A Ballarat woman has courageously shared her story of years of family violence at the hands of a man who is soon set to be released from prison, leaving her in fear of her life.
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Her story is sadly not unique, but reflective of the experiences of thousands of Australian women.
The story has been shared as an inquest into the horrific murders of Hannah Clarke and her three young children has come to an end in Queensland.
Over the course it has examined how Hannah's estranged husband Rowan Baxter was able to pour petrol over her and her three young children before setting them on fire, and if authorities could have prevented the tragedy.
Data reveals an average of one woman is murdered by her current or former parter in Australia each week.
Tina Hardy met Steven Petrovic in 2014. Homeless at the time but meeting by chance, Petrovic initially swept her off her feet.
"At the start he was amazing and he did everything for me. He was the most incredible man," she told The Courier.
What irritates her is how so many people remember the relationship this way, though they were not privy to how his behaviour rapidly changed and what occurred behind closed doors.
Petrovic opened his home to Tina for a hot meal or shower while she continued to live on the streets. During this period she applied for more than 80 houses, before eventually securing one in April 2015.
"Very good to [her] but very intense", the honeymoon phase of their relationship quickly ended and she soon began to understand that his behaviour was not driven by concern, but control.
"He always wanted to know where I was. He would send me up to 100 text messages a day.
"Then I couldn't go out on my own - he had to come with me, even to my doctor or to get my eyebrows waxed.
"He'd get angry if somebody spoke to me or if my phone rang."
As she began to see "the red flags" for what they were and felt more overwhelmed by the coercive control, she repeatedly tried to break off the relationship.
"He would walk the 37-kilometre round trip from his home to mine, just to bang on the window to scare me," she recalled.
Tina said she first experienced physical violence at his hands on July 23, 2015 - a day she prominently recalls fearing for her life.
From then on assaults and violence, in addition to the threatening behaviour, became an ongoing feature of the relationship.
Tina became trapped on the merry-go-round of the justice system - from making police reports to charges being laid, followed by about a dozen court appearances.
"People ask why I don't leave him and it's because I can't," Tina said.
"I've tried to break up with him so many times but then he threatens my children."
At one point Petrovic began to send her photos of her son playing at school and of her grandchildren at the park. She regarded these photos as threats.
"Therefore I had to give in and forgive him and just wear it," she said.
She described how this decision had resulted in her losing many friendships, and how she had since been diagnosed with agoraphobia.
She is so afraid for her safety, and that of her child, that she wears a personal safety alarm and barely leaves her home.
Her fear has led her to enact and practise safety plans with her young son, so he knows what steps to take during a family violence incident and how to call Triple-0.
After being released from a period of imprisonment in 2016, Tina thought Petrovic had emerged "a new man" and that she "would be safe" if she forgave him.
"Whenever he gets out of jail he is very sympathetic. He cries, begs me to forgive him and says he will change."
Whenever he gets out of jail he is very sympathetic. He cries, begs me to forgive him and says he will change
- Tina Hardy
He did for a time, but then the assaults resumed.
In April 2020 Tina survived a terrifying four-hour ordeal which left her with multiple injuries. Her son, who she had always tried so hard to shield from the abuse, witnessed part of the violence.
Yet ahead of a contested hearing marked for early 2021, for which a heartbroken Tina had painstakingly prepared her traumatised son to testify about what he had seen, Petrovic pleaded guilty to downgraded charges - including common law assault and unlawful assault.
In December that year he was sentenced to a year in prison for what a magistrate described as "frightening, violent, degrading and humiliating" offending.
In her victim impact statement, Tina said:
"I honestly believed that this was going to be the time when Steven finally kills me and my little boy."
Tina strongly believes Petrovic should have received a longer term in prison, though he ultimately appealed the sentence in the County Court last month. The appeal was thrown out.
Petrovic, who is more than six foot tall and who Tina described as having "hands like dinner plates" and "arms the size of [her] thighs" will soon be eligible for parole.
She has written to the parole board to explain the danger she feels she is in.
Through abuse to physical violence resulting in bruises, broken bones and mental trauma, Tina has continued to bravely report what she has endured "throughout the entire relationship".
