Childhood abuse

The Personal Safety Survey (PSS) and the Australian Child Maltreatment Study (ACMS) both provide statistics on child abuse in Australia. The purpose of this technical note is to help guide data users and analysts to the dataset most appropriate for their information needs.

The PSS has been conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics approximately four yearly since 2005 and provides details of adult experiences of violence including: physical, sexual, partner violence, sexual harassment, and stalking. The PSS also asks adults about their experiences of childhood abuse and witnessing parental violence before the age of 15 years. The child abuse data is used to help understand the association with adult experiences of violence.

The inaugural ACMS was conducted in 2021 and released in 2023. It was conducted by a research group with the support of the Australian Government. The ACMS is focused on the extent and nature of experiences of child maltreatment (abuse and neglect) before the age of 18 years including: physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, neglect, and exposure to domestic violence. The survey also sought to understand associations of child maltreatment with a range of physical and mental health outcomes.

Although the collections were designed for different purposes, both surveys include national statistics relating to the extent and nature of child abuse in Australia. The published figures from the two collections were very different for key violence types. From a data user’s perspective, this presents challenges in determining which data source best meets their information needs.

This technical note explains that the very different results reflect the ACMS having a broader scope for exposure to family and domestic violence and a different age cut off (experiences before 18 years in the ACMS and 15 years in the PSS). The PSS having a more robust sampling method and a higher response rate is also likely to be important. To further assist users, the note also describes the statistical information available about each collection; and using examples, provides a guide to help data users interpret results from the two collections.

The PSS and ACMS were designed to provide national statistics relating to the extent and nature of child abuse in Australia. The PSS is used to examine child abuse as a risk factor for adult experiences of violence, while the ACMS is used to understand the five types and experiences of child maltreatment and the impacts of child maltreatment on the mental and physical health of victims.

The two surveys use similar behavioural-based questions to retrospectively collect reported experiences of physical and sexual abuse and who witnessed or were exposed to family and domestic violence as a child (Appendix 2). The conceptual basis for physical and sexual abuse is similar in both surveys. However, the conceptual basis for exposure to family and domestic violence is limited to physical violence in the PSS and is much broader in the ACMS, including physical violence, property damage, emotional and economic abuse. 

There are also scope differences between the two surveys with the ACMS collecting data for all experiences of maltreatment before the age of 18 years and the PSS collecting data for experiences before the age of 15 years. For sexual abuse, the ACMS has not yet published further disaggregated data that would enable a comparison with the PSS on rates of sexual abuse perpetrated by adults only. 

There are key differences in the sampling method and response rates between the ACMS and the PSS that will have an impact on statistical quality. The ABS can draw on its population address register to use a more robust sampling approach, using the information on the register to ensure appropriate sample composition by design. The PSS uses stratified probability sampling to do this, which involves dividing the population into smaller groups or strata and selecting a cluster of addresses within each stratum at random. Once the responses have been collected, the data are weighted to make the final sample representative of the population as a whole. 

In contrast, the ACMS used a sampling method referred to as ‘controlled quota sampling’. This method selects participants through random digit dialling (through a mobile phone sampling frame) and monitors response by age to ensure the final sample represents the age characteristics of the population. The ACMS method is a sound approach for a survey organisation that does not have access to an address register for the population.

The process of either quota sampling (ACMS) or weighting (PSS) is used to make the sample representative of the population with respect to key demographic variables. An age quota is used for ACMS while the PSS is weighted using sex, location and social marital status, in addition to age. The ABS stratification also uses predicted level of assault at an area-level to ensure areas with both high and low levels of experience with assault are represented in the sample.

Irrespective of the sampling method, there might still be bias in reported data due to participation in the survey being influenced by the survey subject matter. There is a risk that people who have experienced maltreatment or assault may be more, or less, likely to choose to participate in the survey than those who have not experienced maltreatment or assault. This is referred to as non-response bias, and in general surveys with a high response rate are less likely to suffer from non-response bias than surveys with a low response rate. 

The 4% response rate in the ACMS means that there is a higher likelihood of non-response bias impacting the reliability of the prevalence measures from that study. The combination of a more robust construction of the representative sample and the 52% response rate in the PSS means it is likely to produce more reliable statistics than the ACMS.

