Violence: Young people are more at risk
The Australian Bureau of Statistics' publication Australian Social Trends 2008 contains a section titled 'Risk taking by young people', which includes statistics on drinking at risky levels; hospitalisation due to drug use and acute alcohol intoxication; use of illicit drugs; dangerous driving; injury and death from transport accidents; and violence.
Young people and violence
Young people, especially young men, are at a greater risk than other age groups of experiencing violence. In the 2005 Personal Safety Survey:
- 12% of people aged 18-24 years reported being physically assaulted by a man during the last 12 months, and 3% reported physical assault by a woman.
- The proportion of men aged 18-24 years (19%) who reported experiencing physical assault by a male was almost five times as high as the rate for men aged 25 years and over (4%).
- A higher proportion of men aged 18-19 years reported experiencing physical assault by a male than did men aged 20-24 years (29% and 15% respectively).
- Overall, the proportion of young women who were physically assaulted by a man was smaller (5%) and similar for the 18-19 years and 20-24 years age groups.
- Of men aged 18-24 years who were physically assaulted by a male, most (77%) reported being attacked by a stranger. In contrast, women in this age group who were physically assaulted by a male were likely to be assaulted by a man known to them (82%).
- Young men (aged 18-24 years) most frequently reported that the physical assault occurred at licensed premises (44%) or in the open (34%). For young women, the most common location of physical assault was in their or another person's home (49%).
- The majority (79%) of 18-24-year-old men who were physically assaulted by another male said that the perpetrator had been drinking alcohol or taking drugs. Just over one-third (34%) also said that they themselves had been drinking or taking drugs.
- Alcohol and drugs were less frequently reported by women as involved in assault by a male. Nevertheless, a considerable proportion (37%) of women aged 18-24 years who had been physically assaulted by a man reported that the perpetrator's consumption of alcohol or drugs had contributed to the incident.
- 'Acts intended to cause injury' are a set of offences (excluding murder and those resulting in death) where there has been an intention to cause non-fatal injury or harm to another person and where there is no sexual or acquisitive element. Among 20-24-year-olds in 2006-07, the adjudication rate for acts intended to cause injury was higher than for all other age groups, with the next highest rate being for 25-29-year-olds. Men aged 20-24 years were around five times as likely as women in this age group to be adjudicated for this offence (1,034 compared with 225 adjudications per 100,000).
- Homicide and related offences refers to killing, trying to kill or conspiracy to kill another person. Compared with most other criminal offences, these offences are relatively rare. In 2006-07, the rate of adjudication for homicide among young people aged 20-24 years was 8 per 100,000.
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2008, Australian social trends, Cat. no. 4102.0, viewed 2 October 2008, http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4102.0Chapter5002008.
Violence: earlier information:
Topics
Fatal assault of children and young people in NSW between 1996 and 2002
Sexual assault of young people in Australia
Domestic violence, 2004
Firearm deaths
Violence and alcohol link for Australian youth
Young Australians and domestic violence
Fatal assault of children and young people in NSW between 1996 and 2002
Over the six and a half year study period, 100 children died from fatal assault, making up 2% of all deaths of children and young people aged 0 to 17 years in NSW … The highest number of assaults (30) was of infants under one year of age … Teenagers aged between 13 and 17 years were the next most likely age group to be fatally assaulted (28). Eighteen of these victims were males and 10 females. Their average age was 15.7 years. Twenty-two of 41 suspects in these assaults had prior criminal charges, and 13 of the victims had prior charges.
Source: Fatal assault of children and young people, NSW Commission for Children and Young People.
Back to Top.
Sexual assault of young people in Australia 2003
Victims of sexual assault, by sex and age group
| Males | Females | Persons | ||||
| Age groups |
Number | Rate per 100,000 males |
Number | Rate per 100,000 females |
Number | Rate per 100,000 persons |
| 10–14 | 621 | 87.9 | 3,189 | 474.7 | 3,816 | 276.9 |
| 15–19 | 457 | 64.9 | 3,496 | 519.6 | 3,960 | 287.7 |
| 20–24 | 173 | 24.7 | 1,445 | 213.7 | 1,622 | 117.8 |
Source: ABS, Recorded crime - victims, Australia, 2003 (cat.no. 4510.0); Table 3.
The highest sexual assault victimization rates for 2003:
- 15–19 age group (0.29%)
- 10–14 years age group next (0.28%)
The highest rate for females was in:
• 15–19 age group (0.52%)
The highest rate for males was in:
• 0–9 age group (0.09%)
Sexual assault victims under the age of 15 were:
• 41% of all victims
• 76% female
• 24% male
• 38% of all female victims
• 56% of all male victims
The number of recorded sexual assault victims under the age of 15 increased:
• from 5,425 in 1999
• to 7,502 in 2003
Victims between 15 and 24 years were:
• 31% of all victims
• 89% female
• 11% male
• 33% of all female victims
• 19% of all male victims
Victims between 18 and 24 years were:
• 48% of all victims
Women aged 18 to 24 who reported sexual assault in the previous 12 months:
• 3.6%
Sexual assault perpetrators
Proportion of male defendants adjudicated in the higher criminal courts for sexual assault and related offences:
- 36% – 45 years and over
- 24% – 35–44 years
- 22% – 25–34 years
- approx 5% under 20 years
Source: ABS 2004, Sexual assault in Australia: A statistical overview, Cat. No. 4523.0, ABS, Canberra.
