People with disability
Topic last updated: | See what’s been updated
On this page
Key findings What are the forms of FDSV experienced by people with disability? What do we know about FDSV among people with disability? What do the data tell us? What are the responses to FDSV for people with disability? Has it changed over time? Is it the same for everyone? Related materialKey findings
- About 1 in 5 (21% or 1.2 million) adults with disability in 2016 had experienced physical and/or sexual violence from a current or previous intimate partner since the age of 15.
- Women with disability (30%) in 2016 were about 3 times as likely as men with disability (11%) to have experienced intimate partner violence since the age of 15.
- Adults with severe or profound disability (24%) in 2016 were about 3 times as likely as adults without disability (9.6%) to have experienced sexual violence since the age of 15.
People with disability are more likely to be victim-survivors of family, domestic and sexual violence (FDSV) than people without disability (CRE-DH 2021; DSS 2022). People with disability can also be affected by different forms of FDSV and experience additional barriers to getting help. Understanding the experiences of people with disability, as a group, can provide helpful information for organisations providing services to people with disability. This page presents the available national data on FDSV among people with disability.
In FDSV reporting we present data from a range of sources that, due to varying methods, can define disability differently.
Generally, disability can be considered an umbrella term for a person who, given environmental and personal factors, is experiencing any of the following:
- impairment – problems in body function or structure
- activity limitation – difficulties in executing activities
- participation restriction – problems an individual may experience in involvement in life situations (WHO 2002).
For a detailed discussion of issues related to definitions of disability, see AIHW’s People with disability – Defining disability.
Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) Personal Safety Survey (PSS) is used to report on the prevalence of FDSV. The PSS uses the ABS Short Disability Module, which considers a person to have disability if they had one or more health conditions which have lasted, or are likely to last, for at least 6 months and restrict everyday activities.
The severity of disability is defined by whether a person needs help, has difficulty, or uses aids or equipment, with 3 core activities – self-care, mobility, and communication – and is reported for mild, moderate, severe, and profound limitation. People who always or sometimes need help with one or more core activities are referred to in this section as people with severe or profound disability.
What are the forms of FDSV experienced by people with disability?
People with disability can experience the same forms of FDSV as the general population (see What is FDSV?). However, they may also experience distinct types of violence, violence across a wider range of settings (for example, in institutions, group homes, and long term hospital stays) and from a greater range of people (for example, carers and support workers), see Box 2. Due to varying definitions of family and domestic violence (FDV) in Australia, violence in some situations may not be recognised as FDV (for example, from a carer or staff in residential settings) and protections and supports related to FDV may not be available (RCVANEPD 2021a). Forms of FDSV that are unique to people with disability or that may be more likely include:
- abuse focused on the disability
- threats of institutionalisation, abandonment, withdrawal of care and health information disclosure
- withdrawal of medication, care and other assistance
- interference with mobility aids, equipment and medication
- medical exploitation, including forced psychiatric interventions and reproductive violence, such as forced sterilisation, abortion and contraception
- restrictive practices such as restraints and seclusion
- a perpetrator controlling aspects of their lives including movement and finances (Australian Government 2022; RCVANEPD 2021a; eSafety 2021a; RCVANEPD 2022).
For further discussion of forms of FDSV experienced by all people, see What is FDSV?.
Children and adults with disability can be particularly at risk of abuse in institutional settings due to the nature of their disability, the discrimination they experience in response to their disability and their increased likelihood to experience institutional settings (RCIRCSA 2017b).
In contributions to the Royal Commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse victim-survivors with disability highlighted difficulties disclosing institutional abuse, including their verbal and non-verbal attempts being explained away as a part of their disability, and being disbelieved, ignored or punished. There were also accounts of disclosure to police not being pursued as the victim-survivor was not viewed as a ‘credible witness’ (RCIRCSA 2017b).
For further discussion of institutional child sexual abuse, see Child sexual abuse.
What do we know about FDSV among people with disability?
People with disability are more likely to experience FDSV than people without disability in Australia and can experience greater difficulty getting support (DSS 2022; RCVANEPD 2020a). The economic cost of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation experienced by people with disability in Australia was conservatively estimated to be at least $46 billion in 2021–22. When considering the gaps in outcomes seen for people with disability the conservative estimate increased to $75 billion (Vincent et al. 2022).
Exposure to FDV as a child or young person with disability
Exposure to FDV among children and young people with disability can have lasting negative effects on their social, emotional and cognitive development and overall health and wellbeing. Exposure to FDV refers to any experiences of FDV apart from being the direct target of abuse, including witnessing patterns of non-physical controlling behaviours between family members (Orr 2020).
There is no national data on the prevalence of exposure to FDV among children and young people with disability. An analysis of state-linked data from Western Australia shows that children with disability are more likely to be exposed to FDV in a variety of ways and that exposure can be associated with an increased risk of mental health conditions or mental health service use, see Box 3.
Two recent studies used linked administrative data from Western Australia to analyse the exposure of children with disability to FDV. Disability was determined using a medical model based on the NDIS categories of disability and administrative data sources, such as the Hospital Morbidity Data System, the Western Australian Register of Developmental Anomalies, the Mental Health Information System and the Intellectual Disability Exploring Answers database.
Children with disability were over-represented among children who:
- were exposed to FDV (based on police and hospitalisation data) (30%)
- were involved in child protection (32%)
- entered out-of-home care (36%) (Octoman et al. 2022).
Children with disability were also about twice as likely to have a mother hospitalised due to FDV assault (7.8%) compared with all children in the study cohort (4.3%) (Octoman et al. 2022).
Some population groups were over-represented among children with disability who had a mother hospitalised due to FDV assault when compared with all children in the study cohort. These population groups include:
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children (36% compared with 8%)
- Children living in socio-economically disadvantaged areas (1st and 2nd quintiles, see Methods) (63% compared with 42%)
- Children living in outer regional, remote or very remote areas (see Methods) (36% compared with 17%) (Octoman et al. 2022).
