Partner violence

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Statistics on partner violence, emotional and economic abuse, including socio-demographics, behaviours and relationship characteristics

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Reference period
2021-22 financial year
Released
22/11/2023
Next release Unknown
First release

Key statistics

An estimated 4.2 million adults (21%) have experienced partner violence or abuse since the age of 15, including:

  • 17% of women and 5.5% of men have experienced partner violence
  • 23% of women and 14% of men have experienced partner emotional abuse
  • 16% of women and 7.8% of men have experienced partner economic abuse

About this release

This release presents statistics about violence, emotional abuse, and economic abuse by a cohabiting partner, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) 2021-22 Personal Safety Survey (PSS).

The survey collected information from persons aged 18 years and over about the nature and extent of their experiences of violence.

Summary statistics on all topics collected in the PSS and prevalence rates for women at the state and territory level can be found in Personal Safety, Australia.

The ABS would like to thank those who participated in the survey and acknowledges the experiences of people affected by violence and abuse who are represented in this report.

Some people may find the contents of this report confronting or distressing. Support services are available: 1800RESPECT – 1800 737 732, Lifeline – 13 11 14.

COVID-19 context

The 2021-22 PSS was conducted between March 2021 and May 2022 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout this time, government policies were in place to reduce the spread of COVID-19, including stay-at-home orders, border control measures, limits on gatherings, and social distancing rules. The survey results should be understood and interpreted within the broader context of the wide-ranging changes to everyday life during the pandemic.

Data quality and interpretation

In the written commentary, where a rate is described as higher or lower than a comparative rate, or one group is described as more or less likely to have had an experience than another group, the difference has been found to be statistically significant at the 95% confidence level.

Figures marked with an asterisk (*) have a relative standard error of between 25% and 50% and should be used with caution.

While the PSS collects the same information from both men and women, detailed socio-demographic data for men who experienced partner violence and abuse and men’s data about experiences by a current partner are not sufficiently statistically reliable to include in the commentary. 

Summary statistics for men are available in the data downloads.

For more information about statistical significance, relative standard error, and men’s data quality, refer to the Personal Safety, Australia Methodology.

Definitions of partner violence and abuse

Cohabiting partner

Cohabiting partner in the PSS is used to describe someone the person lives with (current partner), or lived with at some point (previous partner) in a married or de facto relationship.

Partner violence

Violence is defined as 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.

For the full definition of physical and sexual violence refer to the Glossary.

Partner emotional abuse

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.

For the full list of behaviours, refer to the Emotional abuse chapter in this publication or the Glossary.

Partner economic abuse

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.

For the full list of behaviours, refer to the Economic abuse chapter in this publication or the Glossary.  

Some of the selected partner economic abuse behaviour types are collected in both emotional abuse and economic abuse topics. They are counted separately for each prevalence rate but are counted only once in the aggregated total. See the Glossary for the full list of behaviours.

For more definitions of the terms used throughout the commentary, refer to the Glossary.

Prevalence rates

An estimated 4.2 million people aged 18 years and over (21%) have experienced violence, emotional abuse, or economic abuse by a cohabiting partner since the age of 15.

Women were more likely than men to have experienced violence, emotional abuse, or economic abuse by a cohabiting partner since the age of 15.

Of the 9.9 million women, 27% (2.7 million) have experienced violence, emotional abuse, or economic abuse by a cohabiting partner, including:

  • 23% (2.3 million) who experienced partner emotional abuse 
  • 16% (1.6 million) who experienced partner economic abuse
  • 17% (1.7 million) who experienced partner violence, including 15% (1.5 million) who experienced physical violence and 6.2% (618,500) who experienced sexual violence

Of the 2.7 million women who have experienced violence, emotional or economic abuse by a cohabiting partner, half (50%) experienced both violence and abuse.

Of the 9.5 million men, 15% (1.5 million) have experienced violence, emotional abuse, or economic abuse by a cohabiting partner, including:

  • 14% (1.3 million) who experienced partner emotional abuse
  • 7.8% (745,000) who experienced partner economic abuse
  • 5.5% (526,600) who experienced partner violence (physical and/or sexual)

Of the 1.5 million men who have experienced violence, emotional or economic abuse by a cohabiting partner, 30% experienced both violence and abuse.

  1. Refers to a partner the person lives with, or has lived with at some point, in a married or de facto relationship.
  2. Refers to the number of men/women who have experienced cohabiting partner violence/emotional abuse/economic abuse since the age of 15, expressed as a percentage of all men/women aged 18 years and over.

Changes over time

12-month national prevalence rates in 2021-22 have been compared with prevalence rates from earlier surveys (2016, 2012 and 2005) to measure changes over time.

