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Australian Bureau of Statistics
Australian Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health
Australian Centre for the Study of Sexual Assault
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Insights into sexual assault perpetration
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Recorded statistics

Home: Family & Friends: Statistics: Research statistics

ABS Recorded Crime - Victims, Australia, 2010

In 2010, the Australian victimisation rates for selected person offence categories were:

Murder, 1.0 victims per 100,000 persons
Attempted murder, 0.9 victims per 100,000 persons
Manslaughter, 0.1 victims per 100,000 persons
Sexual assault, 79.5 victims per 100,000 persons
Kidnapping/abduction, 2.7 victims per 100,000 persons

In 2010, the Australian victimisation rates for Sexual assault was 79.5 victims per 100,000 persons. This is 17,757 victims of sexual assault recorded by police, 25% of these victims were aged 10 to 14 years. In 2010, more females than males were victims of sexual assault (85%) and kidnapping/abduction (58%). A weapon was not used against the victim in 98% (17,350) of sexual assaults.

Female victims of sexual assault aged 15-19 had the highest victimisation rate of any age group, at a rate more than seven times the overall rate for sexual assault.

Most instances of murder, attempted murder and sexual assault took place in private dwellings (murder 59%; attempted murder 57%; sexual assault 60%). Community locations were the most common venue for kidnapping/abduction (55%) and robbery (59%).

Download: Recorded Crime - Victims, Australia, 2010 (cat. no. 4510.0) ( 1.5Mb )

Source: The Australian Bureau of Statistics

Youth and their experiences of victimisation 2011

Youth offenders demonstrate different types of offending in comparison to adult offenders according to Recorded Crime Offenders, Australia, 2009-10. The most common principal offence for persons aged 10 to 24 years was theft (21.0% of young offenders), while for adults (persons aged 25 years and over) the most common principal offence was acts intended to cause injury (21.7%).

Sexual assault

In the 12 months prior to interview in 2009-10, of those persons aged between 18 and 24 years, 0.5% experienced at least one sexual assault. Of those persons aged 25 years and over, 0.2% were victims of at least one sexual assault

In 2010, persons aged 10-24 years of age had a relatively higher rate of sexual assault victimisation (238.4 persons per 100,000 persons) in comparison to persons aged 25 years and over (27.5 persons per 100,000 persons). This means that persons aged 10-24 years were eight times more likely to be victims of sexual assault, as recorded by police, than persons aged 25 years and over.

Based on the median age of offenders by each principal offence type, offenders were younger for the offences of unlawful entry with intent (median age 18 years), robbery (median age 19 years) and theft and property damage (median age of 21 years for both offence types). Offenders were older for the more serious offences of sexual assault (median age 32 years), homicide (median age 30 years) and fraud and offences against justice/government (median age 29 years for both offence types).

Of male victims of physical assault aged 15-24, 38.8% responded that the most recent incident had been reported to police. Similar reporting rates (Endnote 16) for the most recent incident of physical assault were estimated for female victims aged 15-24 (40.5%). In contrast, male victims of sexual assault aged 18-24 had a higher estimated reporting rate (48.3%) for their most recent incident in comparison to female victims aged 18-24 of sexual assault (39.0%).

Download: Youth and their experiences of victimisation

Source: The Australian Bureau of Statistics

NSW Recorded Crime Statistics Sep 2010

Recorded criminal instances

Sexual assault: 12 months to Sept 2009 - 4,398
Sexual assault: 12 months to Sept 2010 - 4,438
Indecent assault, act of indecency and other sexual offences: 12 months to Sept 2009 - 5,327
Indecent assault, act of indecency and other sexual offences: 12 months to Sept 2010 - 5,352

Download: NSW Recorded Crime Statistics Sep 2010 ( 141Kb )

Source: NSW Law link

Australian crime facts and figures 2010

The following figures on location of sexual assaults and age and gender of sexual assault victims have been aggregated from ABS data from New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia. Information for the remaining states and territories was not available for 2009.

In 2009 in Australia, there were 18,807 recorded sexual assaults, with 67 victims per 100,000 population.
In 2009, sexual assaults were least likely to occur in 'other residential' locations, while 67 percent occurred within private dwellings.
Six percent of sexual assaults occurred on the street or footpath, while four percent occurred in retail locations and three percent on transport.
In 2009, females experienced a consistently higher rate of sexual assault victimisation than males. This rate ranged from six per 100,000 population aged 65 years and over to 473 per 100,000 population aged 10 to 14 years.
The male victimisation rate for sexual assault was highest at the lower end of the age spectrum. Ninety-four males were victimised per 100,000 population aged 10 to 14 years. The rate was lower for males aged zero to nine years, at 62 per 100,000 population.
In 2009, the largest proportion of sexual offences involved an offender who was known to the victim. Specifically, one-third of sexual assaults occurred at the hands of a family member, which is to be expected given the high rates of sexual assault of children; while 42 percent of offenders were known to their victim in a capacity other than family.

