Hannah McGuire took steps to increase her safety two days before alleged murder

The beloved Ballarat teacher’s aide had feared her life was in danger – and it can be revealed just two days before her death she took steps to increase her personal safety.

Ballarat woman Hannah McGuire begged authorities for protection amid fears her life was in danger before her alleged murder.

The Herald Sun can reveal just two days before her death Ms McGuire, 23, took extra steps to increase her personal safety.

A bid for help was approved by authorities on April 3, but she was dead less than 48 hours later.

The body of the teacher’s aide was found in a burnt-out car near Ballarat on April 5.

Hannah McGuire had begged authorities for protection before she was found dead in Scarsdale.

Sources familiar with the case say the 23-year-old first approached authorities on March 20 asking for help amid fears for her personal safety.

Exactly two weeks later – on April 3 – that help was offered.

Concerns have been raised about whether a delayed response may have contributed to Ms McGuire’s death.

The Herald Sun is prevented from providing further detail of her attempts for assistance for legal reasons.

Floral tributes to Hannah McGuire outside the National Hotel in Clunes. Picture: Aaron Francis

However sources connected to the case say details of her request for help should be closely probed independent of a criminal investigation.

They say communication between authorities and the availability of resources should be central to any inquiry.

The case could also prompt calls for the Allan government to consider potential reforms to address perceived flaws in cases such as this.

Hannah McGuire purchased a house with her former boyfriend Lachlan Young a year before he allegedly murdered her.

Ms McGuire’s body was located in a burnt-out car in bushland near State Forest Rd in Scarsdale earlier this month.

The death was deemed non-suspicious but a criminal investigation commenced after a Coroner deemed Ms McGuire was dead before the car was set alight.

Her ex-boyfriend, 21-year-old Lachlan Young, has been charged with her murder and has been remanded in custody.

He was on bail for unrelated assault and burglary charges at the time of the alleged murder.

Hannah McGuire was a teacher’s aide and well-known in the community.

While Mr Young isn’t due to reappear in court until September, his lawyer has flagged he plans to make an application for bail in the Supreme Court before then.

He would have to satisfy the court that exceptional circumstances exist that justify the grant of bail.

Mr Young’s father Anthony has also been charged for the same alleged offending, with the pair due to appear in the County Court on May 6.

In March 2023, Ms McGuire and Mr Young had celebrated buying a home together in Sebastopol.

Hannah McGuire was the third woman to allegedly be killed by a man in three months in the Ballarat region.

The property has since become a crime scene, with police searching the King Drive house shortly after her body was found in bushland.

Ms McGuire’s death – the third woman to be killed in Ballarat within two months – has prompted calls from domestic violence experts for urgent funding to meet a “surge in demand”.

In February, mum of three Samantha Murphy was allegedly murdered after she went for a jog, while mum of five Rebecca Young was killed by her partner in a suspected murder suicide.

‘We must all take urgent, targeted action’

The devastating rates of murdered and missing women in Australia will be in the spotlight in emergency crisis talks taking place next month.

Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commissioner Micaela Cronin has called the meeting, saying the number of women murdered, missing or suiciding in the context of family violence has reached crisis levels and requires urgent national attention.

“Women are going missing and being murdered at horrendous rates in this country,” Ms Cronin said.

“Too many women are taking their own lives following their experiences of family violence. “We must all take urgent, targeted action to end violence against women and children.”

The meeting, in Canberra on May 7, will bring together the nation’s leading violence prevention experts and is expected to call for significant government funding to address the problem.

Twenty-four women – including Samantha Murphy, Hannah McGuire and Rebecca Young and Chaithanya ‘Swetha’ Madhagani – have been killed allegedly by men across Australia so far this year.

Chaithanya ‘Swetha’ Madhagani is one of the women to have been killed allegedly by men.

Phillip Ripper, chief executive of No to Violence, the largest national body working with men who commit family violence, said these senseless killings will continue if urgent action is not taken to stamp out misogyny in males from a young age.

He said the existing system deals with violent men only after the point of crisis with a “one-size-fits-all” approach which fails to keep women and children safe.

Mr Ripper called on governments to fund national research to understand offenders’ patterns of behaviour and attitudes to inform important early-intervention measures.

“If we keep doing the same thing and expect a different result, we are bonkers,” he said.

Samantha Murphy was allegedly murdered.

“Violence doesn’t end with women and children fleeing homes. It ends when men stop using violence and this needs to be a national priority.

“At the moment we have a one-size-fits-all approach for men who use violence but men have different motivations for using violence. We need to understand a lot more to prevent it such as who are these men and boys, what drives them and what intervention responses would work.”

The bushland in Scarsdale where Hannah McGuire’s body was discovered in a burnt-out car. Picture: Ian Currie

He said early intervention work was already being done at grassroots levels but that much more was needed on a national scale.

Mr Ripper said the family violence sector is disturbed by research about the oncoming generation, including that a quarter of teenage boys have sought out social media personalities who condone violence against women.

He said online algorithms send these boys further down the rabbit hole, solidifying dangerous views.

“Recently we received feedback from teachers about how boys engage with them today compared to 10 – 15 years ago and they reported a lack of respect based on gender,” he said.

“The feeling was it had increased significantly and was taking on a gendered nature where it never used to.”

Mr Ripper said attitudes of gender inequity must be challenged so women stop losing their lives to preventable violence.

“Misogyny has existed over the millennia and it’s appalling every time we see it played out, particularly through use of violence and mass violence like in Sydney,” he said.

“This was a tragic loss but we also must not lose sight of a lot of private losses that occur every day behind closed doors across the Australian community. Women and children are suffering at the hands of men.”

Originally published as Hannah McGuire took steps to increase her safety two days before alleged murder