But the never-ending cycle has provoked feelings of anger at the justice system, which she said has let her down "over and over again".
She dreads the day Petrovic is released. If he follows the same pattern he has in the past, he will turn up at her doorstep shortly after his release, so she vigilantly keeps a close eye on her security cameras.
Change needed
Tina believes the justice system needs to change to better protect victim-survivors - from being better informed about the developments in their cases, to legislating real changes to prevent survivors from being left open to victim blaming by defence lawyers and stricter sentencing for family violence.
"The system isn't working. I don't get a lawyer because I am the victim so I rely on the prosecution.
"Once he pleads guilty the prosecution accepts what he says - that he's an upstanding member of the community and has family support, when it's not true."
So, she wants to see the laws be changed.
"It has been eight years and he still has the upper hand," she explained.
She said the system was letting her, and others like her, down.
"It's not fair that I have to wear a personal alarm, have cameras and need someone to stay with me in case he does get in. Because I have no doubt that one day he will kill me."
While it has been proposed she and her son can be relocated interstate, she does not believe this is fair.
"Their solution is that they should move me so he can't hurt me again, but that's not fair. They should be doing the right thing by keeping him in jail.
"I know there's a lot of women who have copped a lot worse. There are women who have been killed. It's horrific, the things these guys do.
"I want to set a precedent. We need change now. We need justice."
I want to set a precedent. We need change now. We need justice.
- Tina Hardy
She believes anybody with such an extensive criminal history of violence should be handed a minimum sentence.
"Police arrest these offenders but then magistrates and judges let them out. It's not fair.
"I know the prison system is full but when it comes to a man like this, who is nearly 65 and who will never be reformed, I expect the magistrates and judges to look at his history [when sentencing].
"I feel bad about it but I don't think he can be fixed. He is the most malignant narcissist.
"I'm a compassionate person and have empathy for everybody but I can't fix him. Nobody can."
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Western Victorian MP Stuart Grimley, who is the state leader of Derryn Hinch's Justice Party, said he heard stories like Tina's almost weekly.
"What she has been subjected to over the years has been horrendous. Our legal system has been letting victims down for far too long."
The latest crime statistics show there were 2,354 family violence incidents recorded in the City of Ballarat last year, with the vast majority of victim survivors women.
The statistics also reveal family violence intervention order breaches "are still extremely high", including in Ballarat.
A former police officer, Mr Grimley said these breaches were also "hard to police".
As a politician he has advocated for serious and violent offenders to be fitted with GPS devices to monitor their movements.
"Using a monitoring device will make offenders think twice before purposely breaching an order," he said.
He added this had been successful in Tasmania and proved the benefit of using them in family violence responses.
On the other hand, he said courts were "not handing down strong enough sentences, which provides little deterrent".
"Further, there are extraordinary waiting times for Men's Behavioural Change Programs of up to nine months and the rehabilitation services in correctional facilities stop once they leave the facility," he explained.
"For example, an offender can be halfway through a program, then be released from the facility, and not have to complete the program."
Mr Grimley said a victim-survivor should not have to change their lives or move from their community because of family violence.
"This is a victim-blaming response. It's easy for people to suggest moving away, but when you ask them if they would quit their job, take their kids away from friends, leave their extended family and support mechanisms behind, the answer usually changes."
The state government has invested billions of dollars to prevent family violence, support survivors and change perpetrator behaviour following Victoria's Royal Commission into Family Violence.
A key recommendation of the Royal Commission was the Orange Door network, which has been operating in the Central Highlands out of Ballarat for more than a year.
The network, which brings together specialist family violence, child, family, Aboriginal and men's service workers, can be accessed by calling a dedicated phone number, by referral or by physically attended the site.
The Central Highlands Orange Door can be contacted from 9am to 5pm on 1800 219 819 on Monday to Friday - except public holidays. For more information, visit orangedoor.vic.gov.au
Help is also available, but not limited to, the following organisations:
- You can phone the Ballarat Centre Against Sexual Assault, in Sebastopol, on 5320 3933, or free-call the crisis care line 24 hours on 1800 806 292.
- 1800 RESPECT
- Mensline: 1300 789 978 or mensline.org.au
- Relationships Australia: 1800 050 321
- Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800