Rosie Batty: ’Mother Courage’ (All About Women 2015)

When two young men lose their lives in drunken assaults in the space of a few weeks, governments declare ‘Enough is enough’, and enact strict regulation to prevent another incident. But despite one Australian woman being killed by a current or former partner every week, family violence doesn’t attract anywhere near an equivalent amount of airtime, or popular outrage. Rosie Batty awed Australians with her eloquence and compassion after her 11-year-old son Luke was murdered by his estranged father in February 2014. In the intervening year she’s shown that that extraordinary resolve was no fluke, as she’s worked tirelessly to encourage a conversation about family violence in Australia – one that might help us work out what we can do to stop it. Rosie Batty's 11-year-old son Luke was murdered by his father Greg Anderson at cricket practice in Tyabb in February 2014. She has since become a domestic violence campaigner and has eloquently spoken out against family violence. She was named Victorian of the Year in October 2014, Daily Life Woman of the Year 2014 and was recently awarded Australian of the Year 2015.