4530.0 - Crime Victimisation, Australia, 2014-15 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 17/02/2016   
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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 2014-15? (Table 12)

During the 12 months prior to interview, an estimated 400,400 persons experienced at least one incident of physical assault in Australia (2.1% of the population).

Persons who experienced assault were:
    • equally likely to be male (2.3%) as female (2.0%)
    • more likely to be unmarried (3.5%) than married (1.2%)
    • more likely to be unemployed (5.1%) than employed (2.1%)
    • more likely to be living outside capital cities (2.6%) than in capital cities (1.9%)
    • more likely to be born in Australia (2.5%) than born overseas (1.3%).


EXPERIENCE OF MULTIPLE VICTIMISATION (Table 8)

Half (51%) of people who experienced physical assault experienced multiple incidents. Females who experienced physical assault were more likely than males to have experienced multiple incidents (54% compared with 48%).

Just under half (48%) of persons who experienced physical assault experienced a single incident in the 12 months prior to interview, with an estimated one in five (21%) experiencing two incidents. A further 30% experienced three or more incidents.


REPORTING RATE (Table 13)

In the 12 months prior to interview in 2014-15, an estimated 218,900 persons who experienced physical assault (55% of all persons who experienced physical assault) reported the most recent incident to police.


WHAT ELSE DO WE KNOW ABOUT PHYSICAL ASSAULT INCIDENTS? (Table 13)

This section discusses characteristics of the most recent incident for women and men who experienced physical assault in the 12 months prior to interview.

Incidents experienced by females

In the most recent incident of physical assault experienced by women:
    • the offender was more likely to be male (73%) than female (19%)
    • the offender was more likely to be someone known to the woman (74%) than to be a stranger (for 25%) and intimate partners (31%) were the most common offender type
    • the location of the incident was most likely to be the woman's home (42%)
    • for 8% of female victims, the main reason they did not report the incident to the police was because they considered it was a personal matter.


Incidents experienced by males

In the most recent incident of physical assault experienced by men:
    • the offender was more likely to be male (82%) than female (10%)
    • the offender was about as likely to be someone known to the man (52%) as to be a stranger (for 47%)
    • the location of the incident was most likely to be the man's place of work (27%)
    • for 18% of male victims, the main reason they did not report the incident to the police was because they considered the matter too trivial/unimportant and a further 8% considered it was a personal matter.


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.