Andy’s Fremantle life.

  10. A promise in Thailand

    On Patong Beach, Andy and Dani released a floating lantern with a promise to find one another in this lifetime and the next.

  11. North to Darwin

    Andy, Dani and their dog Lily moved to Darwin and opened Discovery. NT News records that they worked there until about 2021. The Top End became home.

  12. The Discovery family

    Adrian, Kyle, Ben, Josh ‘Kingy’ King and many others became a team. Young men found direction and belonging at Sunday dinner with Andy and Dani.

  13. Checking on the new bloke

    Josh King’s first Discovery shift began in the toilets and a lifelong friendship began with Andy quietly checking that he was all right.

  14. Fruit baskets become brotherhood

    Astro became Andy’s best friend and brother. Astro and Crystal named Andy and Dani godparents to Valentina; Dante became the nephew Andy cheered from ringside.

  15. Creating the NT Fight Series

    Andy and Astro built a home-soil competition pathway for Northern Territory fighters and visitors from around Australia.

  16. Making PORU practical

    Andy and Josh King turned an ambitious idea into the Public Order Response Unit, working on Darwin streets and alongside government agencies.

  17. Taking the injury instead

    On Mitchell Street, Andy moved a young man clear of a broken bottle and took a serious arm injury himself. Dani saw his scars as the record of people he had protected.

  18. Security-based licensing inspection

    After nearly two years of effort, Andy became the first security-based licensing inspector, adding a practical way to reduce alcohol-related street harm.

  19. Reading danger before violence

    Alongside de-escalation training, Andy worked on teaching CCTV operators to recognise pre-violence indicators through body language.

  20. Backing Andrew Sauer

    Daily conversations with Andrew combined work, mentoring, honest challenge and friendship. Andrew helped PORU and AHRT grow and carried Andy’s confidence forward.

  21. Working with Sharon Kimberley

    At Personal Protection Strategies, Andy and Sharon translated frontline experience into de-escalation and personal-protection training.

  22. Work carried by other hands

    Dani, family, friends, colleagues and the Andy Price Foundation continue the work of care, protection, mentoring and community connection that Andy modelled.