Kay Catanzariti's battle for justice may be long and tiring, but she hasn't abandoned her charge and will be meeting with senior work safety bureaucrats later this week.
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She went to Canberra to demand justice for her son Ben Catanzariti who was killed in a worksite in 2012.
She's been pushing for better workplace regulation and tighter industrial manslaughter laws so other families don't have to go through the same heartache she's been battling with for the past seven years.
Mrs Catanzariti says she's "tired and frustrated" by the lack of change she's seen over that time, but after her most recent meeting with Liberal Minister for Jobs and Industrial Relations Kelly O'Dwyer she's optimistic that change is afoot.
Ms O'Dwyer wasn't able to promise much herself, especially with Labor poised to become the next Federal Government, but she was able to arrange a meeting with independent agency Safe Work Australia.
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On Tuesday Mrs Catanzariti will be meeting with Safe Work Australia in Sydney, where she will tell her story to ministers, union delegates, and policy makers.
It won't be just her story she will be telling; over the years Mrs Catanzariti has met with dozens of families who have also lost loved ones to workplace fatalities.
She's hoping to make the policy makers aware that their decisions affect the lives of real people.
"They need to hear these things, they need to see the families' faces," she said.
She's optimistic that these human stories will drive the policymakers to make the changes needed to keep workers safe and families whole.
These include a raft of policy changes, such as better mental health care in the workplace, a national oversight body, and tougher laws for industrial manslaughter.
There are other recommended changes listed in the They Never Came Home senate report, which was put before a inquiry into workplace deaths. Regardless of which party gets into government come May 18, Mrs Catanzariti said she will keep pushing for these policy changes.
It's not just politicians she's out to convince; closer to home she's trying to get more people to write their wills early with her non-profit organisation Will It Your Way.
Her son died without leaving a will, leading to a heated legal dispute between Mrs Catanzariti and Ben's girlfriend over his worker compensation money.
"You never know what tomorrow will bring and I would never wish upon anyone to go through what we went through when we lost Ben," Mrs Catanzariti said.
She will be holding a will information session at Griffith City Library on May 5.
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Kenji Sato
Kenji Sato is a handsome journalist at The Daily Advertiser who enjoys writing flattering bios about himself in the third person. He can be contacted by email at kenji.sato@dailyadvertiser.com.au or by mobile on 0448 927 612.
Kenji Sato is a handsome journalist at The Daily Advertiser who enjoys writing flattering bios about himself in the third person. He can be contacted by email at kenji.sato@dailyadvertiser.com.au or by mobile on 0448 927 612.