Where the rate is described as having increased or decreased, this has been found to be statistically significant at the 95% confidence level.

Women

For women, the 12-month prevalence rate of cohabiting partner violence decreased from 1.7% in 2016 to 0.9% in 2021-22. This was driven by a decrease in the rate of physical violence by a cohabiting partner, from 1.3% in 2016 to 0.7% in 2021-22.

The 12-month prevalence rate of cohabiting partner emotional abuse decreased from 4.8% in 2016 to 3.9% in 2021-22.

Women aged 18 years and over, Cohabiting partner violence, emotional abuse and economic abuse, 12-month prevalence rate, 2005 to 2021-22
  2005201220162021-22
Total violence(a)(b)1.5%(b)1.5%(b)1.7%0.9%
 Sexual violence0.4%0.3%0.5%0.4%
 Physical violence(b)1.2%(b)1.4%(b)1.3%0.7%
Emotional abuse(c)na(b)4.7%(b)4.8%3.9%
Economic abusenanana2.3%
  1. Where a woman has experienced both sexual and physical violence by a partner, they are counted separately for each type of violence they experienced but are counted only once in the aggregated total.
  2. The difference between the prevalence rate for that year and the 2021-22 prevalence rate is statistically significant.
  3. While the data is comparable across the time series, the list of emotional abuse behaviours asked about in the survey has expanded over time.

Na not available.

Men

For men, the 12-month prevalence rate of cohabiting partner emotional abuse decreased from 4.2% in 2016 to 2.5% in 2021-22.

Men aged 18 years and over, Cohabiting partner emotional abuse and economic abuse, 12-month prevalence rate, 2005 to 2021-22
 2005201220162021-22
Emotional abuse(a)na2.8%(b)4.2%2.5%
Economic abusenanana*0.9%
  1. While the data is comparable across the time series, the list of emotional abuse behaviours asked about in the survey has expanded over time.
  2. The difference between the prevalence rate for that year and the 2021-22 prevalence rate is statistically significant.

Na not available.
* Estimate has a relative standard error of 25% to 50% and should be used with caution.

The 12-month prevalence rate of cohabiting partner violence for men in 2021-22 has a high relative standard error and is considered too unreliable to measure changes over time. However, the cohabiting partner violence prevalence rate for men remained stable between 2012 (0.6%) and 2016 (0.8%).

Men aged 18 years and over, Cohabiting partner violence, 12-month prevalence rate, 2005 to 2021-22
 2005201220162021-22
Partner violence(a)*0.4%0.6%0.8%np
  1. The difference between the prevalence rate for that year and the 2016 prevalence rate is statistically significant.

* Estimate has a relative standard error of 25% to 50% and should be used with caution.
np not published in the commentary as the estimate has a relative standard error greater than 50% and is considered too unreliable for general use.

Socio-demographic characteristics

This section compares two-year prevalence rates of women from different socio-demographic groups and identifies those who were more likely to have experienced partner violence or abuse. Two-year violence prevalence rates are used instead of 12-month rates to allow for additional analysis.

The socio-demographic information reflects the person’s characteristics at time of survey, which may have changed since the violence or abuse occurred.

Age

Women aged 35 to 54 years were more likely to have experienced emotional abuse (7.7%) and economic abuse (4.5%) in the last two years than women in other age groups.

Women aged 18 to 34 years (2.6%) and those aged 35 to 54 years (2.2%) were more likely to have experienced partner violence than women aged 55 years and over (0.6%).

  1. Refers to the number of women in each age group who have experienced partner violence, emotional abuse and economic abuse in the last two years, expressed as a percentage of all women in each age group.

Disability

Women with disability were more likely than women without disability to have experienced:

  • emotional abuse by a partner (7.0% compared with 4.6%)
  • economic abuse by a partner (4.6% compared with 2.4%)

Women with disability were about as likely to have experienced partner violence (2.2%) as women without disability (1.5%).

Family composition

Compared with women in other household types, women living in a one-parent family with children under 15 years of age were the most likely to have experienced:

  • violence by a partner (9.3%)
  • emotional abuse by a partner (18%)
  • economic abuse by a partner (17%)
Women aged 18 years and over, Two-year partner violence, emotional abuse and economic abuse prevalence rates(a), By family composition
    ViolenceEmotional abuseEconomic abuse
Family(b)1.7%5.7%3.3%
 Couple family1.0%5.2%2.1%
  Couple family with children1.1%5.3%2.3%
   Couple family with children under 15 years1.0%6.0%2.6%
   Couple family with no children under 15 years(c)*1.8%3.6%*1.5%
  Couple family with no children*0.8%4.9%1.8%
 One-parent family(d)6.1%10.2%11%
  One-parent family with children under 15 years9.3%17.9%17.3%
Non-family(e)1.7%3.5%2.3%
 Lone person household1.7%3.6%2.1%
  1. Refers to the number of women in each family composition who have experienced partner violence, emotional abuse and economic abuse in the last two years, expressed as a percentage of all women in each family composition.
  2. Includes other family.
  3. Refers to families with children who are all dependent students aged between 15 and 24 years and/or non-dependent children.
  4. Includes one-parent family with no children under 15.
  5. Includes group household and non-family member in a household with one or more families.

