MEDIA RELEASE
19 February 2019	Embargoed 11:30am (Canberra time)
	New report about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women's experience of violence

The extent of family and domestic violence experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women has been revealed in a new Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) report using previously unpublished data from the 2014-15 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey.

ABS Director of the Centre of Excellence for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Statistics, Debbie Goodwin said “Of those women who had experienced violence, more than two-thirds (72 per cent) identified an intimate partner or family member as a perpetrator in their most recent experience. This was twice the rate reported by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men (35 per cent).

“About four in 10 (43 per cent) women who were physically injured visited a health professional for their injuries and six in 10 (60 per cent) reported the incident to police.”

When compared with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women who had not experienced any physical violence in the previous 12 months, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women who had experienced family and domestic violence were:

• more likely to report high or very high levels of psychological distress, to have a mental health condition, or to report they had experienced homelessness at some time in their life
• less likely to trust hospitals or police in their local area, but just as likely to trust their own doctor
• just as likely to report being able to get support outside the household in a time of crisis.

“This information offers important insights for those involved in family and domestic violence policy, as well as organisations which provide services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, aimed at preventing violence and supporting those affected by violence,” Ms Goodwin said.

Further information is available in the article Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women’s Experiences of Family and Domestic Violence, which has been added to the publication National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey, 2014–15 (cat. no. 4714.0).

Media notes:

• Experiences of family and domestic violence are identified from a person’s most recent experience of physical violence in the 12 months prior to the survey where at least one of the perpetrators was an intimate partner (current/previous husband/wife/defacto/boyfriend/girlfriend or date) or family member (parent, child, sibling or other family member). Data is for persons aged 15 years and over.
• When reporting ABS data, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or the ABS) must be attributed as the source.
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