Tabitha Bleys was shocked to learn that in the two weeks before her mother, Doreen Langham, was murdered she had contact with no less than 16 police officers.
Even more distressing, she says, was the fact that not one of them checked the interstate records of Langham’s abusive ex-partner, Gary Hely.
Had the officers checked, they would have discovered that he had been the subject of three domestic violence orders in New South Wales. Hely had a significant history of domestic violence, including charges of common assault and stalking.
But Hely’s history went unseen and in February 2021, he set Langham’s townhouse alight south of Brisbane, killing them both.
Ahead of a meeting of federal, state and territory ministers for women on Friday, Langham’s daughters are calling for governments to establish a national register for high-risk domestic violence offenders.
They are also demanding officers be required to check the interstate history of domestic violence offenders.
“Unfortunately, Mum’s case was a really strong indicator for how important that register could be,” Bleys said.
“Because of Gary’s history being interstate, a national register potentially could have changed how this played out.”
Following recommendations by Queensland’s women’s safety and justice taskforce, the state government has promised to create a register for high-risk domestic violence offenders before advocating for the introduction of a national database.
Guardian Australia understands that it could be years before a state-based register is operational.
But Julie Sarkozi, a solicitor at the Women’s Legal Service Queensland, said this week’s meeting was “an ideal forum” to raise the issue of the national register.
“The focus on specific domestic violence offender information at a national level may provide more targeted and relevant information than existing general criminal history checks,” Sarkozi said.
Betty Taylor, the chief executive of the Red Rose Foundation, also supported the register but said it “would have to go a bit of a way to get both definitions and interstate legislation compatible and available in different states”.
She said any legislative reform should be complemented by police training and officers must be held accountable if they do not follow procedures.
“At the end of the day, you can change legislation but some of it is still attitudinal. If something goes wrong someone could lose their lives,” Taylor said.
Queensland’s attorney general, Shannon Fentiman, said the government would “support” all 89 recommendations of the taskforce’s first report and consult “with key stakeholders” regarding implementation.
The taskforce said the register would have a “similar purpose to the child protection offender register”, allowing for data-sharing between police, government and non-government entities for targeted monitoring.
But other recommendations – such as the coronial findings from the inquest into Doreen Langham’s death – are still being reviewed by the state government.
During Langham’s coronial inquest, Coroner Jane Bentley recommended the Queensland police operational procedures manual be amended to state officers “must” view a person’s interstate records for every domestic violence-related matter.
The police minister, Mark Ryan, said the Queensland police service was “carefully” considering the coroner’s recommendations “as part of their ongoing commitment to end the scourge or domestic and family violence”.
A QPS spokesperson said police “enhanced its officer-issued QLite devices, highlighting the existence of interstate records for DFV perpetrators and simplifying access to those records” shortly after Langham’s death.
“Like other jurisdictions across Australia, the QPS has access to national data-sharing capability around criminal and other offending, as well as intelligence holdings.
“Improvements in these arrangements are continually evolving.”
Langham’s youngest daughter, Shayne Probert, said police should listen to victims and dig deeper when investigating domestic violence.
“It was really sad to hear [officers] say that because mum was jovial they didn’t take her seriously,” she said. “At the end of the day, you think, ‘well, what else could she have done?’”
In Australia, the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. In the UK, call the national domestic abuse helpline on 0808 2000 247, or visit Women’s Aid. In the US, the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Other international helplines may be found via www.befrienders.org.