* Estimate has a relative standard error of 25% to 50% and should be used with caution.

Housing – Tenure type

Women who were renting were more likely than women who owned their home to have experienced:

  • violence by a partner (3.5% compared with 1.1%)  
  • emotional abuse by a partner (7.3% compared with 4.8%)  
  • economic abuse by a partner (5.5% compared with 2.3%) 

Capital city/balance of state

Women living in a capital city were about as likely as women living outside of a capital city to have experienced:

  • violence by a partner (1.9% compared with 1.4%)
  • emotional abuse by a partner (5.1% compared with 5.8%)
  • economic abuse by a partner (2.9% compared with 3.3%)

Education

Women with non-school qualifications (such as a certificate, diploma or degree) were more likely than women without non-school qualifications to have experienced:

  • emotional abuse by a partner (6.1% compared with 3.4%)
  • economic abuse by a partner (3.5% compared with 2.0%)

The rate of partner violence was similar for women with and without non-school qualifications (1.8% compared with 1.4%).

Financial stress

Women living in households that were unable to raise $2,000 within a week for something important were more likely than those in households that could raise the money to have experienced:

  • violence by a partner (4.9% compared with 1.3%)
  • emotional abuse by a partner (9.3% compared with 4.9%)
  • economic abuse by a partner (7.7% compared with 2.5%)

Women living in households that experienced one or more cash flow problems in the last 12 months were more likely than those in households that did not experience cash flow problems to have experienced:

  • violence by a partner (6.2% compared with 1.2%)
  • emotional abuse by a partner (13% compared with 4.3%)
  • economic abuse by a partner (9.3% compared with 2.2%)

Violence

In the PSS, violence is defined as any incident involving the occurrence, attempt, or threat of either sexual or physical assault. 

The term cohabiting partner is used to describe someone who the person lives with, or lived with at some point, in a married or de facto relationship.

  • Current partner - A partner who the person currently lives with (at the time of the survey) in a married or de facto relationship.
  • Previous partner - A partner who the person lived with at some point in a married or de facto relationship, whom they are now (at the time of survey) separated, divorced or widowed from.

Experiences of partner violence since the age of 15, By type of partner(a)

Row 1: 9.9m women, 9.5m men live in Australia. Row 2: 1.7m women (17%), 526,600 men (5.5%) experienced partner violence. 8.2m women (83%), 9m men (94%) did not experience partner violence. Row 3: 173,300 women (1.7%) experienced current partner violence; 1.5m women (16%) and 425,400 men (4.5%) experienced previous partner violence.

The flow chart’s top level shows that 9.9 million women and 9.5 million men live in Australia.

The second level shows that since the age of 15, 1.7 million women (17%) and 526,600 men (5.5%) experienced partner violence. The second level also shows that since the age of 15, 8.2 million women (83%) and 9 million men (94%) did not experience partner violence.

The third level shows that since the age of 15, 173,300 women (1.7%) experienced violence by current partner. The third level also shows that since the age of 15, 1.5 million women (16%) and 425,400 men (4.5%) experienced violence by previous partner.

Footnotes:

  1. Refers to a partner the person lives with, or has lived with at some point, in a married or de facto relationship.
  2. Where a person has experienced violence by both a current partner and a previous partner they are included only once in the experienced partner violence aggregate.
  3. Male experiences of current partner violence is not shown due to a high relative standard error. More data can be found in the data downloads.

Approximately 17% of women (1.7 million) have experienced violence by a cohabiting partner since the age of 15, including:

  • 1.7% (173,300) by a current partner
  • 16% (1.5 million) by a previous partner

An estimated 5.5% of men (526,600) have experienced violence by a cohabiting partner, including 4.5% (425,400) by a previous partner.

Prevalence rates by sex of perpetrator

Both women and men were more likely to have experienced partner violence since the age of 15 by a person of the opposite sex.

For women:

  • 17% (1.6 million) experienced partner violence by a male
  • *0.3% (*28,300) experienced partner violence by a female

Approximately 5.2% of men (498,000) have experienced partner violence by a female.