A table outlining the key design and scope differences of the two survey approaches is at Appendix 1 and a table outlining the key conceptual and definitional differences of child abuse is at Appendix 2.

Across Australia, people have provided their personal information to help build the picture of child abuse and we thank them for this.

The ACMS and PSS provide important national statistics relating to the extent and nature of child abuse in Australia. This technical note examines the different child abuse data available from the ACMS and the PSS. It specifically focuses on the differences in design and scope, concepts, and definitions and notes the strengths of each are aligned with their purpose.  

This Technical Note also helps users understand the reasons for key differences in the two survey results for the prevalence of key violence types in childhood. It notes that the ACMS is more comprehensive than the PSS prevalence measures, including children 15-17 years old, abuse perpetrated by other children, as well as emotional abuse and neglect. However, it also notes that the very low response rate in the ACMS means there is a higher likelihood of non-response bias impacting the reliability of the prevalence measures from that study. The more robust sampling method and higher response rate in the PSS means data users can have more confidence in the quality of the prevalence measures from this data source. 

This appendix provides details of the differences in how the ACMS and PSS define three violence types:

• physical abuse
• sexual abuse
• witnessing violence / exposure to domestic violence.

See Physical abuse and Sexual abuse.

A person aged 18 years or over.

See Partner.

Economic abuse occurs when a person is subjected to certain behaviours or actions that are aimed at preventing or controlling their access to economic resources, causing them emotional harm or fear. These behaviours are characterised in nature by their intent to manipulate, control, isolate or intimidate the person they are aimed at, and are generally repeated.

In the PSS, a person was considered to have experienced economic abuse if they reported they had experienced or been subjected to one or more of the following behaviours:

• Controlled or tried to control them from knowing about, having access to, or making decisions about household money
• Controlled or tried to control them from working or earning money
• Controlled or tried to control their income or assets
• Controlled or tried to control them from studying
• Deprived them of basic needs (e.g. food, shelter, sleep, assistive aids)
• Damaged, destroyed or stole any of their property
• Forced them to deposit income into their partner's bank account
• Prevented them from opening or having their own bank account
• Manipulated or forced them to cash in, sell or sign over any financial assets they own
• Pressured or forced them to sign financial documents
• Accrued significant debt on shared accounts, joint credit cards, or in their name
• Refused to contribute financially to them or the family, or would not provide enough money to cover living expenses
• Refused to pay child support payments when required to (previous partner only)
• Deliberately delayed property settlement after the relationship ended (previous partner only)

Emotional abuse occurs when a person is subjected to certain behaviours or actions that are aimed at preventing or controlling their behaviour, causing them emotional harm or fear. These behaviours are characterised in nature by their intent to manipulate, control, isolate or intimidate the person they are aimed at. They are generally repeated behaviours and include psychological, social, economic and verbal abuse.

In the PSS, a person was considered to have experienced emotional abuse if they reported they had been subjected to or experienced one or more of the following behaviours (that were repeated with the intent to prevent or control their behaviour and were intended to cause them emotional harm or fear):

• Controlled or tried to control them from contacting family, friends or community
• Controlled or tried to control them from using the telephone, internet or family car
• Controlled or tried to control where they went or who they saw
• Kept track of where they were and who they were with (e.g. constant phone calls, GPS tracking, monitoring through social media)
• Controlled or tried to control them from knowing, accessing or deciding about household money
• Controlled or tried to control them from working or earning money
• Controlled or tried to control their income or assets
• Controlled or tried to control them from studying
• Deprived them of basic needs such as food, shelter, sleep or assistive aids
• Damaged, destroyed or stole any of their property
• Constantly insulted them to make them feel ashamed, belittled or humiliated (e.g. put-downs)
• Shouted, yelled or verbally abused them to intimidate them
• Lied to their child/ren with the intent of turning their children against them
• Lied to other family members or friends with the intent of turning them against them
• Threatened to take their child/ren away from them
• Threatened to harm their child/ren
• Threatened to harm their other family members or friends
• Threatened to harm any of their pets
• Harmed any of their pets
• Threatened or attempted suicide

The definition of emotional abuse excludes:

• Cases of nagging (e.g. about spending too much money, or going out with friends) unless this nagging causes them emotional harm or fear
• Cases where a partner has restricted the person’s access to money, the car, or the internet as a result of the person’s substance abuse, gambling, or compulsive shopping issues, unless the person perceives that these restrictions cause them emotional harm or fear

Includes parents/step-parents, adult siblings/step-siblings, and other relatives or in-laws.

