April 13, 2026 — 5:58pm
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A popular CBD mural honouring the lives of women killed in violent circumstances has been removed from an iconic Melbourne laneway after more than a year.
The She Matters mural in Hosier Lane appeared on the wall of the Forum theatre and paid tribute to more than 200 women who died across Australia since 2024, including those allegedly killed in acts of family violence and in the massacres at the Bondi Junction shopping centre and Bondi Beach.
Workers remove the She Matters mural in Hosier Lane, Melbourne.
Australian Femicide Watch founder Sherele Moody started the mural and said she was told by the venue’s management that works needed to be carried out on a doorway that had been covered by a section of the memorial. But she was shocked to discover on Friday the entire artwork was removed.
“It was like being punched in the heart,” Moody told The Age.
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“It’s just hard to explain how terribly sad it is that it’s gone.”
Moody said she didn’t think the entire artwork needed to be “erased” because only about one quarter of the poster mural was across the doorway. She vowed to work within any heritage or safety restrictions so it can be reinstated.
“Anyone who stood down there and listened to conversations around that mural would have understood how important it is in actually getting people to talk about violence, specifically domestic and family violence, and we need to be having more of those conversations,” she said.
The Marriner Group, which owns the theatre, removed the mural.
Melbourne Lord Mayor Nick Reece said last week the council was made aware that materials used to maintain the mural blocked emergency exits to the Forum, which was a “significant safety risk” for patrons.
“The restoration of the theatre comes with operational and heritage considerations and these need to be accounted for,” Reece said in a statement.
The mural in Hosier Lane before its removal.Joe Armao
“We will look to work with the mural’s artists to find a new home for She Matters. We are treating this as a priority, balancing the theatre’s restoration with ensuring the mural remains visible and impactful.”
Michelle Sposito’s daughter, Amy, 26, was among the women honoured on the wall after her death in 2024.
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Sposito said losing the mural was detrimental to the loved ones of every person on it.
“Through Sherele, I met other parents at the wall, and we all spent time there to look at the people we’d all lost. You can’t stand in front of that wall and just not feel the sadness of the whole thing,” Sposito said.
She said she’d support the memorial being reinstalled at another location in the CBD, “as long as it was in a place that won’t face the same thing that’s happened here”.
“I was completely shocked [when it was taken down] and I felt devastated that, you know, this was a place where people could go to remember their loved ones as well, like a memorial site,” she said.
Marriner Group said it understood the mural’s significance and that its removal was “clearly a sensitive issue”, but that ongoing building rectification works had moved to Hosier Lane.
“Hosier Lane has historically been an evolving space where street art comes and goes, however, poster installations are not permitted,” the company said.
“We let the artist know in advance, to give them an opportunity to move or document the installation any further. The duration of these works is currently undefined.”
A She Matters mural was installed in Ballarat in central Victoria earlier this year, including a section specifically honouring local women allegedly killed at the hands of men including Samantha Murphy, Rebecca Young and Hannah McGuire.
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Rachael Ward is a journalist in the City team at The Age. Contact her at rachael.ward@theage.com.auConnect via email.From our partners