THREATENED ASSAULT ^Endnote1

For this survey, threatened assault is defined as a verbal and/or physical threat to inflict physical harm, where the person being threatened believed the threat was able and likely to be carried out (e.g. any threat or attempt to strike the person which could cause pain). Threatened assault may occur face-to-face or via non face-to-face methods. Refer to the glossary page for the full definition of threatened assault.

FACE TO FACE THREATENED ASSAULT

Face-to-face threatened assault includes any verbal and/or physical threat, made in person, to inflict physical harm where the person being threatened believed the threat was able and likely to be carried out. It excludes any incident where the person did not encounter the offender in person. Refer to the glossary page for the full definition of face-to-face threatened assault.

WHO EXPERIENCED FACE-TO-FACE THREATENED ASSAULT IN THE 12 MONTHS PRIOR TO INTERVIEW IN 2016-17? (Table 13)

In the 12 months prior to interview, 2.6% of Australians aged 15 years and over (495,400) experienced face-to-face threatened assault. Men (3.1%) were more likely than women (2.1%) to experience face-to-face threatened assault during this period.

The following groups were more likely to experience face-to-face threatened assault in the last 12 months:

• unmarried persons (3.4%) compared to married persons (2.0%)
• persons born in Australia (2.9%) compared to persons born overseas (1.9%).

EXPERIENCE OF MULTIPLE VICTIMISATION (Table 9)

Just under two out of five (39% or 193,200) persons who experienced face-to-face threatened assault experienced a single incident in the 12 months prior to interview, while 20% (99,500) experienced two incidents. A further 40% (196,400) experienced three or more incidents of face-to-face threatened assault.

A similar proportion of women (60% or 125,500) and men (57% or 163,800) who experienced face-to-face threatened assault experienced multiple incidents.

FACE-TO FACE THREATENED ASSAULT VICTIMISATION RATE BY AGE (Table 13)

The face-to-face threatened assault victimisation rate for 15 to 24 year olds was 3.9%, while for persons aged 65 years and over the victimisation rate was 0.8%.



CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MOST RECENT INCIDENT ^Endnote2

This section discusses characteristics of the most recent incident for persons who experienced face-to-face threatened assault in the 12 months prior to interview in 2016-17.

REPORTING RATE (Table 15)

Approximately two out of five (41%) persons who experienced face-to-face threatened assault had their most recent incident reported to police. An estimated 39% of men and 43% of women had the most recent incident reported to police.

One of the most common main reasons given by men and women for not reporting the most recent incident of face-to-face threatened assault to police was that they thought it was too trivial/unimportant (23% of men and 11% of women).

OTHER SELECTED CHARACTERISTICS (Table 15)

In the most recent incident of face-to-face threatened assault experienced by women:

• the offender was most commonly a male (63%)
• the offender was more commonly a known person (73%) than a stranger (26%)
• the known offender was most frequently an intimate partner (21%)
• the most common location of the incident was at the person’s home (41%).

In the most recent incident of face-to-face threatened assault experienced by men:

• the offender was most commonly a male (81%)
• the offender was known to the man in just over half of incidents (52%)
• frequent locations where the incident occurred included work (25%), person’s home (22%), and in the street or open land (20%).

NON FACE-TO-FACE THREATENED ASSAULT

Non face-to-face threatened assault includes any threat to inflict physical harm where the person experiencing the incident did not encounter the offender in person, such as via telephone, text message, e-mail, in writing or through social media, and the person being threatened believed the threat was able and likely to be carried out.

WHO EXPERIENCED NON FACE-TO-FACE THREATENED ASSAULT IN THE 12 MONTHS PRIOR TO INTERVIEW IN 2016-17? (Table 13)

In the 12 months prior to interview, 0.9% of Australians aged 15 years and over (179,900) experienced non face-to-face threatened assault. There was no significant difference in the non face-to-face threatened assault victimisation rate between women (1.0% or 98,800) and men (0.9% or 84,400).

The following groups were more likely to experience non face-to-face threatened assault in the last 12 months:

• unmarried persons (1.3%) compared to married persons (0.7%)
• persons born in Australia (1.2%) compared to persons born overseas (0.4%).

REPORTING RATE (Table 1)

About a third (37%) of all persons who experienced non face-to-face threatened assault had their most recent incident reported to police.

ENDNOTES

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.

Endnote 2 As information is only collected in relation to the most recent incident, the findings are not necessarily representative of all incidents experienced by persons in the last 12 months prior to interview (see Technical Note).