When 47-year-old architect Jade Young went to Westfield Bondi Junction on the first day of the school holidays, she was shopping for a birthday present with her nine-year-old daughter.
Within minutes, her life was taken in one of Australia’s most devastating stabbing attacks that left six people dead and a dozen others injured. Stabber Joel Cauchi was shot dead by NSW Police Inspector Amy Scott after he tried to attack her.
Eighteen months on, Jade’s family is still struggling to cope.
In an interview with The Senior, Jade’s mother, Elizabeth Young said she doesn’t use softer terms when talking about her daughter’s death.
“Either murdered or killed,” she said.
“They were all killed, six murders and 10 attempted murders, and we’re all, as a family, we’re brutal about that. That’s what it was.”
Jade was a wife, mother and daughter who grew up in Figtree, attended The Illawarra Grammar School, and worked as an architect. She loved baking, listening to music and spending time with her dog, Teddy.
On Monday, Jade’s family accepted a posthumous fellowship from the Australian Institute of Architects in her honour, a recognition that brought both pride and heartbreak.
“[She] wouldn’t have felt that she deserved it,” Elizabeth said.
“Women architects are not the big high flyers. They don’t do the big, tall buildings and things like that; they just work away quietly.
“She was just a quiet, gentle, self-deprecating, very generous, busy working mother.”
Her brother Peter added that he is happy his sister’s work has been recognised and that her story is being kept alive “in the industry for some period longer”.
Jade’s family said they are still haunted by how publicly her death unfolded and couldn’t believe a TV station broadcast footage of her husband Noel performing CPR at the scene.
“The broadcaster later issued an apology,” Peter said, adding that he was shocked members of the public continued to film as people lay dying.
Peter recalled the last time he saw his sister for her birthday in February.
“You say goodbye, and you think, ‘yeah, I’ll see you in a couple of months’. You never think that you will see them at the morgue, having been stabbed through the heart. I struggle to hold it,” he said.
“I wouldn’t say I’ve coped with it at all.”
He added that he wished he had hugged her for longer and said none of the family has come to terms with what happened, saying he understands why his mum is still “very angry, as am I.”
“I drag myself through the day. My work is a distraction because otherwise I’d be on the couch crying. There is no dealing with it,” he said.
Elizabeth and her husband Ivan are well known in their local area, Illawarra due to their occupations as teacher and dentist respectively Elizabeth said people often stop her in the street to offer kind words and say that “it’s all over now, you can move on,” but most don’t understand the depth of the loss.
“People don’t know what to say and they don’t understand,” she said.
“It’s a more profound grief now. You just know you’re not ever going to see her again.”
“That man [Cauchi] ruined so many lives.”
In the weeks after Jade’s death, the family could barely function. Elizabeth’s sister offered simple advice that became her lifeline.
“Now, the first thing you’ve got to do is put your feet on the floor and then put your pants on,” she told her.
On bad days, Elizabeth still texts her sister: “I’ve got my feet on the floor.”
An inquest into the Bondi Junction tragedy is now underway, examining how the attack happened and whether anything could have been done to prevent it.
“The inquest isn’t about us,” Elizabeth said.
“It’s about society and finding answers to a whole series of really bad decisions and mistakes, and failings.”
She admitted to feeling disheartened by the lack of progress in mental health care.
“Every five years there’s a commission looking into the situation of mental health treatment in Australia, and nothing changes,” she said.
Her son Peter echoed the call for action, saying stronger mental health support and homelessness services could help prevent future tragedies.
The Bondi Junction inquest will continue on November 25 and 28, with findings expected to be released once submissions are complete.
Image: NSW Police
