Nearly 400,000 Australians assaulted in the last 12 months

Nearly 400,000 Australians reported experiencing physical assault in the last 12 months, according to figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

William Milne, ABS head of Crime Statistics, said: ‘There were about 210,000 men and 180,000 women who experienced physical assault in the last 12 months.’ 

The rate of physical assault for women aged 15 and over fell from 2.0 per cent in 2014-15 to 1.6 per cent in 2024-25. There was no significant change for men over the same period (2.3 per cent to 2.0 per cent).

‘Although the victimisation rates for men and women are similar in 2024-25, there’s clear differences in the nature and circumstances in which men and women experience assault,’ Mr Milne said.

Women who experienced physical assault were more likely than men to experience multiple incidents of assault in the last 12 months (56 per cent compared with 44 per cent).

In women’s most recent incident of physical assault, the perpetrator was most often a family member or intimate partner (44 per cent), and about half (48 per cent) of the assaults occurred in a home.

In men’s most recent incident of physical assault, the perpetrator was often a stranger (56 per cent) and most assaults occurred outside of the home (72 per cent).

‘For both men and women, more than one in four physical assaults occurred in the workplace, with 57,000 men and 51,000 women reporting that the incident occurred at work,’ Mr Milne said.

Police reporting was also similar between men and women, with 55 per cent of men and 58 per cent of women reporting their most recent physical assault to police. 

More information about the 2024-25 survey results can be found in Crime Victimisation.