General feelings of safety

This release presents detailed statistics about general feelings of personal safety from the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) 2021-22 Personal Safety Survey (PSS).

The survey collected information from persons aged 18 years and over about the nature and extent of their experiences of violence.

Summary statistics on all topics collected in the PSS can be found in Personal Safety, Australia.

State and territory data about general feelings of personal safety is not included in the commentary but is published in Tables 7 to 12 available under the data downloads.

COVID-19 context

The 2021-22 PSS was conducted between March 2021 and May 2022 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout this time, government policies were in place to reduce the spread of COVID-19, including stay-at-home orders, border control measures, limits on gatherings, and social distancing rules. The survey results should be understood and interpreted within the broader context of the wide-ranging changes to everyday life during the pandemic.

Data quality and interpretation

In the written commentary, where a proportion is described as higher or lower than a comparative proportion, or one group is described as more or less likely to have felt safe than another group, the difference has been found to be statistically significant at the 95% confidence level.

Figures marked with an asterisk (*) have a relative standard error of between 25% and 50% and should be used with caution.

While the PSS collects the same information from both men and women, detailed socio-demographic data for men are not sufficiently statistically reliable to include in the commentary.  Summary statistics for men are available in the data downloads.

For more information about statistical significance and relative standard error, refer to the Personal Safety, Australia Methodology.

The 2021-22 PSS collected information from men and women about their general feelings of personal safety in the 12 months prior to the survey, for the following situations:

• using and waiting for public transport alone after dark
• walking alone in the local area after dark
• when home alone after dark

In 2021-22, one in three men (3.2 million) and one in five women (2.0 million) used public transport alone after dark.

The proportion of people who used public transport alone after dark declined between 2016 and 2021-22:

• for men, from 41% to 34%
• for women, from 27% to 20%

Men were more likely to feel safe while waiting for and using public transport alone after dark than women.

Of the 3.2 million men who took public transport alone after dark, almost all felt safe while:

• waiting for public transport (93%)
• using public transport (93%)

Of the 2.0 million women who took public transport alone after dark, most felt safe while:

• waiting for public transport (68%)
• using public transport (77%)

Changes over time

Of women who took public transport alone after dark, the proportion who felt safe while using and waiting for public transport alone after dark remained stable between 2016 and 2021-22.

Of men who took public transport alone after dark, the proportion who felt safe while waiting for public transport increased between 2016 and 2021-22, and the proportion who felt safe while using public transport remained stable.

Socio-demographic characteristics of women who felt unsafe while using public transport

Of the 2.0 million women who used public transport alone after dark, 23% felt unsafe.

The proportion was higher for:

• women aged 18 to 24 years (32%) and 25 to 34 years (25%), compared with women aged 35 to 44 years (17%), 45 to 54 years (16%), and 55 to 64 years (16%)
• women with disability (34%) compared with women without disability (19%)
• women who were currently studying (34%) compared with women who were not studying (19%)

In 2021-22, an estimated 6.3 million men (66%) and 7.9 million women (80%) did not use public transport alone after dark.

Women were more likely than men to avoid using public transport alone after dark because they felt unsafe.

Of the 6.3 million men who did not use public transport alone after dark:

• *2.4% avoided public transport because they felt unsafe
• 97% did not use public transport for another reason

Of the 7.9 million women who did not use public transport alone after dark:

• 15% avoided public transport because they felt unsafe
• 86% did not use public transport for another reason

Changes over time

Of men and women who did not take public transport alone after dark, the proportion who avoided doing so because they felt unsafe decreased between 2016 and 2021-22.

Socio-demographic characteristics of women who avoided using public transport alone after dark because they felt unsafe

Of the 7.9 million women who did not take public transport alone after dark, 15% avoided doing so because they felt unsafe.

The proportion was higher for:

• women aged 18 to 24 years (26%) compared with women in all other age groups
• women who identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual or who used a different term such as asexual, pansexual or queer (23%) compared with women who identified as heterosexual (14%)
• women with disability (19%) compared with women without disability (12%)
• women who were currently studying (22%) compared with women who were not studying (14%)
• women who lived in a capital city (18%) compared with women who lived outside of a capital city (10%)

Note: While data for women who identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or who used a different term have been combined into a single output category, experiences may vary across each group.

