PHYSICAL ASSAULT ^{Endnote 1}

WHAT IS PHYSICAL ASSAULT?

For this survey, physical assault is defined as an act of physical force or violence by a person against another person. It includes:

• being pushed, grabbed, shoved, slapped, kicked, bitten, choked, shot, burnt
• being hit with something such as a bat
• being dragged or hit deliberately by a vehicle
• assault which happens in the line of work.

Physical assault excludes:

• incidents that occurred during the course of play on a sporting field or organised sport
• verbal abuse
• incidents where the person did not encounter the offender face-to-face
• incidents of sexual assault or threatened sexual assault which also involved physical assault.

WHO EXPERIENCED PHYSICAL ASSAULT IN 2015–16? (Table 13)

In the 12 months prior to interview, an estimated 2.4% of persons aged 15 years and over (462,200) experienced physical assault in Australia. A similar proportion of men (2.6%) and women (2.3%) experienced physical assault during this period.

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

• unmarried persons (3.9%) compared to married persons (1.5%)
• unemployed persons (4.5%) compared to employed persons (2.4%)
• persons living outside capital cities (2.9%) compared to persons living in capital cities (2.3%)
• persons born in Australia (2.7%) compared to persons born overseas (1.9%).

PHYSICAL ASSAULT VICTIMISATION RATE BY AGE (Table 13)

Across the age groups, the physical assault victimisation rate varied. For 20 to 24 year olds, the victimisation rate was 4.2% and for 65 year olds and over the victimisation rate was 0.5%.


EXPERIENCE OF MULTIPLE VICTIMISATION (Table 10)

Just under half (49%) of persons who experienced physical assault experienced multiple incidents. An estimated one in five (20%) experienced two incidents and a further 29% experienced three or more incidents.

A similar proportion of women (53%) and men (43%) who experienced physical assault experienced multiple incidents.

WHAT ELSE DO WE KNOW ABOUT PHYSICAL ASSAULT INCIDENTS?

This section discusses characteristics of the most recent incident for women and men who experienced physical assault in the 12 months prior to interview. As information is only collected in relation to the most recent incident, the findings are not necessarily representative of all incidents experienced by the person (see Technical Note).

REPORTING RATE (Table 14)

In the 12 months prior to interview, an estimated 55% of persons who experienced physical assault (253,600) had their most recent incident reported to police. A similar proportion of women (56%) and men (54%) had their most recent incident reported to police.

OTHER SELECTED CHARACTERISTICS (Table 14)

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

• the offender was more commonly a male (78%) than a female (15%)
• the offender was more commonly someone known to the woman (72%) than a stranger (28%)
• the known offender was most frequently an intimate partner (30%)
• the location of the most recent incident was most frequently the person's home (48%).

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

• the offender was more commonly male (82%) than female (12%)
• the offender was known to the person in just over half of incidents (55%)
• common locations where the incident occurred included the person’s home (28%), and work or place of study (22%). Public places contributed to 42% of most recent incidents (including licensed venues, in the street, and public transport).

ENDNOTE

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.