"Our young men need to stop dying at the hands of random, senseless acts of violence."

Joshua Hardy should still be here today.

The 21 year old should have gone to uni today. He should have caught up with his mates after class. He should be counting down the weeks until the semester ends and the summer holidays begin.

But Joshua Hardy is not here and his family is broken.

Hardy – described on social media as “generous”, “a great friend” and “a top bloke” – was attacked outside McDonalds on Melbourne’s St Kilda road just after 1am on Saturday morning.

Fairfax Media reported that the Melbourne University Bachelor of Arts student was taken to The Alfred hospital but died shortly after 2am.

ANZ investment banker Kyle Zandipour, 27, has been charged over Hardy’s death and a second man was questioned and released after the incident – which, according to police, was unprovoked.

“I just think it’s enough – enough already,” Hardy’s aunt Kim Hardy told Mamamia.

Ms Hardy described her nephew as a happy-go-lucky, playful young man who was always joking around.

“Always joking around, always a smile on his face. Really a kind kid, really soft-hearted, she said.

In the hours prior to the attack Hardy had been celebrating the end of semester on campus with his younger sister Rebecca and some friends, according to Fairfax.

The pair, originally from Darwin, lived at Trinity College in Parkville and attended the university on scholarships.

They were “inseparable” his aunt said.

“They were together all the time, just so close. He couldn’t stand the thought of this little sister being in trouble, if she did something wrong he’d say ‘I’ll take the blame’.

“He just had the most beautiful heart.”

Ms Hardy says that Joshua’s death is an example of why we need to work harder to end the violence on streets in Australia.

“We need to start educating kids better. They need to understand that not everything’s going to be solved with their fist or in this case with their feet – you know, stomping on someone’s head,” she said.

Last month, the Victorian parliament passed a spate of tough new laws to combat street violence in the state.

Under the laws offenders who kill people with a single blow, or a “coward punch”, now face a minimum sentence of ten years imprisonment.

Although Joshua was not killed by a single punch, Ms Hardy believed that the case would test the new laws.

She also said that the changes did not go far enough.

“There’s definitely feeling out there that even a ten year sentence wouldn’t be enough and right now, I tend to agree.

“I just don’t think a short sentence and a short stint with parole and good behaviour and get out in a year or two is worthy of a life,” she said.

“There’s absolutely no point (in educating our kids about violence) if the laws are not backing us up and making it clear that actions have consequences –  everyone need to understand that.”

In an earlier email sent to Mamamia, Ms Hardy wrote of the gaping hole left in her family by Joshua’s death:

“There is now a gaping hole in our family that can never be repaired.

This is not a new story and we are not the first family to experience such loss.  Sadly, nor will we be the last.

Something has to change.  Our young men need to stop dying at the hands of random, senseless acts of violence on our streets.

As a mother of a young boy, I ask myself – what can we do?  How do we raise our boys to deal with their anger in some way other than violence? How can we help them understand the tragic finality and consequences of a single poor choice of action?

As a family, our only hope is that something positive can come from this tragedy.  That another event such as this is avoided. That in future another young man’s life is not cut short.”

Trinity College and Melbourne University released a statement saying Joshua was “loved by all for his prowess on the footy field, his mentoring skills and his community-mindedness.

“Josh was a wonderful student and brother whose sudden passing is a tremendous shock,” the statement said.

Our thoughts are with Joshua Hardy’s family and friends. Joshua’s family have set up a Justice4JoshHardy Facebook page and Twitter account, which you can follow @JoshHardyUnited and show your support.