Meet the Mind Behind BurNTout
We recently had the opportunity to chat with Denis Mitrov, the creator of a free, anonymous burnout self-assessment tool for Territory workers called BurNTout.
He arrived in Darwin as a backpacker in 2019 and has lived in Darwin ever since, along with his wife and two standard poodles. He is a Bachelor of Social Work student at Charles Darwin University with a background in frontline and community sector work across the Northern Territory.
What inspired you to develop the burNTout reflection tool? How did this idea come about?
Some of my inspiration for developing this tool came from lived experiences. I've had my own stretches of running on empty and calling it something else, so I know from the inside how burnout talks you out of naming it. From one job after another, I kept seeing the same thing in the people around me. Workers grinding themselves down and almost nobody putting a word to it until the exhaustion kicked in.
The working landscape in the Territory is very unique. The distances are huge, the workforce is thin, and one vacancy increases the workload for those left behind. For those on fly in fly out (FIFO) and remote rosters, a ‘rest week’ often doesn’t feel like rest at all. A lot of people are also a long way from family, working for money that's meant to make the sacrifice worth it and the isolation that comes with that wears on you in a way that's easy to underestimate. You can be surrounded by workmates and still feel a long way from anyone who really knows you.
When I started looking into it properly, the desktop research told the same story from another angle. There's real help out there, but the experience of burn out makes it challenging to make a start or even find that support, as it strips you of the energy to do either.
The other thing I felt strongly about was building a resource specifically for the NT worker context. Burnout in a remote NT community or on a roster job is not the same as burnout in an inner-city Sydney suburb. The causes are different and so is what actually helps. I wanted a tool made by someone who's lived and worked in the Territory and understands the Territory context.. That gap is what I wanted to close. Something free, quick and honest, that meets people where they already are and points them to what's actually available close to home.
Did you consult/collaborate with anyone around your idea? What did that look like?
It started as something I built myself, drawing on my own community sector experience and the burnout research literature. My Bachelor of Social Work at Charles Darwin University fed into that too, both the research skills to read the evidence properly and the frameworks for thinking about wellbeing, stigma and help-seeking that sit underneath the tool. But a lot of what shaped it since has come from listening. The most valuable part has been the response from people working in the NT sector, including the Northern Territory Mental Health Coalition. Their support and willingness to share the tool has meant a great deal for a project at this stage. Conversations across community services and with others who know this space well, have done the same. Mostly my job has been to listen to people who understand Territory work and let that steer it. It's very much a work in progress and better for it.
Were there any statistics that stood out from those who have used the tool?
Of the workers who have taken the audit so far, more than half have scored in the high or severe range and health and community services is the most represented sector among the people reaching for it. I would stress that this is self-report from a free screening tool and a self-selected group, so it can't be read as a representative picture of the NT workforce. But it does line up with the national picture. The AIHW's Australia's Health 2026 report notes that burnout remains a significant issue in the health workforce, with more than one in ten practitioners thinking about leaving within the year and it's felt hardest in rural and remote areas where the workforce is already stretched thin. So a lot of people are quietly carrying more than they let on and the people who spend their working lives caring for others are often the first to check in on themselves.
Calls to action?
Mainly, that people use it (the tool) and that they know this is happening to a lot of people, not just them. That's half the point of the tool. For most people, the hardest part isn't the support itself, it's the barrier before it. Naming what's going on, admitting it out loud, accepting you might need a hand. The audit is built to be the first small step over
that barrier. It's free, anonymous, takes about four minutes, no sign-up and no data sold, so there's almost nothing to resist. You answer honestly, you see where you actually sit and it points you to real support across the NT. If you've been worn down and you're not sure whether it's burnout, that's a low-stakes place to start. I would also love to hear from people and organisations in the sector who see where it could be useful and continue to develop this resource.
What strategies do you use to look after yourself?
Honestly, the ordinary things, done consistently, which is harder than it sounds. A big one is keeping my relationships healthy, time with my wife and our two dogs, the people and the routines that keep me steady.
Putting the phone away matters more than I'd like to admit, because it'll happily fill every gap I give it and leave me feeling busy and empty at the same time. Sport is a big one for me too. Gym and running, and I know that sounds like the stereotypical answer, but it's the thing that genuinely resets me.
The one that holds it all together is routine and predictability. I've learned how much consistency does for me. Not rigid, and never a hundred percent, but the parts I can influence, I try to keep steady. Going to sleep and waking up at the same time, having some structure to how the week looks, so I'm not just reacting to it. Knowing roughly what's coming takes a surprising amount of weight off. I'm not always good at any of this, but being honest with myself about where I'm actually at, rather than pushing through on autopilot, is what makes the difference for me.
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