This section presents statistics about the characteristics of partner violence experienced since the age of 15, separately for current partner violence and the most recently violent previous partner.

Characteristic information should not be summed together to create an aggregate total.

Frequency

Of the 173,300 women who have experienced violence by their current partner, 41% experienced more than one incident of violence.

Of the 1.5 million women who have experienced violence by a previous partner, 67% experienced more than one incident of violence.

Approximately 17% of women who experienced violence by a previous partner experienced violence most of the time and 3.8% experienced violence all of the time.

Of the 425,400 men who have experienced violence by a previous partner, 52% experienced more than one incident of violence.

Length of relationship before first incident occurred

Of the 173,300 women who have experienced violence by their current partner:

  • 24% were in the relationship for less than 2 years before the first incident of violence occurred
  • 34% were in the relationship for more than 10 years before the first incident of violence occurred

Of the 1.5 million women who have experienced violence by a previous partner:

  • 40% were in the relationship for less than 2 years before the first incident of violence occurred
  • 10% were in the relationship for more than 10 years before the first incident of violence occurred
  • 11% did not experience violence until after the relationship ended

Of the 425,400 men who have experienced violence by a previous partner:

  • 71% were in the relationship for less than 10 years before the first incident of violence occurred
  • 9.8% were in the relationship for longer than 10 years before the first incident of violence occurred
  • 25% did not experience violence until after the relationship ended

Disclosure and support-seeking

Disclosure and support seeking

Of the 173,300 women who have experienced violence by their current partner:

  • 68% have told someone about the violence
  • 54% have sought advice or support
  • 35% have sought advice or support from a formal source
  • 35% have sought advice or support from an informal source

Of the 1.5 million women who have experienced violence by a previous partner:

  • 85% have told someone about the violence
  • 63% have sought advice or support
  • 44% have sought advice or support from a formal source
  • 46% have sought advice or support from an informal source

Women who experienced violence by a previous partner commonly sought advice or support from:

  • Friend or family member (45%)
  • Police (21%)
  • Counsellor or support worker (20%)
  1. Support or advice may have been sought from more than one source.
  2. Proportions are women who accessed each support service over women who experienced violence by a previous partner.

Of the 425,400 men who have experienced violence by a previous partner:

  • 86% have told someone about the violence
  • 64% have sought advice or support

Reasons for not seeking advice or support

Of the 78,100 women who have experienced violence by their current partner and have not sought advice or support, common reasons for not doing so were:

  • feeling they could deal with it themselves (51%)
  • believing it was not serious enough to seek help (43%)
  • not wanting or needing help (23%)

Of the 573,600 women who have experienced violence by a previous partner and did not seek advice or support, common reasons for not doing so were:

  • feeling they could deal with it themselves (37%)
  • shame or embarrassment (29%)
  • believing it was not serious enough to seek help (25%)

Police reporting and restraining orders

Police reporting

Of the 173,300 women who have experienced violence by their current partner, 79% have never told the police about the violence.

Of the 1.5 million women who have experienced violence by a previous partner:

  • 68% have never told the police about the violence
  • 32% have contacted the police, including 29% who contacted the police themselves and 3.5% who said the police were contacted by someone else

Of the 425,400 men who have experienced violence by a previous partner, 73% have never told the police about the violence.

Whether perpetrator went to court

Of the 489,300 women who have experienced violence by a previous partner and have told the police, about one third (34% or 164,200) said the perpetrator was charged. Of these women, most (88%) said the perpetrator went to court as a result of the charges.

Restraining order

About one-fifth (20% or 310,600) of all women who experienced violence by a previous partner had a restraining order issued against the violent partner. Of these women:

  • 47% experienced further incidents of violence after the restraining order was issued
  • 71% experienced controlling or emotionally harmful incidents during the period covered by the order

Anxiety and fear for personal safety and time off work

Anxiety and fear for personal safety

Of the 173,300 women who have experienced violence by their current partner, 49% experienced anxiety or fear for their personal safety as a result of the violence.

Of the 1.5 million women who have experienced violence by a previous partner, 69% experienced anxiety or fear for their personal safety as a result of the violence.

Approximately 36% of women who experienced violence by a previous partner experienced anxiety or fear for their personal safety all or most of the time.

Of the 425,400 men who have experienced violence by a previous partner, 42% experienced anxiety or fear for their personal safety as a result of the violence.

Time off work

Of the 1.5 million women who have experienced violence by a previous partner, 23% took time off work as a result of the violence.

Whether violence witnessed by children or experienced during pregnancy

For previous partner violence, questions about experiencing violence during pregnancy or whether children witnessed violence were only asked of people who experienced violence while living with their previous partner. People who did not experience violence while living with their previous partner (only after the relationship ended) were not asked the questions.

