The 2026 section of central Ballarat’s She Matters mural has quadrupled in size - from 11 to 49 names - with each addition representing a woman killed by violence in Australia since January.
The mural, first installed in March, has been tracking the deaths since 2024 and now includes almost 300 women in total.
The background: The She Matters campaign began with the Red Heart Movement and Australian Femicide Watch, founded and run by journalist Sherele Moody. Moody began the project in 2015 to track the deaths of Australian women and children following horrific deaths in her own family.
Moody worked closely with Women’s Health Grampians to bring the mural to Ballarat.
Updated regularly, the 2026 list of women killed by violence has grown substantially since its installation earlier this year.
Why does it matter? Domestic violence statistics in Ballarat and surrounding regions are particularly high.
According to the charity and community group the Ballarat Foundation, family violence in the region increased by 28.8 percent in 2025, against a state-wide increase of 8.86 percent.
In Ballarat, there have been several high-profile cases of violence against women in recent years that attracted a national spotlight. This includes the murders of Samantha Murphy and Hannah McGuire.
What they said: Ballarat Mayor Tracey Hargreaves said the City of Ballarat is “extremely supportive of the message behind” the mural.
“Violence against women and children is preventable when we challenge the attitudes and behaviours that drive it. We should all aspire to a day when there are no more names to add to the mural,” she told the Brolga.
What people said: Megan Read, the Liberal candidate for Ripon in the upcoming state election, told the Brolga domestic violence was “a concerning issue in Ripon, with higher than the state average for statistics of families suffering this horrendous form of abuse”.
Read cited proposed policy that would criminalise coercive control and support the implementation of “Clare’s Law”, in which convicted abusers’ histories would be disclosed to those at risk.
Tim Drylie, the Greens candidate for Ripon, said “Ballarat’s numbers should stop us in our tracks”.
“There were 2,953 recorded family violence incidents in the year to December 2025, and family violence is occurring here at a rate around 51 percent higher than the Victorian average,” he told the Brolga.
Sam McColl, the Greens candidate for Eureka, said housing is an essential part of ensuring “safety and autonomy” for victims of family violence.
“Housing has to be part of this conversation too. We can’t tell someone to leave an unsafe home or partner if the alternative is homelessness, sleeping in a car, or being unable to find an affordable rental nearby,” he told the Brolga.
The Brolga has contacted Michaela Settle MP, Martha Haylett MP, Nationals candidate Jo Armstrong and Emma Muir for comment.
If you or someone you know is experiencing family violence, help is available 24/7 by calling 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732.
In Western Victoria, Meli, Sexual Assault and Family Violence Centre, Emma House, Orange Door and Child and Family Services Ballarat are also available to provide resources and support.