In Australia:

  • On average, one woman a week is murdered by her current or former partner. [1]
  • Intimate partner violence is the greatest health risk factor for women aged 25-44. [2]
  • An estimated 1 in 6 women (1.6 million) aged 18 years and over have experienced violence by a partner since the age of 15. [3] 
  • Young women (18 – 24 years) experience significantly higher rates of physical and sexual violence than women in older age groups. [4] 
  • Approximately 1 in 4 women (23% or 2.2 million) have experienced violence by an intimate partner since the age of 15. [5] 
  • Domestic or family violence against women is the single largest driver of homelessness for women,[6] a common factor in child protection notifications,[7] and results in a police call-out on average once every two minutes across the country.[8] 
  • More than two-thirds (68%) of mothers who had children in their care when they experienced violence from their previous partner said their children had seen or heard the violence.[9] 

[1] Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) 2017. The 2017 National Homicide Monitoring Program report by the AIC showed that over a 2-year period from 2012/13 to 2013/14, there were 99 female victims of intimate partner homicide. Women continue to be over-represented as victims of intimate partner homicide, accounting for 79% of all intimate partner homicides. 

[2] AIHW 2018. Family, domestic and sexual violence in Australia 2018. Cat. no FDV 2. Canberra: AIHW. 

[3] ,Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) 2016 Personal Safety Survey (PSS): https://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/mediareleasesbyReleaseDate/4CB11D42D9890141CA257B8E001AA60B 

[4] ABS 2017. Personal Safety, Australia, 2016. ABS cat. no. 4906.0. Canberra: ABS. Compared to the overall female violence prevalence rate of 4.7%, women aged 18-24 were the most likely to have experienced violence. In 2016, an estimated 12% of women aged 18-24 years experienced violence in the 12 months prior to interview. 

[5] Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) 2016 Personal Safety Survey (PSS). https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/4906.0 

[6] AIHW 2017. Specialist homelessness services annual report 2016-17. Cat. no. WEB 217. Canberra: AIHW. Overall, 40% of clients seeking Specialist Homelessness Services were experiencing domestic and family violence, with 91% of these being female.  

[7] AIHW 2018. Child Protection Australia 2016-2017. Cat. no. CWS 63. Canberra: AIHW. Children exposed to family violence are classified as experiencing ‘emotional abuse’, which while a broader category, is the most commonly substantiated type of harm (46%) in child protection notifications across Australia. 

[8] Police across Australia deal with over 264,000 domestic violence matters each year (or one every two minutes) – calculated for police data sourced across all states and territories, collated at ABC News. 

[9] ABS 2017. Personal Safety, Australia, 2016, ABS cat. no. 4906.0. Canberra: ABS.