Whether violence occurred during pregnancy

An estimated 123,800 women who experienced violence by their current partner were pregnant at some point during the relationship. Of these women, *15% experienced violence during their pregnancy.

An estimated 791,100 women who experienced violence by a previous partner while living together were pregnant at some point during the relationship. Of these women, 42% experienced violence during their pregnancy, including 17% who experienced violence for the first time during their pregnancy.

Whether violence seen or heard by children

Of the 90,100 women who experienced violence by their current partner and had children in their care when the violence occurred, 49% reported that the children had seen or heard the violence.

Of the 701,800 women who experienced violence by a previous partner while living together and had children in their care when the violence occurred, 69% reported that the children had seen or heard the violence.

Of the 119,200 men who experienced violence by a previous partner while living together and had children in their care when the violence occurred, 48% reported that the children had seen or heard the violence.

Separations

For previous partner violence, questions about temporary and final separations were only asked of people who experienced violence while living with their previous partner. People who did not experience violence while living with their previous partner (only after the relationship ended) were not asked the questions.

Temporary separations from current partner

Of the 173,300 women who experienced violence by their current partner, 27% had temporarily separated from their partner, including:

  • 17% who temporarily separated once
  • 11% who temporarily separated more than once

Of the 47,200 women who had temporarily separated from their current partner, the most common reasons for returning to their partner include:

  • Wanted to try and work things out or resolve problems with their partner (91%)
  • Still loved their partner (55%)

Approximately half (48%) of women who temporarily separated from their current partner moved out of home during at least one temporary separation.

Never temporarily separated from current partner

Approximately 121,900 women who have experienced violence by their current partner have never temporarily separated. More than half of these women (57%) reported that they have wanted to leave their partner.

Of the 68,900 women who have wanted to leave their violent current partner:

  • 50% reported their main reason for wanting to leave was their partner’s controlling or emotionally harmful behaviour towards them
  • 41% reported their main reason for being unable to leave was because they wanted to try and work things out or had resolved problems with their partner

Temporary separations from previous partner

Of the 1.4 million women who experienced violence by a previous partner while living together, 43% had temporarily separated, including:

  • 16% who temporarily separated once
  • 26% who temporarily separated more than once

Of the 583,800 women who temporarily separated from their previous partner, the most common reasons for returning to their partner include:

  • Wanted to try and work things out (57%)
  • Partner promised to stop assaults and/or threats (51%)
  • Still loved their partner (45%)
  1. More than one reason may have been reported.

Approximately two-thirds of women (63% or 369,400) who temporarily separated from their previous partner moved out of home during at least one temporary separation.

Of the 369,400 women who moved away from the home during any temporary separations, 34% reported that the violence occurred while temporarily separated, including 14% who reported that the violence increased while temporarily separated.

The most common places women stayed during their temporary separation(s) from a violent previous partner include: 

  • Friend or relative’s house (78%)
  • Relocated to a new house or rental property (28%)
  • A motel, hotel, serviced apartment or caravan park (12%)

Final separation from previous partner

Of the 1.4 million women who experienced violence by a previous partner while living together:

  • 34% said the main reason the relationship ended was their partner’s controlling or emotionally harmful behaviour towards them
  • 33% said the main reason the relationship ended was their partner’s assaults or threats to them or children in their care

An estimated 64% of women (866,700) who experienced violence by a previous partner while living together moved out of home when the relationship finally ended. This includes 55% where only the woman moved out of home and 8.3% where both the woman and her partner moved out of home.

  1. Estimate has a relative standard error of 25% to 50% and should be used with caution.

Of the 866,700 women who moved out of the home when the relationship finally ended, the most common places stayed included:

  • Friend or relative’s house (67%)
  • Relocated to a new house or rental property (47%)

Note: women may have stayed in multiple locations after the relationship ended.

About two-thirds of women (69% or 596,700) who moved out of the home when the relationship with their violent previous partner finally ended left property or assets behind.

Emotional abuse

In the PSS, emotional abuse is defined as behaviours or actions that are aimed at preventing or controlling a person’s 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.

The term cohabiting partner is used to describe someone who the person lives with, or lived with at some point, in a married or de facto relationship.

  • Current partner - A partner who the person currently lives with (at the time of the survey) in a married or de facto relationship.

  • Previous partner - A partner who the person lived with at some point in a married or de facto relationship, whom they are now (at the time of survey) separated, divorced, or widowed from.

