Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence in Australia: Continuing the National Story 2019 Report

One in 6 women and 1 in 9 men experienced physical or sexual abuse before the age of 15, according to a new report released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).

The report, Family, domestic and sexual violence in Australia, 2019, presents new data on children and other specific vulnerable population groups, while also providing new analysis on the risks, prevalence, support services and outcomes of family, domestic and sexual violence.

It builds on the AIHW’s first comprehensive report on family, domestic and sexual violence, which was released in 2018.

KEY POINTS

Children: 1 in 6 women and 1 in 9 men experience physical or sexual abuse before the age of 15.

Young women:  53% of police-recorded female sexual assault victims in 2017 were aged 15–34.

Elder abuse: More than 10,900 calls were made to elder abuse hotlines across Australia in 2017–18. The calls were more commonly related to financial or emotional abuse.

People with disability: People with disability were 1.8 times as likely to experience partner violence as those without disability in the previous 12 months.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders: Indigenous people were 32 times more likely to be hospitalised for family violence as non-Indigenous people.

LQBTIQ+ people: People with diverse sexual orientations and gender diversities are more likely to experience workplace sexual harassment—52%, compared to 30% of other Australians.

Rural and Remote Australia: 23% of women living outside major cities experienced violence from a partner, compared to 15% of women in major cities.

Domestic homicide: On average, 1 woman was killed every 9 days and 1 man was killed every 29 days by a partner in the period between July 2014 and June 2016.

Sexual assault: Police recorded 25,000 sexual assault victims in 2017—the highest numbers since this information was first collected (8% more than in 2016).

Stalking: 1 in 6 women and 1 in 15 men have experienced stalking.

Sexual harassment: 1 in 2 woman and around 1 in 4 men have experienced sexual harassment.

Trends: According to survey data, rates of partner violence and sexual violence have remained stable since 2005, despite total violence from any person declining significantly over the same period.

For more information and to download the report: here.