PHYSICAL ASSAULT ^Endnote1

For this survey, physical assault is defined as an act of physical force or violence by a person against another person (e.g. pushed, grabbed, hit). This includes assaults which happen in the line of work. Refer to the glossary page for the full definition of physical assault.

WHO EXPERIENCED PHYSICAL ASSAULT IN 2016-17? (Table 13)

In the 12 months prior to interview, an estimated 2.4% of persons aged 15 years and over (454,900) experienced physical assault in Australia. A similar proportion of men (2.4% or 228,700) and women (2.3% or 226,900) experienced physical assault during this period.

The following groups were more likely to experience physical assault in the last 12 months:

• unmarried persons (3.6%) compared to married persons (1.5%)
• unemployed persons (4.3%) compared to employed persons (2.5%)
• persons born in Australia (2.7%) compared to persons born overseas (1.7%).

PHYSICAL ASSAULT VICTIMISATION RATE BY AGE (Table 13)

Across the age groups, the physical assault victimisation rate varied. For 15 to 24 year olds, the victimisation rate was 3.7% and for 65 year olds and over the victimisation rate was 0.5%.



EXPERIENCE OF MULTIPLE VICTIMISATION (Table 9 and 10)

Just under half (49% or 224,800) of persons who experienced physical assault experienced a single incident. Nearly one in five (19% or 86,500) experienced two incidents and a further 30% (134,700) experienced three or more incidents.

A similar proportion of women (49% or 110,800) and men (50% or 113,500) who experienced physical assault experienced multiple incidents.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MOST RECENT INCIDENT ^Endnote2

This section discusses characteristics of the most recent incident for persons who experienced physical assault in the 12 months prior to interview.

REPORTING RATE (Table 14)

In the 12 months prior to interview in 2016-17, an estimated 54% of persons who experienced physical assault (244,900) had their most recent incident reported to police. A similar proportion of women (56% or 126,600) and men (52% or 117,800) had their most recent incident reported to police.

For men, one of the most common reasons why the most recent incident of physical assault was not reported to police was they felt it was too trivial/unimportant (14% or 31,500), whereas for women it was because they felt it to be a personal matter (13% or 30,100).

OTHER SELECTED CHARACTERISTICS (Table 14)

In the most recent incident of physical assault experienced by women:

• the offender was most commonly a male (76%)
• the offender was more commonly someone known to the woman (80%) than a stranger (20%)
• the known offender was most frequently an intimate partner (31%)
• the location of the most recent incident was most frequently the person's home (50%).

In the most recent incident of physical assault experienced by men:

• the offender was most commonly a male (81%)
• the offender was a stranger in nearly half of incidents (45%)
• common locations where the incident occurred included in the street or other open land (22%), work (22%) and in the person's home (19%).

ENDNOTES

Endnote 1 All comparisons discussed have been tested for statistical significance with a 95% level of confidence that there is a real difference in the two populations being tested. Only data with a relative standard error (RSE) of less than 25% are referred to in the text of this publication and these estimates are considered sufficiently reliable for general use. To determine whether there is a statistical difference between any other two estimates, significance testing should be undertaken. For further information, refer to the Technical Note.

Endnote 2 As information is only collected in relation to the most recent incident, the findings are not necessarily representative of all incidents experienced by persons in the last 12 months prior to interview (see Technical Note).