Among children who were exposed to FDV, disability was found to increase the chance of mental health conditions or service use. Among children exposed to FDV, having disability was associated with:
- 41% increased risk of mental health service contact
- a significant increase in the risk of a diagnosis in 9 of the 10 mental disorder subcategories, including substance use disorder (80% increase), psychological development disorder (167%) and personality disorder (149% increase) (Orr et al. 2022).
Among children who were not exposed to FDV, disability was associated with an even higher increased risk in mental health service contact (88%). This suggests that exposure to FDV may be acting as a barrier to mental health service contact for children with disability (Orr et al. 2022).
Certain characteristics of children with disability who were exposed to FDV also increased their risk of mental health service contact, including:
- being born to a father aged over 40 years (78% increase) compared with those born to a father aged 30–39 years
- being born pre-term (23% increase) compared with those born at term (Orr et al. 2022).
Factors related to experiencing FDSV among people with disability
People with disability can be more likely to experience FDSV than people without disability due to a range of factors including:
- discrimination and marginalisation
- reliance on the perpetrator of violence, for example, for care, mobility, and/or income
- insufficient safeguards in institutional and group living situations
- not fully understanding the abuse or its seriousness
- reduced impulse control and help seeking behaviour
- social isolation
- communication challenges
- barriers preventing them from getting help (Australian Government 2022; eSafety 2021b; RCVANEPD 2022).
Risk factors that can increase the likelihood that people in the general population will experience FDSV may also have greater effects among people with disability, see Factors associated with FDSV.
Barriers to seeking help
While people with disability can experience the same barriers to seeking help for FDSV as the general population, some are distinct to people with disability or may have greater impact due to disability, including:
- a lack of trust that they will be believed or taken seriously, potentially due to prior experiences of discrimination and minimisation
- feelings of shame or self-blame
- insufficient accessible information about ways to report, rights, and available support
- physical barriers to accessing services
- fear of negative consequences of reporting, including retaliation, criminalisation, ostracisation from family and/or community, and loss of support and/or access to children
- inadequate specialised support services
- normalisation of abuse and/or being controlled (eSafety 2021a, 2021b; Maher et al. 2018; RCVANEPD 2022).
What are some of the barriers to seeking help?
'We still have a long way to go, to make services accessible and inclusive to people with disabilities and/or mental illness escaping family violence. I have been advocating for refuge reforms, to make them more accessible, but unfortunately physical access (which is one type of accessibility) has been the only reform considered.'
Anonymous
For further discussion of barriers to getting help experienced by all people, see How do people respond to FDSV?.
Impacts of experiences of FDSV
Experiences of FDSV can have dramatic, lifelong negative effects on:
- health and wellbeing, through resultant injury, mental illness and loss of life satisfaction, as well as higher rates of health risk factors, including smoking, poor diet, and isolation
- education, employment and financial security (RCVANEPD 2020a; Vincent et al. 2023).
Further research is required to better understand and quantify the negative impacts caused by experiences of FDSV among people with disability.
For a discussion of the impacts and outcomes of FDSV among all people, see Behavioural outcomes, Health outcomes and Economic and financial impacts.
Measuring FDSV among people with disability
There are no nationally consistent data sets available to describe the extent of FDSV experiences among all people with disability (Octoman 2022). While data are available across a number of surveys and administrative data sources to look at the prevalence, service responses and outcomes of FDSV among people with disability, the majority are restricted to particular states or territories.
This page focuses mainly on data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) Personal Safety Survey (PSS, see Data sources and technical notes), which is currently the best source of population level estimates of adults with disability who have experienced FDSV. However, the PSS has limitations in its ability to estimate experiences of FDSV among people with disability (see Box 4).
Importantly, it is not possible with data from the PSS to determine if a person had disability at the time they experienced violence as the PSS collects information about disability at the time of the interview and information about experiences of violence in the 12 months prior to the survey, since the age of 15 and before the age of 15 (ABS 2017).
This page mainly reports on experiences of FDSV since the age of 15 and before the age of 15. This type of reporting can help us understand how many people with disability may require access to support, given the long-term effects of experiences of FDSV. However, it cannot show whether disability is a risk factor for, or outcome of, experiencing FDSV. Data on FDSV in the 12 months prior to the survey can be useful to see whether the experience of violence has changed over time (ABS 2017).
There are a number of limitations in using the PSS to estimate the prevalence of FDSV among people with disability:
- participants are selected from private dwellings, thus excluding people who live in institutional and other care settings
- the ABS Short Disability Module is used to identify a ‘disability or restrictive long-term health condition’. This module is not as effective as the questions used in the ABS Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers, and may overestimate the number of people with less severe forms of disability
- it is not possible to determine whether a person had disability at the time of experiencing violence as disability status is determined at the time of the interview, whereas questions on violence relate to past experiences
- information about experiences of violence is not collected in proxy interviews where the selected respondent is incapable of answering for themselves, for instance, due to a communication disability. This results in an underrepresentation of people with a communication disability who are unable to communicate at all (ABS 2021; AIHW 2022; CRE-DH 2021).
In addition, information is only collected from participants aged 18 years and over and there is no mechanism to determine if violence reported is part of a systemic pattern of abuse or an isolated incident (ABS 2017; CRE-DH 2021).
The ABS assess that these limitations do not affect the overall national representativeness of people with disability in the PSS sample (ABS 2021).
What do the data tell us?
How common is the experience of FDSV among people with disability?
Family and domestic violence
There are limited data from the 2021–22 ABS PSS that are sufficiently statistically reliable to report on patterns in experiences of FDSV among women with disability and no sufficiently statistically reliable data for men with disability. As such, the latest available estimates of experiences of FDV, including intimate partner violence and partner emotional abuse, are primarily sourced from the 2016 ABS PSS.