Download: Australian Crime: Facts and Figures 2010 ( 5.7Mb )

Source: The Australian Institute of Criminology

ABS Crime Victimisation, Australia, 2008-09

A total of 16.1 million people aged 18 years or over were living in private dwellings in Australia during December 2008. It was estimated that in the 12 months prior to interview, of those aged 18 years or over, 52,500 (0.3%) people were victims of at least one sexual assault.

The proportion of victims who reported the most recent incident to police varied depending on the type of crime:

39% for robbery
31% for sexual assault
45% for physical assault
30% for face-to-face threatened assault.

Download: ABS Crime Victimisation, Australia, 2008-09 ( 1Mb )

Source: The Australian Bureau of Statistics

ABS Recorded Crime - Victims, Australia, 2009

Victoria

There were 94 victims of homicide in Victoria in 2010, of whom 59% were male and 38% female. Victims of homicide knew their offender in 70% of cases, with 19% being victimised by a partner.

There were 3,466 victims of sexual assault of whom 2,995 (86%) were female. Among victims of sexual assault, 24% were victimised by a family member, including 7% who were victimised by a partner; 18% were victimised by a stranger.

There were 2,732 person victims of robbery in Victoria, with 77% of victims being male. Over 90% of robbery victims were victimised by either a stranger or an offender where the relationship could not be determined.

Australia

In 2009, the Australian victimisation rates for selected personal offence categories were:

Murder, 1.2 victims per 100,000 persons, no change from 2008
Attempted murder, 1.1 victims per 100,000 persons, no change from 2008
Manslaughter, 0.1 victims per 100,000 persons, no change from 2008
Sexual assault, 89 victims per 100,000 persons, a decrease from the 93 victims per 100,000 persons in 2008

Download: ABS Recorded Crime - Victims, Australia, 2009 ( 1Mb )

Source: The Australian Bureau of Statistics

Recorded Crime - Victoria, Australia 2009-2010

Rape

Victoria Police recorded 1,540 rape offences in 2009/2010, a decrease of 1.3% on the 1,561 offences recorded in 2008/2009. As a rate per 100,000 population, rape has declined by 3.4%.

Victims of crimes against the person in the 2009/2010 financial year were mainly male (53.9%).
Of all male victims, 84.6% were victims of assault offences, with 3.5% being victims of rape and sex (non-rape)offences.
Female were 73.9% victims of assault and 20.9% were victims of rape and sex (non-rape) offences.

Of the 1,540 rape offences recorded in 2009/2010, 1,214 (78.8%) were cleared during the same period. An additional 249 offences were cleared that had been reported in previous years.

There were 1,127 female victims (down 6.2% since 2008/09); and
135 male victims (up by 31.1%).
Rapes at residential locations account for 68.2% of all rapes in 2009/10. Rapes at these locations have decreased by 3.9% since 2008/09 (to 1,051 offences).
Offences recorded during 2009/2010 were cleared by the processing of offenders in 858 offences (70.7% of clearances) and 89 (7.3%) offences resulted in no offence being detected. The complaint was withdrawn in 251 (20.7%) offences and 16 (1.3%) were cleared by other means.
Adult victims aged 18-59 years have decreased by 8.7% since 2008/09, to 787 victims. This age group makes up 62.2% of all rape victims. Victims of rape aged less than 18 years have increased by 10.6% since 2008/09, to 458 victims. This age group makes up 36.2% of all rape victims.

Please note, the number of victims differs significantly from the number of offences recorded due to some victims reporting multiple counts of victimisation.

Sexual assault (non-rape)

There were 5,125 sex (non-rape) offences recorded in 2009/2010, an increase of 2.4% on the 5,007 offences recorded in 2008/2009.

The number of victims4 of sex (non-rape) offences recorded during 2009/2010 was 3,190, an increase of 4.6% from the 3,050 victims 15.1% since 2008/09).

Of all sex (non-rape) victims, 2,280 (71.5%) were less than 18 years old.

