However, instead of walking his daughter down the aisle to marry her childhood sweetheart, Ms Scott’s father Robert was addressing a crowd of grieving family, friends and strangers, who gathered to mourn the murder of Stephanie.

Instead of having their first kiss, their first dance, their first meal as husband and wife, Stephanie’s fiance joined that gathering of mourners, dressed in yellow, to celebrate the vibrant teacher’s life, cut too short.

The body of the popular school teacher was discovered in bushland north of Griffith on Friday, five days after she was allegedly killed by a cleaner at her school, Vincent Stanford. 

Much like the murders of Jill Meagher in Melbourne, Sarah Cafferkey from Bacchus Marsh, Luke Battie at the hands of his father and even Ballarat’s Sharon Siermans, and, more recently, the murder of a young 17-year-old Melbourne girl killed while walking through a park only metres from her home, the murder of Stephanie Scott has pulled at the collective heart strings of a nation.

Maybe it was the fact her murder occurred only days from her wedding. 

Maybe because it could quite easily have been your daughter, granddaughter, sister, cousin or friend, but Australia has joined the Scott family in its grief.

Why, though, should it take these high-profile cases to bring the issue of violence to the fore?

In just the first few months of 2015, two Australian women have been killed each week. That’s 31 women, so far. 

As more people become aware of the extent of violence against women, there continues to be a growing call for action.

There needs to be a change in community attitude and Australians must say no to violence.

The murders of Stephanie, Jill, Sarah, Luke and Sharon should never have happened in the first place, but their deaths should not be in vain either.

It would be nice – albeit a slightly naive dream – if we could live free from all forms of violence. This comes down to education, not only about the act of violence, but the reasons behind it. 

There needs to be an increase in the education into why this violence occurs and into addressing gender inequality in the home, in the workplace, in the classroom and on the sporting field.