The New South Wales justice system will now refer to ‘nobody, no parole’ laws as Lyn’s Law, after Lyn Dawson’s family fought for decades to honour the slain mother with meaningful reform.
Lyn Dawson was murdered in 1982, however, her body was never found, and her murder remained unsolved for 40 years.
Her husband Chris Dawson was convicted of her murder in 2022.
Lyn’s story led to sweeping changes in the New South Wales justice system, with “no body, no parole,” reform ensuring offenders would never be granted parole if they refused to supply details of their victim’s remains whereabouts.
The reform was passed in October 2022. 
Today, the Upper House passed a motion agreeing to call the laws “Lyns Law,” forever etching Lyn’s legacy into the reform.
“This is the finality of everything we’ve been fighting for,” Lyn’s brother Greg Simms said.
“That’s a wonderful legacy, we can be proud and we know that she can be proud too,” sister-in-law Merilyn Simms added.
Decades after Lyn’s death, intimate partner violence has reached a crisis point in Australia.
“For every one woman who is murdered, there are thousands of women who are still living in terror,” Prevention of Domestic Violence Minister Jodie Harrison said.
Today the government came under fire from the Public Services Association, who say there’s a shortage of child protection workers, with only one in every four children in need receiving help.
“(We need to) try and bring resources in now before families fall apart,” PSA general secretary Stewart Little said.
Harrison said case workers were operating within a “broken system.”