Experiences of partner emotional abuse since the age of 15, By type of partner(a)

Row 1: 9.9m women, 9.5m men live in Australia. Row 2: 2.3m women (23%), 1.3m men (14%) experienced partner emotional abuse. 7.6m women (77%), 8.2m men (86%) did not experience partner emotional abuse. Row 3: 431,000 women (4.3%), 281,200 men (2.9%) experienced current partner emotional abuse; 1.9m women (20%) and 1.1m men (11%) experienced previous partner emotional abuse.

The flow chart’s top level shows that 9.9 million women and 9.5 million men live in Australia.

The second level shows that since the age of 15, 2.3 million women (23%) and 1.3 million men (14%) experienced partner emotional abuse. The second level also shows that since the age of 15, 7.6 million women (77%) and 8.2 million men (86%) did not experience partner emotional abuse.

The third level shows that since the age of 15, 431,000 women (4.3%) and 281,200 men (2.9%) experienced emotional abuse by current partner. The third level also shows that since the age of 15, 1.9 million women (20%) and 1.1 million men (11%) experienced emotional abuse by previous partner.

Footnotes:

  1. Refers to a partner the person lives with, or has lived with at some point, in a married or de facto relationship.
  2. Where a person has experienced emotional abuse by both a current partner and a previous partner they are included only once in the experienced partner emotional abuse aggregate.

Approximately 23% of women (2.3 million) have experienced emotional abuse by a cohabiting partner since the age of 15, including:

  • 4.3% (431,000) by their current partner
  • 20% (1.9 million) by a previous partner, including 269,200 who have experienced emotional abuse by more than one previous partner

Approximately 14% of men (1.3 million) have experienced emotional abuse by a cohabiting partner, including:

  • 2.9% (281,200) by their current partner
  • 11% (1.1 million) by a previous partner

This section presents statistics about the characteristics of partner emotional abuse experienced since the age of 15, separately for current partner emotional abuse and the most recent emotionally abusive previous partner.

Characteristic information should not be summed together to create an aggregate total.

Type of behaviours

For this publication, the emotional abuse behaviours have been classified into three broad groups: controlling social behaviours, controlling economic behaviours and threatening or degrading behaviours. See the table below for classification of each behaviour.

For data about specific behaviour types refer to the data downloads.

Partner emotional abuse behaviour classification
Controlling social behavioursControlling economic behavioursThreatening or degrading behaviours
  • 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 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 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 them 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

 

Of the 431,000 women who experienced emotional abuse by their current partner:

  • 85% experienced threatening or degrading behaviours
  • 37% experienced controlling social behaviours
  • 33% experienced controlling economic behaviours

Of the 1.9 million women who experienced emotional abuse by a previous partner:

  • 90% experienced threatening or degrading behaviours
  • 63% experienced controlling social behaviours
  • 59% experienced controlling economic behaviours

Of the 1.1 million men who experienced emotional abuse by a previous partner:

  • 87% experienced threatening or degrading behaviours
  • 56% experienced controlling social behaviours
  • 51% experienced controlling economic behaviours

Number of behaviours

The PSS asks people about their experiences of twenty selected emotional abuse behaviours. The number of emotional abuse behaviours experienced is not a measure of the number of times a person experienced emotional abuse, as people may have experienced multiple incidents of the same behaviour type but are only counted once for the behaviour.

Number of behaviours

Of the 431,000 women who experienced emotional abuse by their current partner:

  • 56% experienced more than one behaviour
  • the mean number of behaviours experienced was 2.7

Of the 1.9 million women who experienced emotional abuse by a previous partner:

  • 83% experienced more than one behaviour, including 22% who experienced ten or more behaviours
  • the mean number of behaviours experienced was 6.0

Of the 1.1 million men who experienced emotional abuse by a previous partner:

  • 76% experienced more than one behaviour
  • the mean number of behaviours experienced was 4.4

Frequency

Of the 431,000 women who have experienced emotional abuse by their current partner:

  • 90% experienced more than one incident
  • 8.0% experienced emotional abuse all or most of the time
  • 32% experienced emotional abuse some of the time

Of the 1.9 million women who have experienced emotional abuse by a previous partner:

  • 94% experienced more than one incident
  • 43% experienced emotional abuse all or most of the time
  • 36% experienced emotional abuse some of the time

Of the 1.1 million men who have experienced emotional abuse by a previous partner:

  • 96% experienced more than one incident
  • 27% experienced emotional abuse all or most of the time
  • 41% experienced emotional abuse some of the time

Length of relationship before first incident occurred

Of the 431,000 women who have experienced emotional abuse by their current partner:

  • 26% were in the relationship for less than 2 years before the first incident of emotional abuse occurred
  • 26% were in the relationship for longer than 10 years before the first incident of emotional abuse occurred

