The family violence campaigner and former Australian of the year Rosie Batty will close the foundation she set up in her son’s name and step away from the spotlight, she announced on Friday.

After a “gruelling and unrelenting four years in the public eye” she would step away from her public roles “and take some time to breathe”, she said.



“Unfortunately I realise that I can’t keep going at this pace forever. It is unsustainable and I am tired. I now need to prioritise my self-care and recognise my limitations – advice that has been given to me by trusted friends for some time.”

Batty came to national attention after the murder of her 11-year-old son, Luke, by his father, Greg Anderson, in February 2014.

Her raw and articulate emotional response in the days that followed sparked a national conversation about domestic violence, and she became an advocate for reform.

She launched the Luke Batty Foundation and the Never Alone campaign to provide support for women and children affected by family violence, and was named the 2015 Australian of the year.

“This is a difficult decision but I know it’s the right decision,” she said on Friday.

The foundation is to be shuttered, with its funding distributed to other not-for-profits.

“We started Never Alone with a mission to make sure that victims could not be forgotten and put them at the centre of a national conversation about family violence,” Batty said. “We did this. We shone a light on an issue that has been ignored for too long.

“I am so proud of everything we have achieved. Together we gave victims a voice and demanded our leaders act.”

Batty said she would “explore opportunities that don’t require me to be in the public eye quite so much”, and would continue to support the Victorian government’s family violence reforms as the chair of its victim survivors’ advisory council.