VICTIMS OF FAMILY AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE RELATED OFFENCES

This chapter presents data about victims of selected Family and Domestic Violence (FDV)-related offences¹. Victims of selected offences have been determined to be FDV-related where the relationship of offender to victim, as stored on police recording systems, falls within a specified family or domestic relationship² or where an FDV flag has been recorded, following a police investigation³.

Users should be aware that data about victims of FDV-related offences may be reflective of changes in reporting behaviour or police detection. As a result, caution should be exercised when interpreting these results, or making comparisons across the states and territories.


HOMICIDE AND RELATED OFFENCES

In 2016, there were 176 victims of FDV-related Homicide and related offences. The majority (82%) of FDV-related Homicides occurred at a residential location (145 victims). Two-thirds (68%) involved the use of a weapon (119 victims), most commonly a knife (69 victims).

Persons aged 45 years and over accounted for the largest proportion (39%) of victims of FDV-related Homicide in 2016 (69 victims). Females comprised over half (53%) of all FDV-related Homicide victims (94 victims), whereas males accounted for the majority (63%) of total Homicide victims recorded in Australia over the same period. (Tables 1 & 22)

Murder

In 2016, 42% of Murders recorded nationally were FDV-related (95 victims). Female victims of FDV-related Murder accounted for 65% of all female victims of Murder recorded during 2016 (52 victims).(Tables 1 & 22)


ASSAULT

From 2015 to 2016, the victimisation rate for FDV-related Assault⁴ rose in:

• the Australian Capital Territory (33%) to 240 victims per 100,000 persons
• Western Australia (12%) to 792 victims per 100,000 persons
• Tasmania (10%) to 255 victims per 100,000 persons

In contrast, the victimisation rate in the Northern Territory and New South Wales decreased over the same period (3% and 4%) to 1,635 and 383 victims per 100,000 persons respectively.

In South Australia, the victimisation rate for FDV-related Assault remained stable between 2015 and 2016, down slightly from 456 to 455 victims per 100,000 persons. (Table 22)

Across the selected states and territories⁴:

• At least two out of five Assaults recorded during 2016 were FDV-related, ranging from 41% in the Australian Capital Territory to 64% in Western Australia
• Females were more likely than males to be victims of FDV-related Assault
• Victims of FDV-related Assault were most likely to have been aged between 25 and 34 years, ranging from 25% in New South Wales to 33% in the Northern Territory. (Tables 6, 22 & 24)

The number of females who experienced FDV-related Assault within an intimate partner relationship was greater than the number of males across each of the selected states and territories, ranging from three times the number of males in the Australian Capital Territory to almost seven times the number of males in the Northern Territory.



Male victims of FDV-related Assault were most likely to have experienced victimisation by an 'Other family member' in New South Wales (47%) and South Australia (51%). This category includes, but is not limited to: parents, children, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and cousins.(Table 24)

In New South Wales, South Australia and the Northern Territory, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander victims of FDV-related Assault comprised between 65 and 75% of the total number of Assault victims in this population group. (Tables 16 & 27)



SEXUAL ASSAULT

There were 8,210 victims of FDV-related Sexual assault recorded by police in 2016, up 6% from 7,719 victims. This accounts for a third (36%) of all victims of Sexual assault recorded nationally over the same period.

Across the states and territories, the proportion of Sexual assaults that were FDV-related ranged from 28% in Western Australia and the Northern Territory to 44% in Tasmania. (Table 22)



The victimisation rate increased slightly at 34 victims per 100,000 persons nationally, up from 33 victims in the previous year.

Across the jurisdictions the victimisation rate ranged from a low of 18 victims of FDV-related sexual assault per 100,000 persons in Tasmania to a high of 43 victims per 100,000 persons in New South Wales and the Northern Territory. (Table 22)

The number of female victims of FDV-related Sexual assault was almost six times higher (6,942 victims) than the number of male victims (1,248 victims). (Table 4)

The disparity between the sexes differed by age group: ranging from two times more female victims aged between 0 and 9 years to twelve times more female victims aged between 20 and 24 years.

Males aged between 0 and 9 years comprised 42% of total male victims of FDV-related Sexual assault (523 victims), whilst the largest proportion of female victims (22%) were aged between 15 and 19 years (1,535 victims). (Table 25)

Across the selected states and territories (for which relationship data were available ⁵), Sexual assault victimisation was most likely to have occurred within an 'Other family member' relationship. Females were more likely than males to have experienced victimisation within an intimate partnership.

In 2016, the majority (89%) of FDV-related Sexual assaults occurred at a residential location (7,283 victims). (Table 25)


KIDNAPPING/ABDUCTION

There were 141 victims of FDV-related Kidnapping and abduction recorded nationally in 2016. Females comprised 90% of all victims of FDV-related Kidnapping and abduction recorded (127 victims). (Table 22)


Footnotes:
1. FDV-related offences refer to selected personal offences only. See Explanatory Notes paragraph 40.
2. For the purposes of this release, a specified family or domestic relationship includes Partner, Ex-partner, Parent or 'Other family member'. See Explanatory Notes paragraph 40.
3. Victims of in-scope offences that were experienced within an 'Other non-family'(includes carer and kinship relationships), or not specified relationship type may be included where the offence or incident had been determined be FDV- related by police (FDV flagged).
4. Within the Recorded Crime – Victims publication, nationally comparable data about victims of Assault are currently unavailable. Assault data are not published for Victoria and Queensland (See Explanatory Notes paragraphs 61–63). As a result, information about victims of FDV–related Assault are only presented for New South Wales, South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory.
5. Within the Recorded Crime – Victims publication, relationship of offender to victim data are not published for Western Australia. See Explanatory Notes paragraph 28.