-
21%
of adults with disability in 2016 had experienced physical and/or sexual violence from a current or previous intimate partner since the age of 15
Source: ABS Personal Safety Survey
The perpetrator was known to the majority (81%, or 2.2 million) of people aged 18 years and over (adults) with disability in 2016 who reported that they had experienced physical and/or sexual violence since the age of 15 (hereafter referred to as violence). The most common perpetrators of violence were intimate partners (21% of all adults with disability in 2016 or 1.2 million people) (AIHW 2022).
Experiences of violence from an intimate partner or parent since the age of 15 were more common among adults with disability in 2016 (21% and 5.2%, respectively) than adults without disability (13% and 3.0%, respectively), with the highest proportions among those with severe or profound disability (29% and 6.7%, respectively). Similar patterns were apparent for perpetrators with other family relationship types (Figure 1).
Figure 1: Proportion of adults who experienced physical and/or sexual violence since age 15, by disability status and relationship to perpetrator, 2016
| Relationship to perpetrator | With disability— severe or profound | With disability | Without disability |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intimate partner | 28.5% | 20.8% | 13.2% |
| Parent | 6.7% | 5.2% | 3.0% |
| Child | n.p. | 0.8% | 0.2*% |
| Sibling | 3.1% | 2.5% | 1.1% |
| Other relative / in-law | 3.2*% | 2.7% | 1.5% |
Notes:
- Components are not able to be added together to produce a total.
- Disability status is determined at the time of the survey and does not indicate whether a person had disability at the time of violence.
For more information, see Data sources and technical notes.
*: estimate has a relative standard error (RSE) between 25% and 50% and should be used with caution.
Source:
ABS PSS 2016
|
Data source overview
Intimate partner – Includes boyfriend or girlfriend or date, current partner, previous partner, and ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend or ex-date.
Cohabiting partner – Includes someone the person lives with or lived with in a married or de facto relationship.
Emotional abuse – Emotional abuse occurs when a person is subjected to certain behaviours or actions aimed at preventing or controlling their behaviour, causing them emotional harm or fear. These behaviours are intended to manipulate, control, isolate or intimidate the person they are aimed at. They are generally repeated behaviours and include psychological, social, economic and verbal abuse.
Disability group – A broad categorisation of disability. It is based on underlying health conditions and on impairments, activity limitations and participation restrictions. It is not a diagnostic grouping, nor is there a one-to-one correspondence between a health condition and any disability group.
Physical violence – An act using physical force with the intent to harm or frighten a person since the age of 15, such as physical assault or threat of physical threat.
Physical abuse – 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 injury, emotional abuse, and physical abuse by someone under the age of 18.
Sexual violence – A behaviour of a sexual nature carried out against a person’s will since the age of 15, such as sexual assault (for example, rape, indecent assault and attempts to force a person into sexual activity) or threat of sexual assault.
Sexual abuse – 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 emotional abuse and sexual abuse by someone under the age of 18.
Sexual harassment – Behaviours of a sexual nature that make a person feel uncomfortable and that the person finds offensive.
Source: ABS 2017.
A higher proportion of adults with disability in 2016 (20% or 1.1 million) experienced abuse before the age of 15 than adults without disability (11% or 1.3 million), with about 3 in 10 (28% or 198,000) adults with severe or profound disability (AIHW 2022).
For both adults with and without disability in 2016, the most common perpetrators of abuse before the age of 15 were:
- parents/step-parents (10% of all adults with disability, 16% of all adults with severe or profound disability and 5.4% of all adults without disability)
- known people who are not family members (8.2% of all adults with disability, 9.9% of all adults with severe or profound disability and 4.0% of all adults without disability) (AIHW 2022).
Intimate partner violence and partner emotional abuse
-
30% of women with disability
11% of men with disability
in 2016 had experienced partner violence since the age of 15
Source: ABS Personal Safety Survey
Analysis of the 2016 PSS shows that the proportion of adults who had experienced intimate partner violence since the age of 15 was higher among:
- adults with disability (21%, or 1.2 million) than adults without disability (13%, or 1.7 million)
- women with disability (30%, or 892,000) than men with disability (11%, or 303,000)
- women with severe or profound disability (36%, or 163,000) than men with severe or profound disability (16%, or 41,300) (AIHW 2022).
The available data from the 2021–22 PSS shows that violence by a cohabiting partner was experienced in the 2 years prior to the survey by 2.2% (68,600) of women with disability and 1.5% (99,400) of women without disability (ABS 2023a).
The proportion of adults in 2016 who had experienced partner emotional abuse since the age of 15 was higher among:
- adults with disability (26%, or 1.5 million) than adults without disability (17%, or 2.1 million)
- women with disability (32%, or 929,000) than men with disability (20%, or 556,000)
- women with severe or profound disability (39%, or 179,000) than men with severe or profound disability (27%, or 69,900) (AIHW 2022).
Adults with psychological disability (39%) or head injury, stroke or brain damage (30%) in 2016 were the most likely to have experienced intimate partner violence since the age of 15.
Some adults with disability in 2016, such as those with psychological disability, were more likely than other adults with disability to have experienced intimate partner violence and partner emotional abuse since the age of 15 (Figure 2).
Figure 2: Proportion of adults with disability who experienced intimate partner violence and partner emotional abuse since age 15, by type of disability, 2016
| Type of disability | Intimate partner violence | Intimate partner emotional abuse |
|---|---|---|
| Psychological | 38.7% | 41.3% |
| Head injury, stroke or brain damage | 29.8% | 35.3% |
| Intellectual | 27.5% | 30.6% |
| Type not specified | 23.1% | 28.8% |
| Physical | 21.7% | 27.6% |
| Sight, hearing, speech | 18.1% | 23.7% |
Note:
- Components are not able to be added together to produce a total. People may have more than one type of disability. In reporting by disability groups, people could be counted more than once if they have disabilities from more than one disability group.
For more information, see Data sources and technical notes.
Source:
ABS PSS 2016
|
Data source overview
Similarly, the available data from 2021–22 shows that a higher proportion of women with psychosocial disability (6.1% or 37,200) than other women with disability or women without disability (1.5% or 99,400) experienced violence by a cohabiting partner in the 2 years prior to the survey (ABS 2023a).
