1 in 5 Australians have experienced partner violence or abuse
An estimated 4.2 million Australian adults (21 per cent or one in five) have experienced violence, emotional abuse or economic abuse by a partner, according to information from the 2021-22 Personal Safety Survey (PSS) released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Women were more likely than men to have experienced violence, emotional abuse, or economic abuse by a partner since the age of 15.
Will Milne, ABS head of crime and justice statistics, said: “The survey found that 27 per cent of women and 15 per cent of men had experienced violence or abuse by a partner.”
| Women | Men | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Partner violence or abuse(c) | Just over 1 in 4 women experienced partner violence or abuse (27 percent or 2.7 million women) | 1 in 7 men experienced partner violence or abuse (15 per cent or 1.5 million men) | |
| Partner violence | 1 in 6 women experienced partner violence (17 per cent or 1.7 million women) | 1 in 18 men experienced partner violence (5.5 per cent or 526,600 men) | |
| Partner emotional abuse | Almost 1 in 4 women experienced partner emotional abuse (23 per cent or 2.3 million women) | 1 in 7 men experienced partner emotional abuse (14 per cent or 1.3 million men) | |
| Partner economic abuse | 1 in 6 women experienced partner economic abuse (16 per cent or 1.6 million women) | 1 in 13 men experienced partner economic abuse (7.8 per cent or 745,000 men) | |
- Refer to media notes below for PSS definitions of violence, emotional abuse and economic abuse.
- Fractions provided are approximations, use proportions or estimates where greater precision is required.
- Where a person has experienced multiple forms of violence and abuse by a partner, they are counted separately for each type of violence or abuse they experienced but are counted only once in the aggregated total.
The survey found that financial stress was associated with experiencing partner violence and abuse for women.
“Women living in households with one or more cash flow problems were more likely to have experienced partner violence or abuse in the previous two years than those in households that didn’t have cash flow problems.”
The PSS collected detailed information about the characteristics and impacts of partner violence and abuse.
An estimated 791,100 women who experienced violence by a previous partner while living together were pregnant at some point during the relationship. Of these women, 42 per cent experienced violence during their pregnancy, including 17 per cent who experienced violence for the first time during their pregnancy.
Of the 1.9 million women who experienced emotional abuse by a previous partner, 73 per cent experienced anxiety or fear due to the emotional abuse. Of the 1.1 million men who experienced emotional abuse by a previous partner, 45 per cent experienced anxiety or fear due to emotional abuse.
“We would like to acknowledge the experiences of everyone affected by partner violence and abuse in Australia. We thank those who participated in the survey and shared their experiences to help inform government and service responses,” Mr Milne said.
If you or anyone you know is in need or crisis, please call 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732) or Lifeline (13 11 14).
Grab 1
Our data found that just over one in four women and one in seven men have experienced violence or abuse by a partner. That’s 2.7 million women and 1.5 million men. The types of experiences here, include physical or sexual violence, or emotional or economic abuse by a partner they lived with.
Grab 2
What we found was that women were more likely to experience partner violence or abuse than men, including physical, sexual violence, emotional abuse or economic abuse.
Grab 3
Our data showed a strong association between financial stress and partner violence and abuse. One of our key findings was that women facing cash flow problems were three times more likely to have experienced partner violence or abuse.
Media notes
- Partner includes someone the person lives with (current partner) or lived with at some point (previous partner) in a married or de facto relationship. This may also be described as a cohabiting partner.
- Previous partner refers to someone who the person lived with at some point in a married or de facto relationship, whom they are now separated, divorced or widowed from. Information about previous partner violence refers to the most recently violent previous partner.
- Violence is any incident involving the occurrence, attempt or threat of either sexual or physical assault.
- Emotional abuse occurs when a person is subjected to certain behaviours or actions that are aimed at preventing or controlling their behaviour, causing them emotional harm or fear.
- Economic abuse occurs when a person is subjected to certain behaviours or actions that are aimed at preventing or controlling their access to economic resources, causing them emotional harm or fear.
- Prevalence refers to the number of women/men who have experienced violence or abuse by a partner since age 15, expressed as a percentage of all women/men aged 18 years and over.
- The PSS asks about cash flow problems experienced in the previous 12 months. Cash flow problems include one or more of the following: could not pay electricity, gas or telephone bills on time; could not pay mortgage or rent payments on time; could not pay for car registration or insurance on time; could not make minimum payment on credit card; pawned or sold something because they needed cash; went without meals; were unable to heat or cool their home; sought financial assistance from friends or family; sought assistance from welfare or community organisations.
- The PSS collects information from persons aged 18 years and over about the nature and extent of violence experienced since the age of 15, and their past experiences of child abuse and witnessing parental violence before the age of 15. Summary prevalence statistics from the 2021-22 Personal Safety Survey are published in Personal Safety, Australia.
- When reporting ABS data you must attribute the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or the ABS) as the source.
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