WA Australian of the Year: Mechelle Turvey, advocate for victims of crime
In 2022, Mechelle Turvey's 15-year-old son, Cassius Turvey, was assaulted on his way home from school. Tragically, 10 days later the Noongar Yamatji schoolboy died of his injuries. His mother Mechelle, still grieving the death of her husband Sam, led the march for action in Perth calling on the nation to better support victims of violent crime.
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00:00 In October of last year, my son Cassius Turvey was assaulted and died 10 days after and it
00:12 was due to violence. I have so many memories of Cassius. He was a cheeky little man. He
00:20 was smart and happy and helpful, big caring heart. Being a victim of crime is something
00:29 you wouldn't wish upon anyone. And this is why I want to put a stop to violence and I
00:35 also want victims of crime to receive the empathy that they deserve.
00:43 On the 2nd of November 2022, 48 rallies were held around Australia, New Zealand and also
00:50 America. Now I've seen a lot of rallies and protests that have turned really, really ugly
00:57 and I didn't want Aboriginal people to be stereotyped as just running amok and causing
01:04 big disturbances. So I called for calm because that's part of me. I called for a stop to
01:11 violence because all I really wanted to do was to share my son and the loss, the huge
01:19 loss. WA Police Commissioner Cole Blanche approached
01:25 me about training his new recruits and giving them more skills in the areas of empathy because
01:34 he needs to have his officers understand that it's real people that they're dealing with
01:41 and he was really, really keen on getting more focus on the community. I had some amazing
01:48 feedback about the training. I've called it Take 5 because that's all it takes, 5 seconds
01:53 to 5 minutes to get trust of someone and also to show that you really care. One of the new
02:00 recruits came up to me and said, "We go through so much scenario stuff but having you here
02:07 first hand was unbelievable." I want people to feel that they're not alone,
02:16 they're never alone and each time that I share my lived experience, I'm actually healing
02:22 myself and I want to pass those skills on to other people.
02:28 I feel that I'm following through with Cassius' legacy in a few ways. Firstly, Cassius was
02:33 a little mentor, so I keep mentoring his young mates and the young people within the community.
02:39 I regularly visit the youth centres that he attended and others in my community. I'd like
02:47 to put a stop to bullying and cyber bullying, create little mentors within the education
02:54 system because I believe kids can solve their own problems. It's a different generation.
03:00 Kids have power, kids matter.
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