Personal alarm ‘library’ to be created by Change for Sam foundation

Almost five years on from the murder of Samantha Fraser, her friends and family have come up with a plan that could save countless lives.

Women at risk of domestic violence will be able to “borrow” a personal alarm, as part of a new project aimed to protect them.

After Phillip Island mum Samantha Fraser was murdered in her home by her estranged partner Adrian Basham in 2018, her friends and family established Change for Sam — a charity dedicated to making a safer future free from family violence.

Founder and Ms Fraser’s best friend Lija Matthews is at the forefront of the new project which would see people in high-risk family violence situations receive a personal alarm for free, without a wait period.

“These alarms are available but currently people have to wait up to three months for funding to come through to get one through an organisation,” Mrs Matthews said.

“You can buy them yourself but they are about $600.

“I wanted to bridge that gap of people having to wait.”

Currently, alarms given out by organisations are discarded after each use but the new system would see them retured in a “library” style arrangement.

Mrs Matthews said if she had known about the alarms she would have gotten one for Ms Fraser.

“It probably wouldn’t have stopped him but it might have saved us from waiting five years while the court process played out,” Mrs Matthews said.

The alarms are about the size of a small key fob and can be clipped onto clothes or bags. When they are pressed a silent alert is sent to a security company.

Samantha Fraser was murdered by her estranged partner in 2018. Her friends and family are behind the Change for Sam charity.

The alarms are monitored 24/7 and turn into listening devices when triggered.

“People could press them if they are coming home to an empty house and just say ‘everything’s okay I just need someone with me to walk inside’ or they can be pressed if people are having a fight and they could say ‘Darren put down the knife’,” Mrs Matthews said.

The company will then alert the appropriate authorities.

Change for Sam has already purchased a few alarms but they’re now trying to buy more.

However, Mrs Matthews said there were some logistics to work through before the library service could begin.

“It needs to be longterm and sustainable,” she said.

But alarms shouldn’t come at the cost of individuals or charities, Mrs Matthews said, insisting governments should be doing more to help those in domestic violence situations.

“If they can fund RAT tests, they should be able to fund these,” she said.

“Eventually I want them to just be available at police stations, at hospitals, at agencies for free, immediately.

“If we can save one person, it will be worth it. It’s not about changing the whole world it’s just about being proactive in our grief.”

Ms Fraser was murdered on July 23, 2018 by Adrian Basham who has since been convicted by a jury of murder.

Following a six-week trial, it took less than two days for 12 jurors to find Basham guilty of brutally killing his estranged wife in the home she shared with the couple’s three children and staging a suicide scene.

He is currently awaiting sentencing.