4524.0 - In Focus: Crime and Justice Statistics, October 2013  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 01/10/2013   
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Contents >> About the General Social Survey

ABOUT THE GENERAL SOCIAL SURVEY

The General Social Survey was conducted throughout Australia (excluding very remote areas) from August to November 2010. The survey asked people aged 18 years and over about a range of topics, including health, housing, income, transport, social networks, crime and safety, disability, and more. Whilst other ABS surveys collect more detailed and targeted information around the topics of crime victimisation and mental health, such as the Crime Victimisation Survey and the National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing, the inclusion of these two topics in the General Social Survey provides a unique opportunity to explore the relationship between them. Proxy interviews were conducted with respondents who for reasons of language or disability were unable to answer for themselves. It is possible that crime victimisation experiences may be underreported in these cases, as the proxy may not be aware of crimes experienced by the selected respondent. For more information about the, scope, coverage, and data collection methodology of the General Social Survey, please refer to the Explanatory Notes and Glossary in ‘General Social Survey: Summary Results, Australia, 2010’ (cat. no. 4159.0).

In the General Social Survey, victims of crime are defined as persons experiencing threatened or physical violence and/or actual attempted break-in in the 12 months prior to survey. Disability due to a mental health condition is defined as any mental illness and/or emotional condition requiring help or supervision in daily activities, which at the time of the survey had lasted or was likely to last for six months or more. For more information, please refer to the Definitions page.

Only data with a relative standard error of less than 25% was included in the analysis, to ensure a high degree of reliability. All comparisons within the article were tested for statistical significance at the 95% confidence interval. For more information about relative standard errors and statistical significance, please refer to the Technical Note on data quality in ‘General Social Survey: Summary Results, Australia, 2010’ (cat. no. 4159.0).



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