4906.0 - Personal Safety, Australia, 2012  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 11/12/2013   
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Contents >> Demographics of those who have experienced sexual assault >> Prevalence of sexual assault during the last 12 months


PREVALENCE OF SEXUAL ASSAULT - DURING THE LAST 12 MONTHS

Women were more likely than men to have experienced sexual assault in the 12 months prior to the survey. In 2012 an estimated 1.0% (87,800) of all women aged 18 years and over and *0.4% (*37,000) of all men aged 18 years and over had experienced sexual assault in the 12 months prior to the survey (refer Table 1 * this estimate has an RSE between 25% and 50% and should be used with caution).

Women's experience of sexual assault during the last 12 months - broad age groups

Women's experience of sexual assault in the 12 months prior to the survey differed depending on their age group (refer Table 13).

  • Women in the 18 to 24 years age groups were more likely, compared to all women, to have experienced sexual assault in the 12 months prior to the survey. An estimated *2.2% of the 1,072,000 women aged 18 to 24 years had experienced sexual assault in the 12 months prior to the survey compared to 1.0% of all women. * this estimate has an RSE between 25% and 50% and should be used with caution.
  • Women in the 55 years and over age group were less likely to have experienced sexual assault in the 12 months prior to the survey compared to all women. An estimated *0.2% of the 2,900,600 women aged 55 years and over had experienced sexual assault in the 12 months prior to the survey compared to 1.0% of all women. * this estimate has an RSE between 25% and 50% and should be used with caution.

There was no statistically significant difference in the prevalence of violence for women in the other age groups compared to the prevalence rate for all women (refer Table 13).

FURTHER INFORMATION

Users wishing to undertake further analysis of the data in Table 14 and Table 15 are recommended to exercise caution when interpreting information contained in these tables by calculating the confidence intervals and performing significance testing to determine if there is a statistical difference between any of the estimates (for further details refer to the Technical Note).



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