Statistics about sexual assault in Australia

Sexual assault affects people of all genders and from all cultural backgrounds. Sexual violence is used in many settings including in families, schools, sports teams, workplaces, friendship groups and intimate relationships. Most people who use sexual violence are known to the victim survivor.

The responsibility for using sexual violence sits with the person using violence. Being sexually abused or assaulted is never the fault of the victim survivor. 

• 1 in 5 women have experienced sexual violence since the age of 15 (Australian Bureau of Statistics S, 2023)  
• 1 in 16 men have experienced sexual violence since the age of 15 (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2023) 
• 1 in 6 women and 1 in 9 men were physically and/or sexually abused before the age of 15 (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2023) 
• 84% of victim survivors of sexual assault know the perpetrator (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2023)  
• 97% of sexual violence is perpetrated by men (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2020) 
• 1 in 2 trans and gender diverse people have experienced sexual violence or coercion (Kirby Institute, 2019)
• Among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, prevalence of sexual assault is an estimated 3-12 times higher than among non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women in Australia (Australia's National Research Organisation for Women's Safety, 2016)  
• 1 in 2 cognitively or psychologically impaired women have experienced sexual violence in their lifetime (Centre of Research Excellence in Disability and Health, 2021)  
• Among migrant and refugee women, 68% have experienced at least one form of sexual harassment (Australia's National Research Organisation for Women's Safety, 2023) 
• More than half of incarcerated women have a history of sexual victimisation (Australian Centre for the Study of Sexual Assault, 2012) 
• Almost half of victim survivors of child sexual abuse are re-victimised as adults (Trauma, Violence & Abuse, 2019) 
• In 2022, 88 sexual assaults were recorded by police each day in Australia (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2023)
• 87% of female victim survivors in Australia did not contact the police (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2020)