Bruce and Denise Morcombe have fought to have a pioneering law passed in Queensland.
Bruce and Denise Morcombe lived through every parent’s darkest fear when their 13-year-old son Daniel was brutally abducted and murdered at the hands of a paedophile 22 years ago.
While most grieving families who have lost a child rightfully want to fall in a heap and hide away from the world, not so for these two brave souls who have dedicated the better part of two decades fighting for change around child safety.
Just days after Queensland Parliament passed Daniel’s Law – a pioneering legislation that delivers the state’s first public sex offender register – Bruce and Denise spoke exclusively to Woman’s Day. They revealed their tireless campaigning through the Daniel Morcombe Foundation has been worth it, knowing this new law will support and protect future generations.
“After all these years of advocacy, to see Daniel’s enduring legacy actually become law in Queensland – it’s hard to find the words, but we are absolutely over the moon,” dad Bruce reveals.
Modelled on the successful West Australian system, it includes a three-tiered disclosure scheme, empowering parents and carers to access information about any convicted child sex offenders
in their locale.
“It essentially is Queensland’s first public child sex offender register. Families previously had no clue if convicted paedophiles were living in their suburb or even on their street, so this is a game changer,” Bruce explains.
FIGHTING COURAGE
And for mum Denise, just how proud would Daniel be of his trailblazing parents?
“He had quite the cheeky sense of humour so he’d probably be saying ‘what are you doing mum and dad – why are you doing this?’ But we know he’d be very proud of us all that we had the courage to fight for him when he couldn’t,” she says.
“The day after the law was passed on October 30, it was Day for Daniel, which made this year all the more memorable – a moment to pause, reflect and keep the message alive. It’s about awareness, starting conversations, and helping kids to learn to Recognise, React and Report unsafe situations.”
Sadly, Daniel became a household name for all the wrong reasons. It was 2003, and the fun-loving teen set out on December 7 to catch the bus to his local Sunshine Coast shopping centre, where he planned to shop for Christmas presents and get a haircut. He never made it, and his disappearance would become the biggest murder investigation in Queensland’s history, and the largest abduction case in Australia.
In March 2014, his convicted killer, a known serial child rapist and paedophile, was sentenced to life imprisonment with a non-parole period of 20 years.
PROTECTING FAMILIES
And while the memories from that fateful day will forever be etched in the Morcombe family’s hearts – including Daniel’s twin Bradley and older brother Dean – there is some comfort that Daniel’s Law will help protect other families.
Now in their 60s, Bruce and Denise, who were en route to Hobart to table Daniel’s Law in The Parliament of Tasmania when Woman’s Day caught up with them, are now determined their son’s namesake law goes nationwide.
“It’s about keeping kids safe, not just in Queensland but right around the country. We won’t stop until this law is passed across Australia – we owe it to our kids,” a passionate Bruce explains.
“We get stopped all over the country – adult survivors of child abuse who tell us their heartbreaking stories. Abuse does not discriminate – it can be from the ‘well-heeled’ to ‘struggle street’, and we need to wake up to that.”
Bruce and Denise agree that while they are the frontline soldiers, there are plenty of workhorses behind the scenes who have supported them throughout their extraordinary journey.
“There was one moment in Parliament when the law was passed that we will never forget,” Bruce recalls. “While we were privileged to have our Premier David Crisafulli and the relevant ministers who, I might add, have all been amazing, what really made an impression on me was this small team of QPS [Queensland Police Service], all very impressive youngsters, who actually wrote the legislation.
“Next minute, Denise and I are getting our picture taken with them – many of them would be Daniel’s age, so how incredible that they created our son’s legacy,” he says.
ANOTHER BATTLE
Bruce doesn’t mince words – he and Denise have another battle firmly in their sights – the childcare sector.
“I think we need a Royal Commission – we have a lot of work to do, and I think we are frightened to uncover what is really going on in these early learning centres,” says Bruce. “We’re only scratching the surface and I think there’s an underbelly there and we need to clean it up. Some of these kids are under the age of two and can’t talk, so we need to be their voices.
“Do we ever pinch ourselves and say job well done? We will never do that because that means we will always ask ourselves have we done enough. We will never stop the fight, and we will always be there to protect our children, who can’t always protect themselves.”