Violence and alcohol link for Australian youth 2003
Percentage of 15- to 17-year-olds in national survey who reported exposure to violence by someone who was drunk and aggressive: 70%
Results of the National Alcohol Campaign 2003 survey of 800 15-17-year-olds indicate a link between consumption of alcohol and the exposure of young people to violence. More than two-thirds of those surveyed said that they had seen violence by someone who was drunk and aggressive within 3 months of the survey.
Respondents to the federal Department of Health and Ageing survey also reported that they had:
been threatened by others who were drunk: 39%;
received unwanted sexual advances from someone who was drunk: 37%;
done something after drinking too much they had later regretted: 38%;
seen a friend who became violent after drinking: 41%.
Source: Advertiser (Adelaide), 28/8/03, p.6.
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Domestic violence, 2004
The University of Western Australia’s Crime Unit produced the following statistics from a survey of 5000 young people aged 12-20:
- 1 in 12 women who were married or in de facto relationships had experienced some violence from their current partner.
- 7 in 10 women who reported violence by a previous partner also reported that they had children in their care at some time during the relationship.
- 1 in 3 young people reported incidents in their personal relationships that could be identified as physical violence.
- 42% of 19- to 20-year-old women admitted experiencing some form of physical violence from a boyfriend at least once.
- Almost 1/3 of 19- to 20-year-old women reported they had been frightened or hurt by one or more of the instances of violence, whereas only 1 in 8 19- to 20-year-old men reported the same.
- 14% of females (and 3% of males) indicated that they had been sexually assaulted.
- Young people growing up in homes where there has been violence were twice as likely to have been forced to have sex and four times as likely to have admitted forcing their partner to have sex.
- 12% of males agree with the statement: “It’s okay for a boy to make a girl have sex with him if she has led him on.”
- 15% of males agreed with the statement: “It’s okay for a guy to put pressure on a girl to have sex but not to physically force her.”
- 1 in 3 young people aged between 12 and 20 had witnessed domestic violence in the home.
- 1/4 of all teenagers had seen physical violence perpetrated against the female parent.
- Indigenous women are 45 times more likely to be the victims of domestic violence than other sections of the community.
- Half of all female 19- and 20-year-olds claimed to have been sexually assaulted either on dates or randomly.
- In Western Australia, less than 50% of women who seek refuge are successful in getting it, and only 10% of women who suffer from domestic violence actually seek refuge.
Source: Sunday Times, 04/07/04, p. 10.
Violence and alcohol link for Australian youth 2003
Percentage of 15- to 17-year-olds in national survey who reported exposure to violence by someone who was drunk and aggressive: 70%
Results of the National Alcohol Campaign 2003 survey of 800 15-17-year-olds indicate a link between consumption of alcohol and the exposure of young people to violence. More than two-thirds of those surveyed said that they had seen violence by someone who was drunk and aggressive within 3 months of the survey.
Respondents to the federal Department of Health and Ageing survey also reported that they had:
been threatened by others who were drunk: 39%;
received unwanted sexual advances from someone who was drunk: 37%;
done something after drinking too much they had later regretted: 38%;
seen a friend who became violent after drinking: 41%.
Source: Advertiser (Adelaide), 28/8/03, p.6.
Firearm deaths 1991–2001
The Australian Institute of Criminology has released figures for deaths by firearm for the period 1991–2001. The AIC reports that young people under 15 are least likely to be fatally injured by misuse of a firearm. While the suicide rate for females was comparatively low, those aged 15–24 had the highest risk of firearm-related suicide (0.5 per 100,000 females in 2001).
The overall rate of fatal firearm-related injury declined between 1991 and 2001 for males; for females there appeared to be a shift in age-related risk over the period. For example, in 1991 males aged 15–24 had the highest risk of fatal injury (9.5 per 100,000 males), but in 2001 it was men aged 65 or more who had the highest risk (4.9 per 100,000 males).
Firearm-related deaths by gender and age 1991-2001
| Accident | Suicide | Homicide | Legal intervention |
Undetermined | All deaths | |||||||
| Age | M | F | M | F | M | F | M | F | M | F | M | F |
| 0-14 | 10 | 4 | 15 | 2 | 6 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 25 |
| 15-24 | 58 | 5 | 669 | 53 | 92 | 37 | 11 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 841 | 95 |
Source: Australian Institute of Criminology 2003, Trends and issues in crime and criminal justice, no. 269, Australian Institute of Criminology, Canberra.
Back to Top.Young Australians and domestic violence 1999
These findings come from a survey of 5,000 Australians aged between 12 and 20 undertaken in 1998 and 1999 by the Crime Research Centre at the University of Western Australia and Donovan Research:- 23% of the young people surveyed had witnessed an incident of physical or domestic violence against their mother or stepmother.
- Young people of lower socioeconomic status were about one and a half times more likely to be aware of violence towards their mothers or fathers than those from upper socioeconomic households.
- Indigenous youth were significantly more likely to have witnessed physical domestic violence between their parents or parents’ partners. In the case of male to female violence, the rate was 42%, compared to 23% for all respondents, and for female to male violence the rate was 33%, compared to 22%.
- Almost 70% of the young people surveyed had had a boyfriend or girlfriend at some stage. About one in three of these young people (both males and females) reported incidents in their personal relationships that could be defined as ‘physical violence’.
Percentage of young Australians who witnessed one of seven physical forms of violence against their mother/stepmother by a male partner
Download Full report [viewed 29/11/2006]
Source: Indermaur, D. 2001, Young Australians and Domestic Violence, Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice, no. 195, Australian Institute of Criminology, Canberra [viewed 28/11/2006].