Abuse before the age of 15

Information regarding abuse experienced before the age of 15 was obtained from men and women aged 18 years and over in the 2021-22 PSS.

The definition of child abuse can vary across the different sectors of government, criminal justice systems, service providers and research organisations, depending on the perspective and interests of the organisation that have created it. The PSS collects selected information about a person’s experience of sexual and physical abuse before the age of 15 years by any adult (male or female), including the person’s parents. For this topic, an adult is defined as someone aged 18 years or over.

The 2021-22 PSS definitions of sexual and physical abuse are outlined below.

Any act by an adult involving a child (under the age of 15 years) in sexual activity beyond their understanding, or contrary to currently accepted community standards. Excludes sexual abuse perpetrated by someone under the age of 18.

Any deliberate physical injury (including bruises) inflicted upon a child (under the age of 15 years) by an adult. Excludes discipline that accidentally resulted in an injury, and physical abuse perpetrated by someone under the age of 18.

The abuse topic asked respondents if they were sexually or physically abused by an adult before the age of 15.
For sexual abuse, respondents were asked:

• The next few questions are about any incidents of sexual abuse by an adult, before the age of 15. Were you sexually abused before the age of 15?

For physical abuse, respondents were asked:

• The next few questions are about any incidents of physical abuse, before the age of 15, where an adult, including your parents, deliberately injured you. This includes bruises. Were you physically abused before the age of 15?

Due to the sensitive nature of the topic, respondents had the option of declining to answer these questions.

If a respondent answered that they had experienced sexual or physical abuse before the age of 15, they were asked to identify all of the adult perpetrator types that abused them.

Information about the characteristics of the first incident of abuse was collected separately for sexual abuse and physical abuse. If the respondent indicated that they had been sexually/physically abused more than once, they were asked to focus on the first time they were sexually/physically abused to answer further questions about the characteristics of the first incident of abuse, including:

• their age at the time of the incident
• whether more than one perpetrator was involved
• their relationship to the perpetrator(s)
• whether the incident was ever reported to police (new 2021-22 data item).

If the respondent was unsure of their age at the time of the first incident, they were instructed to make their best guess.

The data items and related output categories for this topic are contained within the SPS Level – Abuse tab in the data item list available under Downloads.

Abuse data can be used to examine:

• the relationship between experiences of sexual and physical abuse before the age of 15 and later experiences of violence as an adult
• the estimated number and proportion (rate) of persons aged 18 years and over who have experienced sexual and/or physical abuse before the age of 15, including by specific adult perpetrator types
• the characteristics of the first incident of sexual and physical abuse
• the relationship between experiences of child physical abuse, sexual abuse and witnessing violence before age 15.

Abuse data cannot be used to examine:

• prevalence rates for physical and sexual abuse perpetrated by a minor under the age of 18.
• the characteristics of all incidents of abuse. Characteristics information was only collected for the first incident of sexual abuse and first incident of physical abuse and is therefore not necessarily representative of all incidents of abuse that may have occurred. Users should avoid generalising these findings to all abuse incidents when evaluating the data.
• current rates of child abuse, and whether rates have increased or decreased over time. Abuse data collected in the PSS is a retrospective measure and cannot be used to monitor changes over time. As such, this data should not be compared across PSS cycles.
• rates of abuse in specific institutional settings. Although perpetrator information is collected, this is not always sufficient to determine whether the abuse occurred in an institutional setting or not.

Points to be considered when using and interpreting data for this topic include the following:

• The experience of physical abuse as a child is particularly difficult to measure, given changes in what is generally perceived as acceptable behaviour towards children in relation to discipline. For example, while caning was practised at schools in the past, this is no longer an accepted practice. As such, it is important to note that a respondent’s answer reflects their own interpretation of the question and what constitutes abuse.
• The prevalence of sexual and physical abuse before the age of 15 as measured by the PSS does not capture the total prevalence of child abuse, as the scope of the survey does not include persons aged under 18 years.
• Abuse data collected in the PSS is retrospective and relies on the respondent being able to accurately recall and interpret experiences from the past, and on their willingness to report them to an interviewer as adults.

Information about experiences of abuse before the age of 15 was collected in the 1996 WSS and all editions of the PSS. The following changes have been made to the topic over time:

• Prior to 2016, the survey did not specify that an ‘adult’ is someone aged 18 years and over, and the term ‘adult’ was left to the respondent’s interpretation.
• The WSS only collected whether experienced sexual or whether experienced physical abuse and did not have an option to select a refusal category for either question.
• From 2016 onwards, the PSS asked respondents to identify all perpetrator types who have abused them before the age of 15. Prior to 2016, the survey only asked about the relationship to the perpetrator of the first incident of abuse.
• New perpetrator response categories were added in 2016 (foster carer or other person associated with care placement; other school-related staff; childcare worker; in-home care educator or carer; recreational leader; staff in a children’s home/orphanage; and corrective services personnel) and in 2021-22 (disability support worker or carer; and other staff member in an institution).
• In 2021-22, for the first time, the PSS asked respondents who had experienced physical/sexual abuse whether the first incident of each was ever reported to police.