Molly Ticehurst’s violent murder was horrendous enough but, for her family, dealing with the horror of her ex-partner climbing through 28-year-old Molly’s bedroom window and stabbing her in her bed, was far from the end of their trauma.
From the start, Molly’s mum, Kate, and father, Tony, knew Molly, who was a mother herself, had been let down by the system. Her murderer, Daniel Billings, was out on bail after she had reported sexual assault allegations against him two weeks earlier.
Following their break-up, there’d been a campaign of threats, violence and abuse, leaving Molly fearing for her life and telling a friend before her death on April 21, 2024: “If I end up dead, he 100 per cent did it.”
Still, protections designed to help Molly failed, and the NSW Government’s Staying Home Leaving Violence initiative, which her family had hoped would help bolster her security, didn’t act in time.
“Molly’s story is a powerful reminder of what’s at stake when our systems fail to keep women safe,” Pia Birac, the deputy chief executive of Domestic Violence NSW, tells New Idea.
In an incredible show of strength and courage, Tony and Kate have fought to have Molly’s name heard and for law reform in areas that could have saved her life.
Their rural community of Forbes have been right behind them, wearing ‘She Matters’ T-shirts featuring Molly’s photograph to court hearings and supporting their tireless campaigning.
“Her family’s determination to keep fighting for change and to make Molly’s voice heard has been incredibly important. But it should never have taken this horrific tragedy for these gaps to receive the attention they deserve. It should never fall on a grieving family to become advocates for systemic reform,” Pia says.
As a result of the Ticehurst family’s work, sweeping changes, coined ‘Molly’s Law’, have come into effect and include stronger bail laws for serious family violence offences.
There will also be stronger responses to apprehended domestic violence order breaches, and new serious domestic abuse prevention orders and monitoring measures.
“Molly’s Law has now been introduced, and I will forever be proud to be her dad. I know this law will save lives and protect women, but I still ask myself why it took Molly’s life for this to happen,” Tony said.
In September, Billings was jailed for 28 years after pleading guilty to Molly’s murder.
Her case, which leaves a six-year-old boy without a mother, parents without a daughter and a community grieving, is just the tip of the iceberg in Australia’s horrendous domestic and family violence record.
One woman was killed every 11 days by an intimate partner between 2024 and 2025, and fed-up Australians have spilled into the streets and demanded the scourge of DV be stamped out in a series of nationwide rallies.
“Our responsibility, as a sector and as a community, is to make sure [the Ticehurst family’s] advocacy leads to lasting change,” Pia says.
And while she says Molly’s Law is already working with what she reports are “record numbers of people being held on remand for domestic and family violence matters”, she adds that it’s also an indication of the scale and seriousness of the crisis we’re addressing.
There is so much more to do, particularly, Pia says, in rural and remote areas like Molly’s. “
We need funding that matches the true cost of delivering specialist domestic family violence services in [these] areas,” she says.
“We also need to continue investing in work with men and boys that helps prevent violence before it occurs.”
