For months after Sissy Austin was violently attacked in the Lal Lal state forest north-west of Melbourne, flies were her biggest trigger. “I was covered in blood, it was a hot day, and I blamed the flies for not being able to find my way back to the car,” the Gunditjmara, Keeraay Woorroong and Djab Wurrung woman says.
“When I started running again and I saw a fly, I had to stop. It was crippling.”
The former Greens Senate candidate was running in the forest, about 25km south-east of Ballarat, in 2023 when she was attacked and knocked unconscious, allegedly by a man. The man has not been found.
On 4 February 2024 a Ballarat woman, Samantha Murphy, disappeared after leaving her East Ballarat home to go for an early-morning run in the Woowookarung regional park. Despite extensive searches by police and community members, the 51-year-old’s body has never been found. In March 2024 police charged 23-year-old Patrick Stephenson with her murder. Stephenson has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.
Austin was among the people who joined the search party.
“It was a very hard time,” Austin says. “I was feeling so anxious … and then I remember when I found out [about Murphy] I joined the search with my brother, day in and day out.
“This time last year we were searching for Sam for hours on end, every single day.”
There is no suggestion Murphy’s disappearance is linked to Austin’s attack.
It took Austin about three months to return to running and she has not yet returned to the Lal Lal forest.
“The first runs were really hard and even putting my runners back on for the first time or tying my shoelaces, the thoughts in my head were really negative,” she says. “I just kept thinking, ‘You’re just asking to be attacked by putting your runners back on.’”
“Those thoughts kept coming in my head and for the first few weeks, [during] every single run I was just running through the tears or I had to stop.”
It’s been almost two years since Austin was attacked, and since then she has completed three marathons. To mark the anniversary she teamed up with her friend Mitch Nivalis, a film-maker, to launch a campaign called Take Back the Track, promoting safety for women and gender-diverse runners.
The campaign is being launched on Sunday with support from the world champion marathon runner and former Australian Institute of Sport director Robert de Castella, the Olympic marathon runner Steve Moneghetti and the ultramarathon runner and fire survivor Turia Pitt. Austin and Nivalis are encouraging running clubs and individuals to organise events to promote community and a sense of belonging among runners on 16 February, which they have declared national Take Back the Track Day.
Nivalis says it is not only a movement for the running community but one that will unite everyone “to walk, run or just be safe in public whenever they want, wherever they want, in whatever they want”.
“We’re asking women and gender-diverse people to stand up for their right to run, but we’re also asking men and boys to walk or run as allies,” they say.
“The hope is that everyone, no matter what their background is, or where they are from, connects with the message that everyone has a right to be safe and access the joy of running.”
DI Dave Dunstan from the Victoria police missing persons squad said police were continuing to search for Murphy.
“We also know that Samantha’s death has had an enormous impact on the Ballarat community, as well as the wider Victorian community,” he said.
“This year, we will continue to conduct searches in the Ballarat area, including searches in areas highlighted by intelligence derived from a number of sources.”
The Women’s Health Grampians chief executive, Marianne Hendron, says bringing people together in “shared determination” can help raise awareness about safe spaces for women and start conversations.
“An initiative like [Take Back the Track] means there are more eyes and more attention on running and walking tracks in general – a kind of social street lighting that can make things safer for everyone,” she says.
Austin says she hopes to help those feeling unsafe in Ballarat to reclaim and protect their love of running.
“What I really want is for women and gender-diverse runners to feel less alone,” she says. “My vision is for it to be a movement that celebrates and protects our love and connection to running.”