Types of emotional abuse
The latest available PSS data (2016) shows that adults with disability were more likely than adults without disability to report some types of emotional abuse from their most recent previous partner that was emotionally abusive, including:
- insults intended to cause shame or humiliation (56%, or 668,000 compared with 46%, or 707,000)
- financial abuse (50%, or 591,000 compared with 37%, or 579,000)
- deprivation of basic needs such as food, shelter, sleep or assistive aids (14%, or 172,000 compared with 8%, or 124,000) (AIHW 2019).
Note that more than one type of emotional abuse could be selected thus proportions sum to more than 100% (AIHW 2019).
Adults with disability in 2016 were more likely than adults without disability to report that they had experienced emotional abuse from more than 1 previous partner (24%, or 282,000 compared with 16%, or 244,000) (AIHW 2019).
Sexual violence
The latest available estimates of lifetime experiences of sexual violence and harassment among adults with disability are available from the 2016 PSS. Data from the 2021–22 PSS provide some additional insights into recent experiences of sexual violence and harassment among women with disability.
Adults with severe or profound disability (24%) in 2016 were about 3 times as likely as adults without disability (9.6%) to report they had experienced sexual violence since the age of 15.
The proportion of adults in 2016 who had experienced sexual violence since the age of 15 was higher among:
- adults with disability (16%, or 935,000) than adults without disability (9.6%, or 1.2 million)
- women with disability (25%, or 748,000) than men with disability (6.6%, or 187,000)
- women with severe or profound disability (30%, or 140,000) than men with severe or profound disability (13%, or 32,300) (AIHW 2022).
The proportion of adults in 2016 who had experienced sexual harassment since the age of 15 was higher among:
- adults with disability (43%, or 2.5 million) than adults without disability (37%, or 4.7 million)
- women with disability (57%, or 1.7 million) than men with disability (28%, or 799,000)
- women with severe or profound disability (58%, or 264,000) than men with severe or profound disability (38%, or 96,400) (AIHW 2022).
The available data on recent experiences from the 2021–22 PSS showed a higher proportion of women with disability reported experiences of:
- sexual violence in the last 2 years (4.0%, or 127,000) compared with women without disability (2.5%, or 167,000) (ABS 2023c)
- sexual harassment in the last 12 months (14%, or 459,000) compared with women without disability (12%, or 793,000), with even higher proportions for women with only schooling/employment restrictions (25%, or 98,700) or severe or profound disability (19%, or 78,000) (ABS 2023b).
Data were not available for men with disability (ABS 2023b, 2023c).
Women with psychosocial disability (12%) in 2021–22 were the most likely to have experienced sexual violence in the last 2 years.
Some women with disability in 2021–22, such as those with psychosocial, head injury, stroke or acquired brain injury, or learning and understanding disability, were more likely than other women with disability to have experienced sexual violence in the last 2 years or sexual harassment in the last 12 months (Figure 3).
Figure 3: Proportion of women with disability who experienced sexual violence in the last 2 years or sexual harassment in the last 12 months, by type of disability, 2021–22
| Type of disability | Sexual harassment | Sexual violence |
|---|---|---|
| Sensory and speech | 7.7% | 3.2*% |
| Learning and understanding | 18.5% | 7.9*% |
| Physical restriction | 13.2% | 2.9% |
| Psychosocial | 32.7% | 11.7% |
| Head injury, stroke or acquired brain injury | 20.7*% | np |
| Other | 16.1% | 4.1% |
Notes:
- Components are not able to be added together to produce a total. People may have more than one type of disability. In reporting by disability groups, people could be counted more than once if they have disabilities from more than one disability group.
- The proportion of people with head injury, stroke or acquired brain injury who experienced sexual violence in the last 2 years was not published due to reliability and/or confidentiality reasons.
For more information, see Data sources and technical notes.
*: estimate has a relative standard error (RSE) between 25% and 50% and should be used with caution.
Source:
ABS PSS 2016
|
Data source overview
While 2021–22 PSS data for men with disability were not available, data from the 2016 PSS shows a similar pattern for men – men with psychological disability were more likely than other men with disability to have experienced either sexual violence or sexual harassment since the age of 15 (AIHW 2022).
Experiences of sexual abuse before the age of 15
The latest available PSS data (2016) shows that the proportion of adults who had experienced sexual abuse before the age of 15 was higher among:
- adults with disability (12%, or 671,000) than adults without disability (5.8%, or 738,000)
- women with disability (16%, or 477,000) than men with disability (6.9%, or 194,000)
- women with severe or profound disability (22%, or 98,600) than men with severe or profound disability (9.8%*, or 25,200) (AIHW 2022).
Note that estimates marked with an asterisk (*) should be used with caution as they have a relative standard error between 25% and 50%.
Adults with psychological disability (21%, or 186,000) or head injury, stroke or brain damage (18%, or 33,500) in 2016 were the most likely to have experienced sexual abuse before the age of 15 (AIHW 2022).
Types of sexual harassment
The latest available PSS data (2016) shows that adults with disability were more likely than adults without disability to report that they had ever experienced some types of sexual harassment, including:
- unwanted touching, grabbing, kissing or fondling (25%, or 1.5 million compared with 20%, or 2.5 million)
- inappropriate comments about body or sex life (24%, or 1.4 million compared with 21%, or 2.7 million)
- indecent exposure (18%, or 1.1 million compared with 14%, or 1.8 million)
- indecent phone call (15%, or 882,000 compared with 10%, or 1.3 million) (AIHW 2022).
Note that more than one type of sexual harassment could be selected thus proportions may sum to more than 100% (AIHW 2022).
Sexual harassment in the workplace
The 2022 Australian Human Rights Commission’s national survey on sexual harassment in workplaces (the AHRC national survey) asked people aged 15 and over about their experiences of sexual harassment in workplaces in the previous 5 years. The AHRC included behaviours more commonly associated with sexual violence in their definition of harassment, for example, rape or sexual assault, and determined disability through self-identification.
