FEELINGS OF SAFETY
The feelings people have of safety or lack of safety when alone at home often relate to: crime levels in their local vicinity; previous experience as a victim of assault or household break-in; relationships with people living nearby; sense of their own strength and capacity to be in control; perceptions of crime levels generally; and their level of trust in their local community.
In 2010 and 2006, 85% of adults reported that they felt safe or very safe at home alone after dark, while 48% reported feeling safe or very safe walking alone in their local area at night (table 2). Men were more likely than women to feel safe/very safe both at home alone (92% compared to 78%) or walking alone at night (68% compared to 29%). Rates of feeling very safe or safe for both males and females decreased with age (tables 3 and 4 and graph 6.1).
6.1 Feeling safe/very safe walking alone at night in local area, by age and sex
In 2010, people were more likely to feel unsafe at home alone after dark if: they were living in major cities; living in accommodation rented from state or territory housing authorities; not in the labour force; born overseas in a country other than main-English speaking ones and were not proficient in spoken English; or had fair to poor health; or were living as a member of a household with low income.