‘Personal toll’: DV fighters step back from foundation
Hannah Clarke’s parents, exhausted by the emotional burden of preserving their murdered daughter’s legacy, have given up running the anti-domestic violence charity named in her memory.
Hannah Clarke and her three young children, Aaliyah, Laianah and Trey, were killed by her estranged husband, Rowan Baxter, who doused their car with gasoline and set it on fire in February 2020.
Baxter killed himself at the traumatic scene in the Brisbane suburb of Camp Hill.
This crime shocked the country and was central to the recognition of coercive control as a feature of domestic and family violent behavior.
A month after their daughter and granddaughter were murdered, Hannah Clarke’s parents, Sue and Lloyd, launched the Small Steps 4 Hannah charity.
The Clarkes have worked tirelessly to raise awareness of the characteristics of coercive control, such as monitoring the partner’s movements, isolating them from friends and family, and monitoring communication.
Baxter was subject to a DVO after kidnapping his daughter Laianah on Boxing Day 2019. In January 2020, the order was changed and he was granted full access to his children, less than two months before he killed them.
He allegedly subjected Hannah Clarke to years of physical, emotional and financial abuse.
The investigation revealed the man also photographed the woman’s movements, placed recording devices around her home, monitored her phone use and tried to prevent her from seeing her family.
Sue and Lloyd Clarke campaigned for standalone legislation against coercive control, which passed the Queensland parliament in May 2025. The law is informally known as “Hannah’s Law.”
This crime carries a maximum prison sentence of 14 years.
Small Steps 4 Hannah chairman Mark Woolley said the fight against coercive control and domestic and family violence continues.
“The Small Steps 4 Hannah Foundation continues to lobby for law reform and provide meaningful support to families in need,” she said in a statement.
“Our wonderful founders, Sue and Lloyd Clarke, have announced their intention to reduce their workload in order to ease the personal burden this journey has placed on them.
“However, Sue and Lloyd will continue to be closely involved as tireless advocates for this cause and as administrators of the foundation they established in memory of Hannah and the children.”
The statement said the foundation is financially secure and will continue to pursue the Clarkes’ vision of ending domestic and family violence.
“We look forward to the day when an organization like ours will no longer be needed,” Mr. Woolley said.
“But unfortunately it is, and we will continue to fight.”
Ourwatch.org says a woman is killed by a current or former partner every nine days in Australia.
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