Sex (non-rape) offences at residential locations account for 57.3% of all sex (non-rape) offences in 2009/10.
Sex (non-rape) offences at these locations have increased by 5.0% since 2008/09 (to 2,936 offences).
There have been decreases in these offences occurring at street/lane/footpath locations (9.3%), public transport locations (14.2%) and other transport locations (41.3%). Offences at these locations make up 16.2% of all sex (non-rape) offences.
Of all sex (non-rape) victims, 2,280 (71.5%) were less than 18 years old.
Victims of sex (non-rape) aged less than 18 years have decreased by 1.1% since 2008/09, to 2,280 victims. This age group makes up 71.5% of all sex (non-rape) victims.
Adult victims aged 18-59 years have increased by 19.1% since 2008/09, to 805 victims. This age group makes up 25.2% of all sex (non-rape) victims.

Sex (non-rape) includes offences such as indecent assault, indecent act, willful and obscene exposure in public, incest, sexual penetration of a child, and gross indecency.
Please note, as with rape offences the number of victims differs significantly from the number of offences recorded due to some victims reporting multiple counts of victimisation.

Family violence

Of all assaults reported in 2009/2010, 25.1% were family violence related.
Of all the offences arising from family violence incidents reported in 2009/2010, just under half were assaults (48.3%).
During 2009/2010, there were 35,720 incidents where police submitted family incident reports. This is 5.4% higher than the 33,896 reports submitted in 2008/2009.

According to Section 31 of the Family Violence Protection Act 2008, a family violence safety notice (FVSN) is taken to be an application for a family violence intervention order (IVO). Victoria Police keeps separate statistics on IVOs and FVSNs so no double counting occurs, however for an accurate picture of IVOs in an area, the two figures have been combined. Note that family violence safety notices were introduced on 8 December 2008.

Of all family incidents attended, police sought intervention orders or issued a safety notice in 9,229 instances, which is an increase of 12.6% from the previous financial year.
There were 9,082 family incidents attended by police in 2009/10, which resulted in charges being laid against one or more parties involved. This is a 5.2% increase from the previous year.

Download: Victoria Police Crime Stastics - Victoria, Australia 2009-2010 ( 315Kb )

Source: Victoria Police

Australian Crime: Facts and Figures 2009

There were 18,807 victims of sexual assault in Australia in 2009.

There were 2,860 male victims.
There were 15,839 female victims.
There were 8,002 victims aged 0 - 14 years old
There were 6,437 victims aged 15 - 24 years old
There were 4,146 victims aged 25 years old and over.
Of sexual assaults recorded in 2009, 12,168 occurred in dwellings.
3,454 occured in another community location
1983 occured in another location
In 705 cases the location was unspecified.
In 285 cases a weapon was used.
In 18,439 cases no weapon was used.
The crime rate per 100,000 persons for 2009 for sexual assault was 86.

Source: Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) Facts & Figures 1994-2009

Recorded Crime - Victoria, Australia 2007-2008

Rape

Victoria Police recorded 1,252 rape victims during 2007/2008, a decrease of 2.0% on the 1,277 recorded in 2006/2007.

There were 1,144 female victims (down 2.3% compared with last year); and
103 male victims (down 1.0%).
Nearly a third (409 or 32.7%) of all victims of rape recorded during 2007/2008 were under the age of 18 years. (2)

There were 1,562 rape offences recorded in 2007/2008, which is a decrease of 8.1% on the 1,700 offences recorded in 2006/2007.

Of the 1,562 rape offences recorded in 2007/2008, 1,234 (79.0%) were cleared (resolved) during the same period.
An additional 240 offences were cleared that had been reported in previous years.
Offences recorded during 2007/2008 were cleared by the processing of offenders in 847 offences(68.6% of clearances).
70 (5.7%) offences resulted in no offence being detected.
The complaint was withdrawn in 305 (24.7%) offences; and
12 (1.0%) were cleared by other means.

Sexual assault (non-rape 3)

The number of victims of sex (non-rape) offences recorded during 2007/2008 was 3,472, an increase of 4.5% from the 3,323 victims recorded in 2006/2007.

There were 2,859 female; and
607 male victims.
Of all sex (non-rape) victims, 2,543 (73.2%) were less than 18 years old. (4)

There were 6,263 sex (non-rape) offences recorded in 2007/2008, an increase of 0.9% on the 6,210 offences recorded in 2006/2007. Of the 6,263 sex (non-rape) offences recorded in 2007/2008:

4,817 (76.9%) were cleared during the same period.
An additional 639 offences were cleared that had been reported in previous years.

(2) Please note, the number of victims differs significantly from the number of offences recorded due to some victims reporting multiple counts of victimisation.
(3) Sex (non-rape) includes offences such as indecent assault, indecent act, willful and obscene exposure in public, incest, sexual penetration of a child, and gross indecency.
(4) Please note, as with rape offences the number of victims differs significantly from the number of offences recorded due to some victims reporting multiple counts of victimisation.

