ABOUT THIS PUBLICATION
This release presents results from the Australian Bureau of Statistics' (ABS) 2012 Personal Safety Survey (PSS), conducted from February to December 2012. The survey collected information about the nature and extent of violence experienced by men and women since the age of 15, including their experience of violence in the 12 months prior to the survey. It also collected detailed information about men's and women's experience of current and previous partner violence, lifetime experience of stalking, physical and sexual abuse before the age of 15 and general feelings of safety.
This is the second time the Personal Safety Survey has been conducted. The PSS was last run by the ABS in 2005. The PSS is based on the design of the Women's Safety Survey (cat. no. 4128.0) which was conducted in 1996, and has been adapted to include men's experience of violence. This release includes some comparisons with PSS 2005 and WSS 1996 data where appropriate. Much of the content from the 2012 PSS is comparable to previous surveys. However, when comparing 2012 results with 2005, users should be aware that some differences may exist due to changes in question methodology and scope. Factors impacting on the comparability of estimates over time are detailed in the Explanatory Notes.
This publication is comprised of the information presented within each of the tabs. A separate PDF version of this publication has not been produced. All tables are available in spreadsheet format from the Downloads Tab. A summary of the main findings from the survey can be found via the Contents. Information on the concepts and methods used in the survey, reliability of results, definitions and interpretation are included in the Explanatory Notes, Technical Note and Glossary. Only statistically significant differences between data items have been commented on in this release (refer to the Significance Testing section of the Technical Note).
The statistics presented in this release are indicative of the extensive range of data available from the survey and demonstrate the analytical potential of the survey results. Full details about all the information collected in the 2012 PSS are provided in the Data Item List which can be accessed in the Downloads Tab of this publication. Additional information may be made available by request, on a fee for service basis, through the ABS Information Consultancy, or on the Confidentialised Unit Record File which is expected to be released in March 2014.
COMPARISONS WITH OTHER DATA
The ABS publishes crime data from a range of sources with differing measurement methodologies, and this can produce different estimates. As such, caution should be exercised when making comparisons with other sources. For more information, see the Data Comparability section in the Explanatory Notes and Comparability Between PSS and Other Data Sources. Information about ABS activities in the field of crime and justice statistics is available from the Crime and Justice Topics @ a Glance web page.
INQUIRIES
For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information Referral Service (NIRS) on 1300 135 070.