Denise Morcombe

Denise Marie Morcombe OAM (née Beavis, born November 1960) is an Australian child safety advocate.

Denise Morcombe

OAM
Born1960 (age 62–63)[1]
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia[1]
Occupationchild safety advocate
Known forco-founding the Daniel Morcombe Foundation
SpouseBruce Morcombe (m. 1983)[1]
Children3 (including Daniel Morcombe)
AwardsSunshine Coast Region Citizen of the Year (2018)
Queensland Great (2020)

Morcombe is arguably best known as the co-founder of the Daniel Morcombe Foundation, a non-profit organisation which she established with her husband Bruce Morcombe in 2005 following the abduction and murder of their 13-year-old son Daniel Morcombe in December 2003.[2][3][4]

Life

Morcombe was born in Melbourne.[1] By the age of 18, she had found employment in the banking sector, employed by the Bank of New South Wales completing data entry and accounts.[1]

At the age of 19, she and a friend had travelled to Lorne, Victoria whose brother worked with Bruce Morcombe at the Board of Works in Melbourne.[1] After the pair were introduced, they commenced a relationship.[1]

They became engaged during a holiday to Palm Cove in Queensland.[1] She and her husband were married on 3 September 1983, after which they bought a four-bedroom house in Forest Hill.[1]

Their first child was born on 4 October 1987. On 19 December 1989, Morcombe gave birth to twin boys including Daniel.[1] They were born eight weeks premature and spent one week in intensive care.[1]

After her husband accepted a redundancy package from the Board of Works in February 1992, the couple purchased a local Jim's Mowing franchise.[1] A year later, Morcombe and her husband swapped their Victorian franchise with a regional franchisor territory on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, which enabled them to break up territories within the region to sell to franchisees.[1] As a result, the Morcombe's relocated to Queensland initially living at Mountain Creek and then Buddina but ultimately settling at Palmwoods.[1]

Murder of son
Main article: Murder of Daniel Morcombe

Morcombe's son Daniel was abducted from a bus stop on the Sunshine Coast on 7 December 2003.[5] The circumstances surrounding his disappearance triggered a widespread search and lengthy police investigation, with Morcombe and her husband frequently appearing in the media appealing to the public for information.[6][7][8] Following the arrest of Brett Peter Cowan on 13 August 2011, some of Daniel Morcombe's remains were found at a search site at the Glasshouse Mountains on 21 August 2011.[5] Daniel Morcombe's funeral was held on 7 December 2012 at Siena Catholic College.[9]

Cowan's trial commenced on 10 February 2014, where he entered a plea of not guilty and refused to give evidence.[10] Cowan was found guilty on 13 March 2014 and sentenced to life imprisonment.[11][12] Cowan appealed against his sentence but it was dismissed in the Queensland Court of Appeal on 21 May 2015.[13] The High Court dismissed a subsequent appeal on 11 March 2016.[14]

Child safety advocacy

With her husband Bruce, Morcombe established the Daniel Morcombe Foundation in May 2005 to educate children about how to stay safe in both a physical environment as well as online.[3][4] This has included launching educational resources such as Foundation Red and holding events such as the Walk for Daniel which was inaugurated on the Sunshine Coast in 2005 and the Day for Daniel, a national awareness and fundraising day held on the last Friday of each October when all Australians are asked to wear red, to reflect the red shirt Daniel Morcombe was wearing when he went missing.[3][4]

Honours

In late 2011, Morcombe and her husband Bruce were jointly named as Queensland Australians of the Year, and as a result were nominated to become 2012 Australians of the Year, but lost to Geoffrey Rush.[15][16]

Morcombe was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia in the 2013 Queen's Birthday Honours in recognition of her service to the community relating to safety awareness programs for children.[17]

Morcombe and her husband Bruce were both named as the Sunshine Coast's Citizens of the Year at the local Australia Day awards in 2018.[18]

In 2020, she was named as a Queensland Great.[19]

See also

References
  1. Morcombe, Bruce; Morcombe, Denise (2013). Where is Daniel?. Pan Macmillan Australia. ISBN 9781743289495.
  2. "Denise Morcombe". Women of the World Festival. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  3. Atfield, Cameron (5 May 2015). "The Daniel Morcombe Foundation racks up 10 years of service". Brisbane Times. Retrieved 12 July 2023. It's been 10 years since Denise and Bruce Morcombe turned their unimaginable grief into a national force for good.
  4. Boyd, Eden (5 May 2020). "Morcombe family's major milestone of keeping kids safe". Sunshine Coast Daily. Retrieved 12 July 2023. Today the pair are celebrating 15 years since the inception of the Daniel Morcombe Foundation, a non-profit organisation committed to building a future where children are free from harm and abuse.
  5. "Timeline: the case of Daniel Morcombe". ABC News. 26 November 2012. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  6. "Police continue search for missing teenager". ABC News. 15 December 2003. Retrieved 12 July 2023. Daniel's mother, Denise, appealed for people to come forward. "It's getting desperate, we need him back. We want Daniel back," she said.
  7. "Mother hopes program will help with Morcombe hunt". ABC News. 20 April 2004. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  8. "$1m Daniel Morcombe reward sparks police boost". ABC News. 2 December 2008. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  9. Atkinson, Bruce (7 December 2012). "Community farewells Daniel Morcombe". ABC News. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  10. Norton, Francene; Mellor, Leonie; Rawlins, Jason (10 February 2014). "Daniel Morcombe: Parents come face to face with alleged killer in Brisbane's Supreme Court". ABC News. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  11. Norton, Francene (13 March 2014). "Daniel Morcombe murder: Brett Peter Cowan guilty of killing Queensland teen". ABC News. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  12. "Daniel Morcombe's killer sentenced to life in prison". ABC News. 14 March 2014. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  13. "Daniel Morcombe's killer Brett Peter Cowan loses appeal against his conviction for murder". ABC News. 21 May 2015. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  14. Field, Donna (11 March 2016). "Brett Peter Cowan: Daniel Morcombe's killer has murder conviction appeal bid dismissed". ABC News. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  15. Kidd, Rob (18 November 2011). "Bruce and Denise Morcombe named Queensland's Australians of the Year". The Courier-Mail. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  16. "Geoffrey Rush is Australian of the Year". The Courier-Mail. 26 January 2012. Retrieved 12 July 2023. Mr Rush, 60, beat Queensland favourites Bruce and Denise Morcombe for the honour, announced at Parliament House in Canberra last night.
  17. "Award: 1148164". Australian Honours Search Facility. Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 10 June 2013. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  18. "Residents earn top honours at Australia Day awards". Sunshine Coast Daily. 23 January 2023. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  19. "2020 Queensland Greats recipients: Denise Morcombe OAM". Queensland Greats Awards. Queensland Government. 2020. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
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