Family violence

Of all assaults reported in 2007/2008, 23.7% were family violence related.
Of all family violence incidents reported in 2007/2008, just under one half of all offences were assaults.
During 2007/2008, there were 31,676 incidents where police submitted family incident reports.
This is 6.9% higher than the 29,648 reports submitted in 2006/2007.
Of all family incidents attended, Police sought intervention orders in 7,061 instances, which is a slight increase of 1.7% from the previous financial year.
7,612 family incidents attended by police in 2006/07, resulted in laying charges against one or more parties involved.
This is the same as the previous year.
Between July 2003 and August 2004, approximately 15% of assaults were family violence related.
Since the introduction of the Code of Practice for the Investigation of Family Violence, launched on 31 August 2004, this figure has risen to approximately 24%.

Download: Recorded Crime - Victoria, Australia 2007-2008 ( 214Kb )

Source: Victoria Police

Australian Crime: Facts and Figures 2008

There were 19,781 recorded sexual assaults in Australia in 2007, with 94 victims per 100,000 of the population.

As with assault data, sexual assault data for 2007 have been aggregated using Australian Bureau of Statistics data from New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia and included in the chart regarding details of location. Of all sexual assaults recorded in 2007, 95% occurred in these states.

Of sexual assaults recorded in 2007, 65% occurred in dwellings.
Sexual assault was least likely to occur in retail locations (4%) and residential locations peripheral to dwellings (1%).
Reported sexual assaults have increased by 51% since 1995, at an average of 4% each year.
The number of recorded sexual assaults by month is typically highest from January to March and from August to November and lowest from April to July.

Download: Australian Crime: Facts and Figures 2008 (3.5 Mb )

Source: Australian Institute of Criminology

Australian Crime: Facts and Figures 2007

Sexual assault data for 2006 have been aggregated using ABS data from New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia and included in charts regarding details of location, and gender and age of victim. These states represent 95% of all sexual assaults recorded in 2006.

The rate of recorded sexual assault increased between 1996 and 2006 from 79 to 88 persons per 100,000.
Sexual assault was most likely to occur in the home environment. Of sexual assaults recorded in 2006, 66% occurred in dwellings.
Sexual assaults on streets/footpaths and in recreational locations accounted for 6% each.
Sexual assault was least likely to occur at retail locations (4%) or on transport (3%).
84% of sexual assault victims in 2006 were female.
The highest rate of sexual assault was recorded for females 10-14 years of age at 544 per 100,000 females in that age group.
For males, rates were also highest for those aged 10-14 (95 per 100,000 relevant persons) and younger than 10 (78 per 100,000 relevant persons).
Boys made up 32% of sexual assault victims aged less than 10 years.
Where the relationship between victim and offender was stated, most sexual assault victims had some form of relationship with the offender (78%).
Two in five sexual assaults were perpetrated by a family member. The figure is higher (47%) for male victims.
In 38% of sexual assaults the offender was a non-family member known to the victim.
Females (23%) were more likely than males (15%) to be sexually assaulted by strangers.

Victims of sexual assault (recorded violent crimes), 1996-2006 (Table 1)
1996	14,542
1997	14,353
1998	14,336
1999	14,104
2000	15,759
2001	16,897
2002	17,977
2003	18,237
2004	18,400
2005	18,172
2006	18,211

Download: Australian Crime: Facts and Figures 2007 ( 2.9Mb )

Source: Australian Institute of Criminology

Australian Crime: Facts and Figures 2004

There were 18,237 victims of sexual assault recorded by the police in Australia in 2003, an increase of 1% from 2002.
There were about 92 victims of sexual assault per 100,000 population, 149 per 100,000 females and 33 per 100,000 males.
82% of sexual assault victims were female.
Between 2002 and 2003, the number of male victims of sexual assault increased by 1% while the number of female victims increased by 4%.
Reported sexual assaults have increased by an average of 4% each year since 1995.
The number of recorded sexual assaults is typically highest during the months of January to March and August to November and lowest during April to July.

Download: Australian Crime: Facts and Figures 2004 ( 344Kb )

Source: Australian Institute of Criminology

Sexual Assault in Australia: A Statistical Overview, 2004

Recorded Crime Statistics (RCS) for 2003 reported police records of sexual assault victimisation involving a total of 18,237 victims.
The overall sexual assault victimisation was 0.09%, or 91.7 victims per 100,000 persons.
There were 14,892 female victims and 3,255 male victims.
Females recorded rate of 0.15% (149.8 victims per 100,000 females) for all females in Australia.
The rate for males was 0.03% (33.0 victims per 100,000 males).

