CONTRIBUTION OF ALCOHOL OR ANY OTHER SUBSTANCE TO SELECTED PERSONAL CRIMES

Since the 2010-11 Crime Victimisation Survey, persons who experienced physical assault and face-to-face threatened assault have been asked whether they believed alcohol or any other substance contributed to their most recent incident of assault. ^{Endnote 1}

PHYSICAL ASSAULT: Contribution of alcohol or any other substance to the most recent incident (Table 16)

An estimated 56% of persons (246,100) who experienced physical assault believed that alcohol or any other substance contributed to their most recent incident. This included:

• 59% of men who experienced physical assault
• 55% of women who experienced physical assault.

Alcohol or any other substance was believed to have contributed to the most recent incident for the majority of persons experiencing physical assault across all age groups.

A majority of persons believed that alcohol or any other substance contributed to the most recent physical assault when the offender was a:

• previous partner (59% of all persons assaulted by a previous partner)
• family member (64% of all persons assaulted by a family member)
• friend (75% of all persons assaulted by a friend)
• stranger (56% of all persons assaulted by a stranger).

Persons who experienced physical assault believed that alcohol or any other substance contributed to the most recent incident that occurred in:

• the person's home (56%)
• another person's home (67%)
• a place of work (53%)
• a licensed entertainment/recreation venue (79%).

There has been no significant change between 2014–15 and 2015–16 in the proportion of persons who believed that alcohol or any other substance contributed to their most recent incident of physical assault.

FACE-TO-FACE THREATENED ASSAULT: Contribution of alcohol or any other substance to the most recent incident (Table 16)

Nationally, half (51% or 239,700) of all persons who experienced face-to-face threatened assault believed that alcohol or any other substance contributed to their most recent incident. This included:

• 53% of men who experienced face-to-face threatened assault
• 51% of women who experienced face-to-face threatened assault
• 59% of persons aged 18 to 24 years who experienced face-to-face threatened assault

More than half of persons across the different age groups who experienced face-to-face threatened assault indicated that alcohol or another substance was involved in their most recent incident, except for those aged 55 to 64 (37%).


The majority of persons who experienced face-to-face threatened assault believed that alcohol or any other substance contributed to the most recent incident when the offender was a:

• neighbour (67% of all persons who experienced face-to-face threatened assault by a neighbour)
• stranger (58% of all persons who experienced face-to-face threatened assault by a stranger)
• previous partner (52% of all persons who experienced face-to-face threatened assault by a previous partner)
• friend (54% of all persons who experienced face-to-face threatened assault by a friend).

Alcohol or any other substance was believed to have contributed to a greater proportion of incidents occurring at a licensed entertainment or recreation venue (88%), than in any other location.

There has been no significant change between 2014–15 and 2015–16 in the proportion of persons who experienced face-to-face threatened assault who believed that alcohol or any other substance contributed to their most recent incident of face-to-face threatened assault.

ENDNOTE

Endnote 1 While this question was asked of all respondents aged 15 years and over, data have only been published for those 18 years and over. The responses of respondents aged 15 to 17 years may have been provided by a proxy respondent (such as a parent) and as this is a perception based question it was not asked of proxies. See Data Collection section of the Explanatory Notes for more information.