Official apology and public toll could be the next steps forward on domestic violence

Victims of crime lobbyist Phil Cleary has called for a public count of domestic violence deaths like the road toll, as he campaigns for more action to combat “our national shame”.

Phil Cleary has been a family violence activist since 1987. Picture: Andy Brownbill

An official, publicised toll of victims could help tackle domestic violence, according to activist Phil Cleary.

The State Government is open to the idea and Mr Cleary’s other suggestion of an official apology to families affected by an archaic law.

Mr Cleary’s sister Vicki was killed by her ex-partner in 1987, sparking the Coburg Football Club legend into decades of activism on family violence.

Vicki’s killer, Peter Raymond Keogh, was found not guilty of murder under the provocation law and was instead jailed for just under four years for manslaughter.

Vicki Cleary was killed by her partner in 1987.

The law, which was abolished in 2005, allowed men to lash out at their partners and blame them.

An official apology from the State Government for the law’s existence and its affect would go some way to easing the pain brought on families, Mr Cleary said.

“There must be an official apology for the miscarriage of justice that shredded Vicki’s human rights and the rights of so many women under that law.”

Mr Cleary also argued a running count, similar to the road toll, would work to keep family violence deaths in the public eye and create change.

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Domestic Violence Victoria acting chief executive Alison McDonald said a running count would be useful for the community.

“We’d be keen to see if there’s a way to reflect a real time count of the family and domestic violence homicide rate, taking into account that many matters will be in the criminal justice system for some time,” she said.

“There is a critical need for better national data collection around the prevalence and impact of family and domestic violence, including homicide.

“At the moment the homicide data at a national level takes considerable time to be published and released and is not therefore a reliable real time measure of the toll of family and domestic violence-related homicide.”

State Prevention of Family Violence Minister Gabrielle Williams said the government was open to any way to reduce violence.

“We’re only happy to consider any recommendation from the experts, the community or survivors of family violence that would create ways to keep women and children safe,” she said.

Gabrielle Williams said the government is happy to hear any ideas. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

“Phil Cleary has a been a tireless advocate in his fight to end family violence for many years – and we’re proud to be working with him to address the number one law and order emergency facing Australia.”

A NATIONAL APOLOGY ‘IS THE WAY FORWARD’

Phil Cleary explains the need for both an official apology and a murder toll.

It hardly needs to be said that the murder of our sister, 25-year-old Vicki Cleary, in Coburg in 1987 at the hands of the ex-boyfriend she’d left three months earlier, took a terrible toll on her mother, father and five siblings.

In her diaries, discovered after her death in 2011, Lorna Cleary etched a mother’s grief in profound and poignant words, most often on Vicki’s birthday and the yearly anniversary of her passing.

How many women have we lost since our sister Vicki Cleary was murdered in 1987? Why don't we know how many? As we prepare for Vicki Cleary Day at Coburg Football Ground on Sunday 21 July - from midday and free entry - it's the question every politician should be able to answer. pic.twitter.com/MNA6UOZms0

— Philip Cleary (@PhilCleary_Ind) July 9, 2019

It should be a matter of national shame that every year in Australia some 60 mothers and fathers are forced to endure what was visited upon Lorna and Ron Cleary.

That Vicki’s killer was offered a provocation defence, found not guilty of murder and served less than four years in jail only seared the pain.

It was unfathomable that a knife-wielding ex-boyfriend could callously attack a young woman parking her car for work, at the Shirley Robertson Kindergarten in Cameron St, Coburg, and be found not guilty of murder.

These verdicts were the norm before the provocation law was abandoned in Victoria in 2005.

There must be an official apology to the women and families affected by that law.

Phil Cleary and Coburg footballer Billy Cannolo at Coburg City Oval, where the Vicki Cleary Day will be held on July 21.

Alongside the apology there must be a commitment to properly document the murder toll, now and over the past 50 years.

Vicki’s legacy is that her death and the obscene not-guilty verdict, handed down in February 1989, spelt the end of the provocation law and inspired the anti-violence campaign that led to the Victorian Royal Commission into Family Violence in 2015.

On July 21 Coburg Football Club will host its annual Vicki Cleary Day at Coburg City Oval as the home side faces North Melbourne.

Before the game, a minute silence will be observed at 12.15pm for all victims of domestic violence. A gold coin donation will be collected on entry.