After a three-decade fight for reform sparked from the tragic deaths of two Bourke Aboriginal girls, the NSW Parliament will finally close a loophole allowing offenders who sexually assault a body to walk free.

On 6 December 1987, non-Aboriginal man Alexander Ian Grant crashed his truck about 60 kilometres north of the town, killing passengers16-year-old Mona Lisa Smith and her 15-year-old cousin Jacinta Rose 'Cindy' Smith.

When farm workers arrived on the scene, one of them saw Grant asleep with his arm draped over Cindy's body. Her pants were pulled down to her ankles.

In 1990, police prosecutors dropped charges of Grant interfering with her body because they couldn't determine when she had died.

A bill tabled on Wednesday 25 June in Parliament will allow prosecution of offenders if it is not clear whether sexual violence occurred before or after death.

The bill follows a 2024 coronial inquest into the girl's deaths, which found racial bias compromised the police investigation at the time.

It also found that the girls accepted a lift from Grant on the night before the crash, who plied them with alcohol to sexually groom them. 

Despite their own grief and frustration following the loss of Mona Lisa and Cindy, the Bourke-based families have campaigned tirelessly for change - to protect other families from similar suffering.

Mona Lisa Smith (left) and Cindy Smith. IMAGE: Handout/ National Justice Project

"We have waited too long for justice for our girls. Justice that will never come," Cindy's mother Dawn Smith said.

"I hope no-one ever has to go through what my Cindy went through, but if they do, I am comforted that these changes might help them find justice.

"We will always love and remember our girls."

Grant died in 2017.

The girls' family members gathered at the Parliament to see NSW Attorney General Michael Daley table the bill, dubbed 'Cindy's Law.'

“Mona and Cindy were vibrant, much-loved Aboriginal girls whose lives were tragically cut short. Their deaths devastated their families and communities," said National Justice Project CEO, George Newhouse, whose organisation worked with the family during the inquest.

"But the pain did not end there, it was compounded by a series of legal and institutional failures that denied their families dignity, justice, and closure.

“The coronial inquest confirmed what the family have always known: that the legal system and police failed their daughters and failed them.

“Thanks to the courage of Mona and Cindy’s families – and their unwavering demand for accountability – this is an important opportunity to change the law. The NSW Attorney General has acted decisively to ensure that no other family will be forced to endure this kind of injustice.

"While this reform cannot bring back Mona or Cindy, it is a meaningful step forward and a powerful legacy of their lives."