Of the 1.9 million women who have experienced emotional abuse by a previous partner:

  • 47% were in the relationship for less than 2 years before the first incident of emotional abuse occurred
  • 12% were in the relationship for longer than 10 years before the first incident of emotional abuse occurred
  • 7.9% did not experience emotional abuse until after the relationship ended

Of the 1.1 million men who have experienced emotional abuse by a previous partner:

  • 28% were in the relationship for less than two years before the first incident of violence occurred
  • 10% did not experience emotional abuse until after the relationship ended

Whether emotionally abusive partner assaulted or threatened assault

Of the 431,000 women who experienced emotional abuse by their current partner, 24% said they were assaulted or threatened with assault by the emotionally abusive partner.

Of the 1.9 million women who experienced emotional abuse by a previous partner, 47% said they were assaulted or threatened with assault by the emotionally abusive partner.

Of the 1.1 million men who experienced emotional abuse by a previous partner, 25% said they were assaulted or threatened with assault by the emotionally abusive partner.

Anxiety and fear

Of the 431,000 women who experienced emotional abuse by their current partner, 67% experienced anxiety or fear due to the emotional abuse.

Of the 1.9 million women who experienced emotional abuse by a previous partner, 73% experienced anxiety or fear due to the emotional abuse.

Of the 1.1 million men who experienced emotional abuse by a previous partner, 45% experienced anxiety or fear due to emotional abuse.

Economic abuse

In the PSS, economic abuse is defined as behaviours or actions that are aimed at preventing or controlling a person’s 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.

The term cohabiting partner is used to describe someone who the person lives with, or lived with at some point, in a married or de facto relationship.

  • Current partner - A partner who the person currently lives with (at the time of the survey) in a married or de facto relationship.
  • Previous partner - A partner who the person lived with at some point in a married or de facto relationship, whom they are now (at the time of survey) separated, divorced, or widowed from.

Experiences of partner economic abuse since the age of 15, By type of partner(a)

Row 1: 9.9m women, 9.5m men live in Australia. Row 2: 1.6m women (16%), 745,000 men (7.8%) experienced partner economic abuse. 8.3m women (84%), 8.8m men (92%) did not experience partner economic abuse. Row 3: 173,900 women (1.8%), *159,700 men (*5.7%) experienced current partner economic abuse; 1.5m women (15%) and 636,000 men (6.7%) experienced previous partner economic abuse.

The flow chart’s top level shows that 9.9 million women and 9.5 million men live in Australia.

The second level shows that since the age of 15, 1.6 million women (16%) and 745,000 million men (7.8%) experienced partner economic abuse. The second level also shows that since the age of 15, 8.3 million women (84%) and 8.8 million men (92%) did not experience partner economic abuse.

The third level shows that since the age of 15, 173,900 women (1.8%) and *159,700 men (*5.7%) experienced economic abuse by current partner. The third level also shows that since the age of 15, 1.5 million women (15%) and 636,000 million men (6.7%) experienced economic abuse by previous partner.

Footnotes:

  1. Refers to a partner the person lives with, or has lived with at some point, in a married or de facto relationship.
  2. Where a person has experienced economic abuse by both a current partner and a previous partner they are included only once in the experienced partner economic abuse aggregate.

Approximately 16% of women (1.6 million) have experienced economic abuse by a cohabiting partner since the age of 15, including:

  • 1.8% (173,900) by a current partner
  • 15% (1.5 million) by a previous partner

An estimated 7.8% of men (745,000) have experienced economic abuse by a cohabiting partner since the age of 15, including:

  • *1.7% (*159,700) by a current partner
  • 6.7% (636,000) by a previous partner

This section presents statistics about the characteristics of partner economic abuse experienced since the age of 15 separately for current partner economic abuse and the most recently economic abusive previous partner.

Characteristic information should not be summed together to create an aggregate total.

Types of behaviours

For this publication, the economic abuse behaviours have been classified into three broad groups: economic restriction behaviours, economic exploitation behaviours, and economic sabotage behaviours. See the table below for classification of each behaviour.

For data about specific behaviour types refer to the data downloads.

