‘Are you abuse aware’: Jari’s Place and Lifeline run domestic abuse awareness campaign

It’s been more than four and a half years since Faith Tkalac lost her son, Jari Wise. Now she’s using her grief to help young people recognise the signs of domestic abuse in a new campaign.

Faith Tkalac opened "Jari's Place" in Huonville – a refuge for men and their children who have fallen on tough times or trying to escape violence. Picture: Chris Kidd.

A Tasmanian mother, whose son was killed when he was struck by a car driven by his girlfriend, has continued her fight for change, as she hopes to help more young people better recognise domestic abuse.

Jari Wise was 26 years old when he died in 2020 of “massive unsurvivable injuries”.

His girlfriend, Melissa Oates pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, but was not charged with causing Mr Wise’s death.

In May this year a coroner said he was not convinced by claims Mr Wise had jumped in front of Oates’ car, but stopped short of holding her responsible.

Jari Wise was killed at Huonville on February 29.

Fuelled by her grief after the loss of her son, Mr Wise’s mother, Faith Tkalac, founded ‘Jari’s Place’, a free “safe haven” at Huonville for men to stay at to get back on their feet after a period of doing it tough.

Since then Ms Tkalac has been busy working with Lifeline Tasmania to create a school awareness campaign about domestic abuse.

“Obviously a lot of what I do has stemmed from the death of my son Jari Wise in February 2020,” she told the Mercury.

“All the steps that I’m trying to put in place are in hope that no one else loses a son.

“My boy was controlled in many ways, segregation from his family and friends was extreme and this made any steps to find a brighter future more difficult as not many knew what was going on.”

Mother of Jari Wise, Faith Tkalac. Picture: Chris Kidd

Part of the campaign, called ‘are you abuse aware?’, aims to help young people recognise the red flags of domestic abuse.

“Abuse comes in many forms, not just violence and it isn’t as obvious as you may think,” Ms Tkalac said.

“[The program is] not gender specific, it’s just tailored in a way that the language is inclusive.

“I want to get these kids to think about their own lives and how they can change their own future.”

The program is being run at Huonville High, thanks to funding from Jari’s Place, and now Ms Tkalac hopes it can be expanded to other Tasmanian schools, as she begins meetings with Tasmanian ministers about the program.

She said learning to recognise certain behaviours could have helped Jari.

“If he had had access to a course such as this then maybe he would’ve been aware that what was happening was wrong,” she said.

“I often get asked why I keep striving to make a difference, the answer is simple, I can’t sit with my sadness and do nothing so why not use my time left making my part of the world a better place?”

Originally published as ‘Are you abuse aware’: Jari’s Place and Lifeline run domestic abuse awareness campaign