In 2021-22, an estimated 6.6 million men (69%) and 3.7 million women (37%) walked alone in their local area after dark.

Most men (94%) and women (85%) who walked alone in their local area after dark felt safe.

Men were more likely to feel safe when walking alone in their local area after dark than women.

Changes over time

Of the people who walked alone in their local area after dark, the proportion who felt safe:

• increased for women between 2016 and 2021-22
• remained stable for men between 2016 and 2021-22

Socio-demographic characteristics of women who felt unsafe when walking alone in the local area after dark

Of the 3.7 million women who walked alone in their local area after dark, 15% felt unsafe.

The proportion was higher for:

• women aged 18 to 24 years (24%) compared with women aged 35 years and over
• women who identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual or who used a different term such as asexual, pansexual or queer (28%) compared with women who identified as heterosexual (14%)
• women with disability (23%) compared with women without disability (13%)
• women who were currently studying (23%) compared with women who were not studying (14%)
• women living in an area in the lowest quintile (most disadvantaged) of the Index of Socio-Economic Disadvantage (25%) compared with women living in all other quintiles

Note: While data for women who identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or who used a different term have been combined into a single output category, experiences may vary across each group.

In 2021-22, an estimated 2.9 million men (31%) and 6.2 million women (63%) did not walk alone in their local area after dark.

Women were more likely than men to avoid walking alone in their local area after dark because they felt unsafe.

Of the 2.9 million men who did not walk alone in their local area after dark:

• 9.2% avoided walking in the area because they felt unsafe
• 92% did not walk in the area for another reason

Of the 6.2 million women who did not walk alone in their local area after dark:

• 37% avoided walking in the area because they felt unsafe
• 63% did not walk in the area for another reason

Changes over time

Of men and women who did not walk alone in their local area after dark, the proportion who avoided doing so because they felt unsafe decreased between 2016 and 2021-22.

Socio-demographic characteristics of women who did not walk alone in their local area after dark because they felt unsafe

Of the 6.2 million women who did not walk alone in their local area after dark, 37% avoided doing so because they felt unsafe.

The proportion was higher for:

• women aged 18 to 24 years (52%) compared with women in all other age groups
• women who identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual or who used a different term such as asexual, pansexual or queer (53%) compared with women who identified as heterosexual (36%)
• women with disability (42%) compared with women without disability (33%)
• women living in an area in the lowest quintile (most disadvantaged) of the Index of Socio-Economic Disadvantage (46%) compared with women living in all other quintiles

Note: While data for women who identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or who used a different term have been combined into a single output category, experiences may vary across each group.

In 2021-22, an estimated 9.4 million men (98%) and 9.5 million women (96%) were home alone after dark.

Most men (99%) and women (93%) who were home alone after dark felt safe.

Men were more likely to feel safe home alone after dark than women.

Changes over time

Of men and women who were home alone after dark, the proportion who felt safe increased between 2016 and 2021-22.

Socio-demographic characteristics of women who felt unsafe when home alone after dark

Of the 9.5 million women who were home alone after dark, 7.3% felt unsafe.

The proportion was higher for:

• women aged 18 to 24 years (13%) and 25 to 34 years (11%) compared with all other age groups
• women who identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual or who used a different term such as asexual, pansexual or queer (17%) compared with women who identified as heterosexual (6.8%)
• women with disability (11%) compared with women without disability (5.8%)
• women who were currently studying (9.9%) compared with women who were not studying (7.0%)
• women who lived outside of a capital city (8.6%) compared with women who lived in a capital city (6.6%)
• women living in an area in the lowest (12%) and second lowest quintile (9.1%) of the Index of Socio-Economic Disadvantage compared with women living in all other quintiles

Note: While data for women who identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or who used a different term have been combined into a single output category, experiences may vary across each group.