Partner economic abuse behaviour classification
Economic restriction behavioursEconomic exploitation behavioursEconomic sabotage 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)
  • Prevented them from opening or having their own bank account
  • Forced them to deposit income into their partner's 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
  • Racked up significant debt on shared accounts, joint credit cards or in their name
  • Damaged, destroyed or stole any of their property
  • 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

 

Of the 173,900 women who experienced economic abuse by their current partner:

  • 75% experienced economic restriction behaviours
  • 34% experienced economic sabotage behaviours
  • 23% experienced economic exploitation behaviours

Of the 1.5 million women who experienced economic abuse by a previous partner:

  • 78% experienced economic sabotage behaviours
  • 69% experienced economic restriction behaviours
  • 42% experienced economic exploitation behaviours

Of the 636,000 men who experienced economic abuse by a previous partner:

  • 69% experienced economic sabotage behaviours
  • 61% experienced economic restriction behaviours
  • 51% experienced economic exploitation behaviours

Number of behaviours

The PSS asks people about their experiences of twelve selected economic abuse behaviours by their current partner and fourteen by a previous partner. The number of economic abuse behaviours experienced is not a measure of the number of times a person experienced economic abuse, as people may have experienced multiple incidents of the same behaviour type but are only counted once for the behaviour.

Of the 173,900 women who experienced economic abuse by their current partner:

  • 43% experienced more than one behaviour
  • the mean number of behaviours experienced was 1.8

Of the 1.5 million women who experienced economic abuse by a previous partner:

  • 74% experienced more than one behaviour, including 5.5% who experienced ten or more behaviours
  • the mean number of behaviours experienced was 3.7

Of the 636,000 men who experienced economic abuse by a previous partner:

  • 67% experienced between one and three behaviours
  • 31% experienced four or more behaviours
  • the mean number of behaviours experienced was 3.0

Glossary

Show all

Advice or support

‘Advice or support’ means listening to the person, being understanding, making suggestions, giving information, referring the person to appropriate services, or offering further help of any kind. It includes contacting or visiting any source of help from a friend to a professional organisation, so long as the person perceived that they were seeking advice or support.

Cohabiting partner

See Partner.

Current partner

A partner the person currently (at the time of the survey) lives with in a married or de facto relationship.

Economic abuse

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)

The PSS collected information about economic abuse experienced by a cohabiting partner only.

Emotional abuse

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

The PSS collected information about emotional abuse experienced by a cohabiting partner only.

Disability

Any limitation, restriction or impairment which restricts everyday activities and has lasted, or is likely to last, for at least six months.

Partner

Includes someone the person lives with (current partner) or lived with at some point (previous partner) in a married or de facto relationship. This may also be described as a cohabiting partner.

Physical assault

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).

Physical threat

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.

Physical violence

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

Prevalence

Refers to the number and proportion (rate) of persons in a given population that have experienced the selected type of violence/abuse within a specified time frame – usually in the last 12 or 24 months (prior to the survey) and since the age of 15.

Previous partner

Someone who the person lived with at some point in a married or de facto relationship, whom they are now separated, divorced or widowed from.

Relative Standard Error

Relative Standard Error (RSE) is the standard error expressed as a percentage of the estimate.

Sexual assault

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.

Sexual threat

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.

Sexual violence

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

Violence

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.

Data downloads

Partner violence and abuse prevalence (Table 1)

National statistics on the prevalence of partner violence, emotional abuse, and economic abuse, for men and women.

Data files
Download xlsx [49.6 KB]

Women’s experiences of partner violence and abuse, socio-demographic characteristics (Tables 2 to 4)

Socio-demographic characteristic statistics for women who experienced partner violence, emotional abuse, and economic abuse.

Data files
Download xlsx [95.41 KB]

Women’s experiences of partner violence (Tables 5 to 19)

Characteristics of current partner and previous partner violence for women, including timeframe, police contact, support-seeking, and separations.

Data files
Download xlsx [191.98 KB]

Women’s experiences of partner emotional abuse (Tables 20 to 21)

Characteristics of current partner and previous partner emotional abuse for women, including behaviours experienced and timeframe of abuse.

Data files
Download xlsx [63.7 KB]

Women’s experiences of partner economic abuse (Tables 22 to 23)

Characteristics of current partner and previous partner economic abuse for women, including behaviours experienced and timeframe of abuse.

Data files
Download xlsx [57.03 KB]

Men’s experiences of partner violence (Tables 24 to 27)

Characteristics of previous partner violence for men, including timeframe, police contact and support-seeking.

Data files
Download xlsx [73.97 KB]

Men’s experiences of partner emotional abuse (Table 28)

Characteristics of previous partner emotional abuse for men, including behaviours experienced and timeframe of abuse.

Data files
Download xlsx [47.11 KB]

Men’s experiences of partner economic abuse (Tables 29)

Characteristics of previous partner economic abuse for men, including behaviours experienced and timeframe of abuse.

Data files
Download xlsx [46.99 KB]

All data downloads

All Partner violence data download files. 

Data files
Download zip [502.05 KB]

Methodology

Personal Safety, Australia methodology, 2021-22 financial year

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