"TOO MANY people get desensitised to the issue of domestic violence."
This is one of the passionate statements made by Australian of the Year 2015 and anti-family violence campaigner Rosie Batty as she arrived in Bundaberg yesterday.
With one-in-three women and one-in-four children affected by some form of domestic violence she said now is the time to get the message out there and act.
Ms Batty is in the region this week to raise awareness and talk about the stigma of domestic violence.
She knows all too well what domestic violence can do as her son Luke was killed by his father three years ago.
"It's a new conversation to a very old problem which has been around since time began," Ms Batty said.
"A lot of police and people are under the impression 'it's just another domestic' when they hear of it.
"If they approach it in that way, it will be just another interruption or aggravation to them."
Rosie Batty: Rosie Batty visits Bundaberg.
Ms Batty said DV was a complex and difficult topic which needed to be faced by everyone in the community.
She felt one of the main reasons her voice was heard across Australia after the death of her son was because she defied most of the myths.
"I'm a white privileged middle class woman," she said.
"People do not realise how serious it is."
Ms Batty said domestic violence was not only an issue in Bundaberg but all across the country and it was about starting the conversation.
"Everybody's in denial," she said.
"I want to bring this out of the shadow and into the daylight.
"We have to demand the police response is better."
When asked if Ms Batty thought change had been made since the death of her son Luke, she said definitely.
"The only reason why I think things have changed since I became a campaigner is people tell me," Ms Batty said.
"We still see one woman a week being murdered and this is going to take a generation or so to change it."
"It will get worse before it gets better.
"But what has changed is we are now talking about it more often, I mean Bundaberg has me here."
Ms Batty said DV was an invisible subject that was slowly becoming more visible in the community.
"We need it (domestic violence) reported in the media but it's how it's reported," she said.
"People read stuff and they are influenced and media is a part of educating against it."
Ms Batty said the message to the woman of Bundaberg who read this article was simple.
"Domestic violence is never acceptable, there is always a choice and you never cause it," she said.
"When you are in that kind of relationship it's a really tough lonely road.
"People shouldn't be alone, we should be a society where we don't victim blame and we make perpetrators accountable."