An ‘incident’ is an event or occurrence of assault, threat or abuse that an individual has encountered in their life.

Other known person includes family friend, acquaintance, neighbour and any other known person not otherwise categorised. 

Includes someone the person lives with, or lived with at some point, in a married or de facto relationship. This may also be described as a co-habiting partner.

For the witnessing parental violence topic, partner includes both co-habiting and non-cohabiting partners (refer to Witness violence before the age of 15 below for more details). 

The person(s) responsible for any acts of violence or abuse, as identified by the person who the acts were directed against.

Relationship to perpetrator refers to the relationship of the perpetrator(s) to the person at the time of the interview, as perceived by the person who the violence or abuse was directed against.

Any deliberate physical injury (including bruises) inflicted upon a child (under the age of 15 years) by an adult. Excludes discipline that accidentally resulted in injury and physical abuse by someone under the age of 18.

Any incident that involves the use of physical force, with the intent to harm or frighten a person. An assault may have occurred in conjunction with a robbery, and includes incidents that occurred on the job, where a person was assaulted in their line of work (e.g. assaulted while working as a security guard), at school, or overseas. Physical force includes:

• Pushed, grabbed or shoved
• Slapped
• Kicked, bitten or hit with a fist
• Hit with something else that could hurt
• Beaten
• Choked
• Stabbed with a knife
• Shot with a gun
• Any other type of physical assault

Physical assault excludes incidents that occurred during the course of play on a sporting field and incidents of physical assault that occurred before the age of 15 (these are defined as physical abuse).

Any verbal and/or physical intent (or suggestion of intent) to inflict physical harm, which was made face-to-face and which the person targeted believed was able and likely to be carried out. Physical threat includes:

• Threaten or attempt to hit with a fist or anything else that could hurt
• Threaten or attempt to stab with a knife
• Threaten or attempt to shoot with a gun
• Threaten or attempt to physically hurt in any other way

Physical threat excludes any incidents in which the threat was actually carried out (these are counted as assault) and incidents that occurred during the course of play on a sporting field.

The occurrence, attempt or threat of physical assault experienced since the age of 15.

For childhood experiences, refers to the number and proportion (rate) of persons in a given population who have experienced abuse or witnessed parental violence before the age of 15.

For adult experiences, refers to the number and proportion (rate) of persons in a given population who have experienced partner violence, emotional abuse or economic abuse after the age of 15.

Relative Standard Error (RSE) is the standard error expressed as a percentage of the estimate. For more information, refer to the Data processing section of the Personal Safety, Australia methodology.

Any act by an adult involving a child (under the age of 15 years) in sexual activity beyond their understanding or contrary to currently accepted community standards. Excludes sexual abuse by someone under the age of 18.

An act of a sexual nature carried out against a person's will through the use of physical force, intimidation or coercion, including any attempts to do this. This includes rape, attempted rape, aggravated sexual assault (assault with a weapon), indecent assault, penetration by objects, forced sexual activity that did not end in penetration and attempts to force a person into sexual activity. Incidents so defined would be an offence under State and Territory criminal law.

Sexual assault excludes incidents that occurred before the age of 15 (these are defined as sexual abuse). It also excludes unwanted sexual touching, which is defined as sexual harassment.

Any threat of acts of a sexual nature that were made face-to-face, and which the person targeted believed were able and likely to be carried out.

The occurrence, attempt or threat of sexual assault experienced since the age of 15.

Any incident involving the occurrence, attempt or threat of either sexual or physical assault. Violence can be broken down into two main categories, sexual violence and physical violence.

Includes whether a person ever saw or heard violence being directed at their mother/father by a partner before the age of 15. Violence in this context refers to physical assault only.

Mother includes step-mothers and female guardians or care-givers. The mother’s partner includes the person’s father/step-father, or other intimate partner (cohabiting or non-cohabiting).

Father includes step-fathers and male guardians or care-givers. The father’s partner includes the person’s mother/step-mother, or other intimate partner (cohabiting or non-cohabiting).