Nearly half (48%) of people with disability had been sexually harassed in their workplace in the previous 5 years (compared with 32% of people without disability) with:
- over half (54%) of women with disability and nearly 2 in 5 (38%) men with disability
- an increase since 2018 (44% of people with disability, with 52% of women and 35% of men with disability) (AHRC 2022).
See Sexual violence for more information.
Technology-facilitated abuse
People with disability were 1.4 times more likely to have experienced technology-facilitated abuse in their lifetime than those without disability in 2022
A nationally representative study of around 4,600 people aged 18 years and over in 2022 investigated experiences of technology-facilitated abuse (TFA) (see Glossary) among people who self-identified as having disability. This study estimated that about 3 in 5 (57%) people with disability had experienced any TFA in their lifetime (TFA lifetime victimisation):
- Having disability was a significant predictor of TFA lifetime victimisation, with those with disability 1.4 times more likely than those without.
- A higher proportion of women with disability (59%) than men with disability (55%) reported lifetime TFA victimisation (Powell et al. 2022).
TFA among all people was most commonly perpetrated by intimate partners and was associated with high levels of psychological distress in victim-survivors (Powell et al. 2022).
People with disability (25%) and those without (22%) were similarly likely to have ever perpetrated TFA in their lifetime (lifetime TFA perpetration). Among the whole population, TFA perpetration was much more common when there had been TFA victimisation (39% compared with 6.0%) (Powell et al. 2022).
For information on TFA among all people, see Stalking and surveillance.
People with disability as perpetrators of FDSV
There is limited data and research related to the use of FDSV by people with disability. Research about harmful sexual behaviours and the use of family violence among children and young people has indicated that there may be a larger representation of people with disability among people displaying these behaviours in Australia (Fitz-Gibbon et al. 2022; RCIRCSA 2017a). However, more research is required to further investigate these findings. For a discussion of harmful sexual behaviours and adolescent family violence among the general population, see Child sexual abuse and Family and domestic violence, respectively.
FDSV-related homicide among people with disability
There is limited data available on homicides related to FDSV among people with disability.
The Australian Domestic and Family Violence Death Review Network and Australia's National Research Organisation for Women's Safety collaborated to analyse cases of intimate partner homicides preceded by a reported or anecdotal history of violence between the offender and victim (IPV homicides) between July 2010 and June 2018 (ADFVDRN and ANROWS 2022).
A smaller proportion of both males and females with disability were IPV homicide offenders or victims than the representation of people with disability in the general population (18%). People with disability were only identified among:
- about 1 in 15 female IPV homicide victims of males (or 6.7%)
- about 1 in 11 female IPV homicide offenders who killed a male (or 9.2%)
- about 1 in 12 male IPV homicide victims of females (or 8.5%)
- about 1 in 10 male IPV homicide offenders who killed a female (or 9.3%) (ADFVDRN and ANROWS 2022).
Note that people with disability may have been under-reported in this analysis (see Data sources and technical notes).
See Domestic homicide for further discussion of homicides related to FDSV.
What are the responses to FDSV for people with disability?
Helplines and related support services
There are a number of general and specialised helplines in Australia that provide information, advice and support to people with disability who are experiencing or at risk of FDSV. See Helplines and related support services for a discussion of such services including but not limited to:
- the National Counselling and Referral Service, which provides counselling, information, support and referrals to services for people with disability who have witnessed or experienced violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation
- the Blue Knot Foundation, a support service for people affected by complex trauma and a National Redress Scheme service provider (Blue Knot Foundation 2021).
The National Disability Abuse and Neglect Hotline is a service for reporting any abuse and neglect, not limited to FDV, of people with disability, see Box 6 for further discussion.
The National Disability Abuse and Neglect Hotline is a free, independent and confidential reporting service. The Hotline enables anyone to report instances of abuse and neglect among people with disability in any circumstance (not limited to FDV). The Hotline works with callers to find appropriate ways of dealing with reports of maltreatment (for example, referring cases to complaints handling bodies). Between 2017 and 2022:
- reports have generally increased, from 249 in 2017 to 480 in 2020, with 413 in 2022
- reports of sexual abuse ranged between 8 in 2019 and 23 in 2021, with 15 in 2022
Multiple reports can relate to a single victim–survivor and data are not available on whether reports are related to FDV (DSS 2023).
Police responses
The Royal Commission into violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of people with disability received reports that people with disability are disproportionately represented as victims, offenders and witnesses in the criminal justice system (Dowse et al. 2021).
However, due to long standing challenges and gaps in the collection of disability status in existing data collections, there is limited data available on FDSV-related recorded crimes among people with disability (Ringland et al. 2022a). One method to fill these gaps in data is to link data related to recorded crimes with data that identifies people with disability. Data linkage has recently been used in a test pilot of the National Disability Data Asset to investigate recorded crime among people with disability in NSW, see Box 7.
The National Disability Data Asset pilot Justice Test Case used victim and offending data held by the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research linked with other State and Commonwealth administrative data collections to examine the interaction between people with disability and the NSW crime and justice system (CJS). Disability was defined using administrative records of disability-specific service use. People with disability may have been included in the study but not identified as having a disability if they did not have records of disability-specific service use. This may result in an under-representation of people with disability that interact with the NSW CJS in this study.
