CONTRIBUTION OF ALCOHOL OR ANY OTHER SUBSTANCE TO SELECTED PERSONAL CRIMES ^{Endnote 1}

PHYSICAL ASSAULT (Table 17)

During the 2017–18 reference period, an estimated 55% of persons aged 18 years and over who experienced physical assault (245,100) believed that alcohol or any other substance contributed to their most recent incident. Men were more likely than women to believe that alcohol or any other substance contributed to the incident (61% compared to 50%).

The majority of men in all age groups believed that alcohol or any other substance contributed to the most recent incident of physical assault. For women, the proportion ranged from 61% for those aged 18-24 years to 35% for those aged 55 years and over.

CONTRIBUTION OF ALCOHOL OR OTHER SUBSTANCE TO MOST RECENT INCIDENT OF PHYSICAL ASSAULT(a), By age, by sex, 2017–18

Footnote(s): (a) Data relating to the involvement of alcohol or other substances in the most recent incident of physical assault are only available for persons aged 18 years and over.

Australian Bureau of Statistics
© Commonwealth of Australia 2019.

People were more likely to believe alcohol or any other substance contributed to the incident when the perpetrator was a stranger (63%) than when it was a known person (49%).

 
FACE-TO-FACE THREATENED ASSAULT (Table 17)

Approximately half (49% or 231,800) of all persons aged 18 years and over 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
• 46% of women who experienced face-to-face threatened assault.

For both men and women, the only age group where a majority believed that alcohol or another substance was involved in the most recent incident of face-to-face threatened assault was 25–34 year olds (65% for men and 50% for women).

CONTRIBUTION OF ALCOHOL OR OTHER SUBSTANCE TO MOST RECENT INCIDENT OF FACE-TO-FACE THREATENED ASSAULT(a), By age, by sex, 2017–18

Footnote(s): (a) Data relating to the involvement of alcohol or other substances in the most recent incident of face-to-face threatened assault are only available for persons aged 18 years and over. (b) Estimate has a relative standard error of 25% to 50% and should be used with caution.

Australian Bureau of Statistics
© Commonwealth of Australia 2019.

CONTRIBUTION OF ALCOHOL OR ANY OTHER SUBSTANCE TO ASSAULT OVER TIME ^{Endnote 2}

This section discusses differences between 2010–11 to 2017–18, the first year the Crime Victimisation Survey collected data on whether persons believed alcohol or any other substance contributed to their most recent incident of assault.

Significance testing was undertaken to examine whether there was a statistically significant difference between the 2010–11 and 2017–18 data on the contribution of alcohol to physical assault and face-to-face threatened assault. It should be noted that significance testing is a comparison of two time points only, and does not take into account data patterns across the entire time series.

PHYSICAL ASSAULT (Tables 8 and 17)

Between 2010–11 and 2017–18, the proportion of persons aged 18 years and over who believed alcohol or any other substance contributed to their most recent incident of physical assault decreased from 64% to 55%.

For men, this proportion decreased from 71% in 2010–11 to 61% in 2017–18. For women, the difference was not statistically significant (56% in 2010–11 compared to 50% in 2017–18).

CONTRIBUTION OF ALCOHOL OR OTHER SUBSTANCE TO MOST RECENT INCIDENT OF PHYSICAL ASSAULT(a), By age, 2010–11 and 2017–18

Footnote(s): (a) Data relating to the involvement of alcohol or other substances in the most recent incident of physical assault are only available for persons aged 18 years and over.

Australian Bureau of Statistics
© Commonwealth of Australia 2019.

Persons aged 18–24 were the only age group to show a decrease in the proportion who believed that alcohol or another substance contributed to their most recent incident (73% to 59%). There were no other apparent changes across time points for the other age groups.

FACE-TO-FACE THREATENED ASSAULT (Tables 8 and 17)

Between 2010–11 and 2017–18, the proportion of persons aged 18 years and over who believed alcohol or any other substance contributed to their most recent incident of face-to-face threatened assault decreased from 57% to 49%.

 
CONTRIBUTION OF ALCOHOL OR OTHER SUBSTANCE TO MOST RECENT INCIDENT OF FACE-TO-FACE THREATENED ASSAULT(a), By age, 2010–11 and 2017–18

Footnote(s): (a) Data relating to the involvement of alcohol or other substances in the most recent incident of face-to-face threatened assault are only available for persons aged 18 years and over.

Australian Bureau of Statistics
© Commonwealth of Australia 2019.

Approximately half of all persons aged 18–24 years (46%) and 35–44 years (50%) believed alcohol or any other substance contributed to their most recent incident of face-to-face threatened assault in 2017–18, while in 2010–11 these estimates were 73% and 60% respectively.

ENDNOTES

Endnote 1 Data relating to the involvement of alcohol or other substances in the most recent incident of physical or face-to-face threatened assault are only available for persons aged 18 years and over.

Endnote 2 Historical data referred to in this section can be found in 4530.0 - Crime Victimisation, Australia, 2010–11.