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SURVEY DEFINITIONS

The 2012 PSS has maintained, where possible, the same concepts and definitions as used in the 2005 PSS and 1996 WSS.

In developing the concepts and definitions used in the WSS, the ABS was conscious that at the time there were generally no agreed or accepted standards for defining what constitutes violence. Assistance was sought from a specifically formed WSS Survey Advisory Group, which included members with legal and crime research backgrounds to determine the definitions of what constitutes violence and to describe related concepts. The definitions developed and used for the WSS were based on actions which would be considered offences under State and Territory criminal law. For example, physical violence was defined as the occurrence, attempt or threat of physical assault, where physical assault was the use of physical force with the intent to harm or frighten.

Given user requirements that, wherever possible, the data be comparable with the 2005 PSS and the 1996 WSS, these same definitions have been used for both the 2005 and the 2012 PSS. The retention of these definitions has been supported by the PSS Survey Advisory Groups convened for both the 2005 and 2012 PSS.

The Glossary provides detailed definitions for data items collected in the survey. A comprehensive list of data items and their response categories are available from the Downloads Tab.


DEFINITION OF VIOLENCE

For the purposes of this survey, Violence is defined as any incident involving the occurrence, attempt or threat of either physical or sexual assault experienced by a person since the age of 15. This is outlined in more detail below.

Consideration was given during the development of the 1996 WSS as to whether unwanted sexual touching and/or emotional abuse should be included in the definition of violence. It was decided to exclude them from the definition of violence because of the high degree of subjectivity associated with measuring these concepts, and because although some forms of unwanted sexual touching may in fact constitute a criminal offence, many would not. Unwanted sexual touching is collected in the survey under Sexual Harassment, for the definition of unwanted sexual touching, see the Glossary. The subsequent PSS have applied the same definitions to ensure comparability of data over time.

Each of these components of violence are defined as follows:

Physical assault involves the use of physical force with the intent to harm or frighten a person. Assaults may have occurred in conjunction with a robbery and includes incidents where a person was assaulted in their line of work (e.g. assaulted while working as a security guard). This includes being: pushed, grabbed or shoved; slapped; kicked, bitten or hit with a fist; hit with an object or something else that could hurt you; beaten; choked; stabbed; shot; or any other type of physical assault which involved the use of physical force with the intent to harm or frighten a person. Physical assault excludes incidents of sexual assault or threatened sexual assault which also involved physical assault, and excludes incidents that occurred during the course of play on a sporting field. Physical assault also excludes incidents of violence that occurred before the age of 15 - for the purposes of this survey, these are defined as Physical Abuse. If a person experienced physical assault and physical threat in the same incident, this was counted once only as a physical assault. If a person experienced sexual assault and physical assault in the same incident, this was counted once only as a sexual assault.

Physical threat is an attempt to inflict physical harm or a threat or suggestion of intent to inflict physical harm, that was made face-to-face where the person believes it was able to and likely to be carried out. Physical threat includes incidents where a person was threatened in their line of work. It excludes: any incident of violence in which the threat was actually carried out and incidents which occurred during the course of play on a sporting field. If a person experienced sexual threat and physical threat in the same incident, this was counted once only as a sexual threat.

Physical Violence involves any incidents of Physical Assault and/or Physical Threat.

Sexual Assault is an act of a sexual nature carried out against a person's will through the use of physical force, intimidation or coercion, and includes 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 unwanted sexual touching - for the purposes of this survey, this is defined as Sexual Harassment. Sexual assault also excludes incidents of violence that occurred before the age of 15 - for the purposes of this survey, these are defined as Sexual Abuse. If a person experienced sexual assault and sexual threat in the same incident, this was counted once only as a sexual assault. If an incident of sexual assault also involved physical assault or threats, this was counted once only as a sexual assault.

Sexual threat involves the threat of acts of a sexual nature, that were made face-to-face where the person believes it is able to and likely to be carried out. If a person experienced sexual assault and sexual threat in the same incident, this was counted once only as a sexual assault.

Sexual Violence involves any incidents of Sexual Assault and/or Sexual Threat.