Among recorded domestic violence-related crimes in NSW:
- people with disability were about 3 times as likely to be victims as the general population for every year between 2009 and 2018, with age and sex standardised rates among people with disability ranging between around 1,800 to 2,000 per 100,000 people compared with between 660 to 710 per 100,000 for the general population (Ringland et al. 2022b)
- about 1 in 23 (4.4%) people with disability were victims between 2014 and 2018, with a higher proportion of Aboriginal females with disability (19%) than Aboriginal males with disability (8.6%), non-Aboriginal females with disability (5.0%) and non-Aboriginal males with disability (2.6%) (Ringland et al. 2022a)
- persons of interest were proceeded against in a lower proportion of incidents involving people who had both cognitive and physical disability (51%) than people without disability (58%) between 2014 and 2018, with a smaller difference for people with disability in general (56%) (Ringland et al. 2022a)
- a higher proportion of people with disability (25%) experienced revictimisation within 12 months than those without disability (20%) between 2014 and 2018, with people with psychosocial disability the most likely (29%) to experience revictimisation (Ringland et al. 2022a)
- people with disability were more than 3 times as likely to be offenders than the general population every year between 2009 and 2018, with age and sex standardised rates increasing over time from around 630 to 1,100 per 100,000 compared with 200 to 340 per 100,000 in the general population (Ringland et al. 2022b).
Specialist homelessness services
Specialist homelessness services (SHS) can provide assistance to people who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness, including clients who have experienced FDV. The SHS Collection identifies disability using a shortened version of the AIHW Standardised Disability Flag module. This enables reporting on SHS use and outcomes among people with disability (AIHW 2024).
About 25,900 people with disability were SHS clients (9.5% of all SHS clients) in 2022–23 (AIHW 2023b). Of these, about 1 in 3 (31% or about 8,100) SHS clients with disability had experienced FDV, representing:
- 43% (or 5,900) of female SHS clients with disability
- 18% (or 2,200) of male SHS clients with disability (AIHW 2023b).
A smaller proportion of SHS clients with disability had experienced FDV (31%) than SHS clients without disability (38%) (AIHW 2023b).
The main reason that SHS clients with disability who had experienced FDV sought SHS support was domestic and family violence (49%) followed by housing crisis (14%). People with disability who had experienced FDV were less likely than those without disability to report domestic and family violence as their main reason but more likely to report other main reasons (Figure 4).
Figure 4: Top 5 main reasons SHS clients with and without disability who have experienced FDV sought support, 2022–23
| Reason | With disability | Without disability |
|---|---|---|
| Domestic and family violence | 49.2% | 65.4% |
| Housing crisis | 14.1% | 9.5% |
| Inadequate or inappropriate dwelling conditions | 8.5% | 5.4% |
| Other | 6.8% | 3.9% |
| Relationship / family breakdown | 4.4% | 3.9% |
Notes:
- 'With disability' refers to limitation in core activities only—self-care, mobility, and/or communication. This includes clients who: always/sometimes need help and/or supervision; have difficulty but don’t need help/supervision; and don't have difficulty but use aids/equipment. This differs to the reporting of people with disability in the AIHW's Specialist Homelessness Services annual report, which is based on a subgroup of people with severe or profound disability who always/sometimes require assistance with one or more core activities.
- 'Without disability' includes clients who have disability but no core activity limitation.
- 'Other' includes transition from custodial arrangements, transition from foster care and child safety residential placements, transition from other care arrangements, discrimination including racial discrimination, itinerant, unable to return home due to environmental reasons, disengagement with school or other education and training, lack of family and/or community support, and other.
- The client's main reason for seeking assistance at the beginning of support. Where more than one reason for seeking assistance has been provided, the client chooses the main reason.
- For each category, proportion and number of SHS clients has been rounded.
For more information, see Data sources and technical notes.
Source:
AIHW SHSC
|
Data source overview
From 2013–14 to 2022–23, the proportion of SHS clients who have experienced FDV who had disability has varied between 5.9% in 2013–14 (or about 5,000 clients) and 8.3% in 2016–17 (or 9,500), with 7.7% in 2022–23 (or 8,100) (AIHW 2023b).
Housing outcomes
Fewer specialist homelessness services clients with disability who have experienced FDV were homeless by the end of support (about 1,500) compared with at the start of support (about 2,000) in 2022–23.
Many clients who are supported by SHS have achieved or progressed towards a more positive housing situation by the end of their support. Among SHS clients with disability who have experienced FDV and whose ongoing SHS support ended in 2022–23:
- fewer clients were homeless at the end of support (about 1,500) compared with their first period of support in 2022–23 (about 2,000)
- more clients were housed at the end of support (about 2,800) compared with their first period of support in 2022–23 (about 2,300) (AIHW 2023b).
For information about all people who use SHS services and have experienced FDV, see Housing.
Has it changed over time?
PSS data on the rate of experiences of FDSV among people with disability in the 12 months prior to the survey (the 12-month prevalence rate) can be used to report on changes over time. Comparing 2012 with 2016, among people with disability, the 12-month prevalence rate of:
- sexual violence was stable (1.3% and 1.4%, respectively), with a lower rate among adults without disability in 2012 (0.6%) and a similar rate in 2016 (1.2%)
- sexual harassment increased from 12% to 15%, with lower rates among adults without disability (10% in 2012 and 13% in 2016)
- intimate partner violence was relatively stable (1.9% and 2.4%, respectively), with a similar rate among adults without disability in 2012 (1.4%) and a lower rate among adults without disability in 2016 (1.4%)
- emotional abuse by a partner increased from 4.5% to 5.6%, with lower rates among adults without disability (3.4% and 4.0%, respectively) (ABS 2021).
Data for the 12-month prevalence rate of sexual harassment among women with disability was also available for 2021–22. The prevalence rate remained similar between 2012 (17%) and 2016 (19%) and decreased in 2021–22 (14%). This is consistent with results for the general population (ABS 2021, 2023b). Data for the 12-month prevalence rate of intimate partner violence and emotional abuse by a partner among women with disability are not available for 2021–22 (ABS 2023a).
These changes over time may be due to a number of reasons. The most recent PSS was conducted between March 2021 and May 2022, during the COVID-19 pandemic. We are continuing to learn about the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on FDSV, which first occurred in Australia between March to April 2020. The 2-year period following the onset of the pandemic involved many changes to people’s living circumstances. These changes, and the potential flow-on effects to a person’s likelihood of experiencing violence, are discussed in more detail in FDSV and COVID-19.