Download: Sexual Assault in Australia: A Statistical Overview, 2004 ( 1.8Mb )

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics

Reporting

Non-Reporting and Hidden Recordings of Sexual Assault in Australia 2002

Police are most likely to be notified of sexual assaults perpetrated by strangers, followed by estranged partners or known non-intimate offenders.
Assaults by intimate partners are least likely to be reported.
Less than one in five sexual offences disclosed to interviewers in the Women's Safety Survey were reported to the police.

Download: Non-Reporting and Hidden Recordings of Sexual Assault in Australia 2002 ( 61Kb )

Source: Australian Institute of Criminology

Sexual Violence in Australia 2001

For those that do choose to report:

Sexual assault has among the highest rates of acquittal.
Sexual assault has the lowest rates of proven guilt compared with other offences.
More than 70% of sexual assault incidents are not reported to police.
Only about one in 10 reported incidents results in a guilty finding.
Women are more likely to report the crime to police if the offender is a stranger.
Women are less likely to report current husbands, de facto partners or boyfriends.

Download: Sexual Violence in Australia 2001 ( 247Kb )

Source: Australian Institute of Criminology

The Experiences of Child Complainants of Sexual Abuse in the Criminal Justice System

When asked if they would ever report sexual abuse again following their experiences in the criminal justice system:

Only 44% of children in Queensland;
33% in New South Wales; and
64% in Western Australia indicated that they would.

Download: The Experiences of Child Complainants of Sexual Abuse in the Criminal Justice System ( 214Kb )

Source: Australian Institute of Criminology

Study of Reported Rapes in Victoria 2000-2003

Of the 812 reports where the case outcome could be established:

Offenders were charged in only 15% of reported rapes examined.
Police did not proceed with more than 60% of investigations.
15.1% of rape complaints were withdrawn.
46.4% of rape complaints resulted in No Further Police Action: where police decide to take no further action on a complaint.
21.3% of rape complaints were 'still ongoing' or could not be determined on the basis of the information in the case records.
Only 2.1% of reports were designated by police as false.
26% of cases in this study involved victims with a psychiatric disability or mental health issue.
Where complaints were withdrawn, no statistically reliable profile of the characteristics of cases could be established.
These cases did, however, involve slightly older victims, who were more likely to have used alcohol and/or other drugs around the time of the offence.
Offenders were proportionally more likely to be current or former partners in cases where the complaint was subsequently withdrawn compared to cases where charges were laid.
Some of these allegations were made against offenders who were, at the time of the rape, under family violence intervention orders.
For 69 cases (8.2%) there was more than one incident of rape involved. For 106 cases (12.5%), there were multiple incidents over periods of time, 6.5% over a period of years and 6% over contained periods.

Characteristically rape victims who were most likely to see charges laid were:

Male;
Physically injured;
Medically examined;
Not influenced by alcohol or drugs at the time of the offence;
Subject to other offences alongside the rape; and
Raped by offenders well known to police for previous sexual offending.

Cases that resulted in No Further Police Action were typically more likely to involve:

Younger victims;
Victims who were acquainted or who had a cursory relationship with the offender; and
Victims who had consumed alcohol or other drugs around the time of the offence.

Download: Study of Reported Rapes in Victoria 2000-2003 ( 450Kb )

Source: Statewide Steering Committee to Reduce Sexual Assault

Victimisation prevalence comparisons

Sexual Assault in Australia: A Statistical Overview, 2004

The National Crime and Safety Survey (NCSS) of 2002 estimated that 33,000 adults in Australia were victims of sexual assault in the 12 months prior to the survey.
This represented a prevalence rate of 0.2% (or 200 victims per 100,000 adult persons), which was the lowest rate for personal crimes reported in that survey.
The prevalence rate for robbery was 0.6% and for assault it was 4.7%.
In Recorded Crime Statistics for 2003, 18,237 reports of sexual assault victimisation were made to police in Australia.
This represented a victimisation prevalence rate of 0.09% (or 91.7 victims per 100,000 persons of all ages), which was higher than the rate for robbery (0.08% or 84.2 victims per 100,000 persons), but lower than the rate for assault (0.8% or 798.0 victims per 100,000 persons).

Download: Sexual Assault in Australia: A Statistical Overview, 2004 ( 1.8Mb )

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics

Statistics and annual reports for individual state and territory police are available from their websites

This is not an exhaustive list of research in the area of family violence and sexual assault, merely a starting point. As the locations of web pages often change, many of these reports have been made available through this page to assist readers. Please note that these pdfs may not contain the latest version or any recent changes so it is recommended that researchers check the author's website for updates, suplements or amendments. All published details correct as at Sept 2011.

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