Is it the same for everyone?
People from diverse sociodemographic and cultural groups can have disability, and experiences of violence can occur in intersecting ways (see Factors associated with FDSV). National data on these intersections are limited, for example there are no national data on violence among people with disability who live in institutional and/or other care settings. The Royal Commission into violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of people with disability (the Royal Commission) collected recent research about FDSV among diverse population groups and heard from people and organisations about these issues.
For a general discussion of FDSV among specific population groups, see Population groups.
First Nations people with disability
While there is limited national data specific to experiences of FDSV among First Nations people (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people) with disability, available research shows that:
- there is a higher proportion of people with disability or a restrictive long-term health condition among First Nations people (estimated to be 45% in 2014–15) compared with the general population (18%) (ABS 2016)
- it is likely that First Nations people with disability experience intersectional discrimination and disadvantage, which can increase the risk of experiencing FDSV and restrict access to support (AHRC 2020; RCVANEPD 2020b)
- First Nations women with disability are likely to experience high rates of emotionally abusive, harassing and controlling behaviours and are more likely than non-Indigenous women with disability to experience domestic physical or sexual violence, and coercive control (Boxall et al. 2021).
Culturally and linguistically diverse people with disability
Respondents to a public hearing for the Royal Commission highlighted the following about experiences of FDV among culturally and linguistically diverse people with disability:
- There can be many barriers to reporting violence, including lack of knowledge about processes in Australia, fear of authority and discrimination, and entrenched attitudes towards women and their roles in families (RCVANEPD 2021b).
- a lack of specialised, trauma-informed staff, support workers and processes can prevent people from engaging with the criminal justice system or influence the outcomes received (RCVANEPD 2021b).
- a survey of recent violence during the pandemic found that women with disability from non-English speaking backgrounds were more likely than those from English speaking backgrounds to have experienced domestic physical or sexual violence, and coercive control (Boxall et al. 2021).
LGBTIQA+ people with disability
A report commissioned by the Royal Commission in 2019 used data from 2 national non-representative surveys of LGBTIQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer, asexual people, or people otherwise diverse in gender, sex or sexual orientation) young people and adults, Private Lives 3 and Writing Themselves In 4, to provide some insights into violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation among LGBTIQ people with disability. There was not a sufficient number of participants with disability with an intersex variation in either survey for the data to reflect their experiences. Private lives 3 included about 2,600 people identified as having disability through the AIHW Standardised Disability Flag module and Writing Themselves in 4 included 2,500 people who self-identified as having disability or a long-term health condition (Hill et al. 2022). The report found that:
- about 1 in 3 (32%) respondents with disability aged 14–21 experienced sexual harassment or assault in the previous 12 months due to their sexual orientation or gender identity
- a higher proportion of adult respondents with severe (16%) or moderate (11%) disability reported experiencing sexual assault in the previous 12 months than respondents without disability (6.7%)
- most adult respondents with severe (73%), moderate (69%) or mild (67%) disability reported experiencing violence from an intimate partner in their lifetime, compared with 55% of respondents without disability
- most adult respondents with severe (81%), moderate (78%) or mild (69%) disability reported experiencing violence from a family member in their lifetime, compared with 55% of respondents without disability
- FDSV was experienced by a higher proportion of adult respondents with disability from multicultural backgrounds, living in rural or remote areas, or who were trans or gender diverse compared with other groups (Hill et al. 2022).
Younger and older people with disability
Children, young people and older people can experience higher rates of FDSV than people of other ages and are additionally affected by particular forms of FDSV. Studies have shown that those with disability are at an even greater risk than those without:
- Twice as many people aged 65 years or over who self-identified as having disability or long-term health conditions (21%) experienced any form of elder abuse in the previous 12 months in 2020 compared with those without disability or long-term health condition (9.8%) (Qu et al. 2021).
- About twice as many adults with disability in 2016 had experienced sexual abuse by any perpetrator (12%) or physical and/or sexual abuse by a parent/step-parent (10%) before the age of 15 compared with those without disability (5.8% and 5.4%, respectively) (AIHW 2022).
The second wave of the Australian Child Maltreatment Study aims to collect representative data for people with disability in Australia to allow estimates of child maltreatment to be reported for this group. The second wave should run from 2024 to 2025 (DPMC 2021).
Children who are considered unable to live safely with their families may be placed in out-of-home care. Children, and in particular children with disability, can be at risk of abuse in care (RCIRCSA 2017b). While there is limited data related to children with disability available, children with disability are thought to be significantly over-represented in out-of-home care. Disability status was only recorded for 71% (32,300) of children in out-of-home care in 2021–22. Among these children, 29% (9,300) were recorded as having disability (AIHW 2023a). For a discussion of child protection data related to the general population, see Child protection.
More information
- People with disability in Australia – Violence against people with disability
- Family, domestic and sexual violence in Australia: continuing the national story 2019
- Family, domestic and sexual violence data in Australia
- National sexual violence responses
- Family, domestic and sexual violence: National data landscape 2022
- Specialist Homelessness Services annual report
- National Hospital Morbidity Dataset
ABS (2016) Social and economic wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with disability – National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey, 2014–15, ABS website, accessed 28 March 2023.
ABS (2017) Personal Safety, Australia methodology – reference period 2016, ABS website, accessed 10 May 2023.
ABS (2021) Disability and Violence – In Focus: Crime and Justice Statistics Disability and Violence – April 2021, ABS, accessed 1 April 2022.
ABS (2023a) Partner violence, ABS website, accessed 7 December 2023.
ABS (2023b) Sexual harassment, ABS website, accessed 12 September 2023.
ABS (2023c) Sexual violence, ABS website, accessed 12 September 2023.
ADFVDRN (Australian Domestic and Family Violence Death Review Network) and ANROWS (Australia's National Research Organisation for Women's Safety) (2022) Australian Domestic and Family Violence Death Review Network Data Report: Intimate partner violence homicides 2010–2018 (2nd ed.; Research report 03/2022), ANROWS, accessed 8 August 2022.
AHRC (Australian Human Rights Commission) (2020) Wiyi Yani U Thangani (Women’s voices): securing our rights, securing our future, AHRC, accessed 28 March 2023.
AHRC (2022) Time for respect: Fifth national survey on sexual harassment in Australian workplaces, AHRC, accessed 23 March 2023.
AIHW (2019) Family, domestic and sexual violence in Australia: continuing the national story, AIHW website, accessed 23 March 2023.
AIHW (2022) People with disability in Australia – Violence against people with disability, AIHW website, accessed 1 February 2023.
AIHW (2023a) Child protection Australia 2021–22, AIHW, Australian Government, accessed 22 June 2023.
AIHW (2023b) Specialist Homelessness services collection, customised request, AIHW.
AIHW (2024) Specialist homelessness services annual report 2022–23, AIHW website, accessed 13 February 2024.
Australian Government (2022) Domestic, family and sexual violence experienced by people with disability, 1800RESPECT website, accessed 24 August 2022.
Boxall H, Morgan A and Brown R (2021) Experiences of domestic violence among women with restrictive long-term health conditions, Report for the Royal Commission into violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of people with disability, AIC, accessed 28 March 2023.
CRE-DH (Centre of Research Excellence in Disability and Health) (2021) Nature and extent of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation against people with disability in Australia, Submission for the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability, accessed 1 February 2023.
Dowse L, Rowe S, Baldry E and Michael Baker (2021) Research Report – Police responses to people with disability, Report for the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability website, accessed 20 January 2023.
DPMC (Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet) (2021) National Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Child Sexual Abuse 2021–2030, Australian Government, accessed 11 July 2023.
DSS (Department of Social Services) (2022) National plan to end violence against women and children 2022–2032, DSS, Australian Government, accessed 17 March 2023.
DSS (2023) National disability abuse and neglect hotline, DSS website, accessed 27 March 2023.
eSafety (2021a) “For my safety”: Experiences of technology-facilitated abuse among women with intellectual disability or cognitive disability, eSafety, accessed 23 January 2023.
eSafety (2021b) “How bad should it be before I tell someone?” Online abuse experiences of adult Australians with intellectual disability – implications for resource development, eSafety, accessed 23 January 2023.
Fitz-gibbon K, Meyer S, Boxall H, Maher J and Roberts S (2022) Adolescent family violence in Australia: A national study of prevalence, history of childhood victimisation and impacts, ANROWS, accessed 17 March 2023.
Hill AO, Amos N, Bourne A, Parsons M, Bigby C, Carman M and Lyons A (2022) Violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of LGBTQA+ people with disability: a secondary analysis of data from two national surveys, Australian research centre in sex, health and society, La Trobe University, accessed 27 march 2023.
Maher J, Spivakovsky, McCulloch J, McGowan J, Beavis K, Lea M, Cadwallader J and Sands T (2018) Women, disability and violence: Barriers to accessing justice: Final Report, ANROWS, accessed 3 February 2023.
Octoman O, Hawkes M, Lima F, O’Donnel M, Orr C, Arney F, Moore T, Robinson S, Valentine K, Marshall A, Burton J and Brebner C (2022) The nature and extent of domestic family violence exposure for children and young people with disability, Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety, accessed 23 January 2023.
Orr C (2020) Investigating the health and social outcomes of children exposed to family and domestic violence [Doctoral thesis], The University of Western Australia, accessed 24 January 2023.
Orr C, Sims S, Fisher C, O’Donnell M, Preen D, Glauert R, Milroy H and Garwood S (2022) Investigating the mental health of children exposed to domestic and family violence through the use of linked police and health records, ANROWS, accessed 17 November 2022.
Powell A, Flynn A and Hindes S (2022) Technology-facilitated abuse: National survey of Australian adults’ experiences (Research report, 12/2022), ANROWS, accessed 8 December 2022.
Qu L, Kaspiew R, Carson R, Roopani D, De Maio J, Harvey J and Briony Horsfall (2021) National elder abuse prevalence study: Final report, AIFS, accessed 28 march 2023.
RCIRCSA (Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse) (2017a) Final Report – Children with harmful sexual behaviours, RCIRCSA, accessed 10 July 2023.
RCIRCSA (2017b) Final Report – Preface and executive summary, RCIRCSA, accessed 21 December 2022.
RCVANEPD (Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability) (2020a) Interim Report, RCVANEPD, accessed 30 March 2023.
RCVANEPD (2020b) Violence and abuse of people with disability at home, RCVANEPD, accessed 28 March 2023.
RCVANEPD (2021a) Transcript Day 1 – Public hearing 17, Virtual – Part 1, RCVANEPD, accessed 9 May 2023.
RCVANEPD (2021b) Overview of responses to the experiences of culturally and linguistically diverse people with disability issues paper, RCVANEPD, accessed 28 March 2023.
RCVANEPD (2022) Overview of responses to the violence and abuse of people with disability at home – Issues paper, RCVANEPD, accessed 1 February 2023.
Ringland C, Boiteux S and Pynton S (2022a) The victimisation of people with disability in NSW: Results from the National Disability Data Asset pilot, NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, accessed 18 January 2023.
Ringland C, Boiteux S and Pynton S (2022b) Trends in rates of victimisation and offending for people with disability in NSW, NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, accessed 18 January 2023.
Vincent J, McCarthy D, Miller H, Armstrong K, Lacey S, Lian G, Qi D, Richards N and Berry T (2022) Research Report - The economic cost of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of people with disability, Taylor Fry and The Centre for International Economics (CIE), accessed 28 February 2023.
WHO (World Health Organization) (2002) ICF beginner’s guide: Towards a common language for functioning, disability, and health, WHO, accessed 9 May 2022.
- Previous page Older people
- Next page LGBTIQA+ people