Sexual assault reported to police

Victim-survivors of sexual violence may come in contact with police. This may be as a result of the victim-survivor, a witness or another person reporting the incident to the police. Incidents of sexual assault (a criminal offence) recorded by police are included in ABS Recorded Crime data (see Box 1). However, not all sexual assaults are reported to police, and as a result Recorded Crime data are an underestimate of sexual assaults in Australia.

What do we know about reporting sexual assault to police?

In recent years, there has been a growing awareness and willingness to address sexual violence, as seen through the #MeToo movement. Educational programs about consent have been introduced in schools and workplaces, alongside awareness campaigns, to further promote understanding and reduce barriers to addressing sexual violence (DSS 2022). Further, increased protections for some population groups in recent years, such as the expansion of laws on mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse, may have increased the propensity to report sexual assault by third parties. The National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022–2032 (the National plan) highlights that more work is needed to remove barriers to reporting of sexual assault to police by victim-survivors (DSS 2022).

Rates of reporting sexual violence, such as sexual assault, to police have historically been impacted by a range of factors including: misconceptions about what constitutes sexual assault; mistrust of police; concerns relating to being believed and having to relive the experience; past negative experiences with police; institutional violence at the hands of police for some population groups; and barriers to accessing police, such as knowledge and understanding, geographical location and specific population group characteristics (ABS 2023c; Douglas 2019; DSS 2022; Voce and Boxall 2018). Intersecting personal, situational, social, cultural, economic and political factors associated with inequality and discrimination may also impact victim-survivor ability to access police following an incident of sexual violence and/or likelihood of reporting sexual assault to police (Commission of Inquiry into Queensland Police Service responses to domestic and family violence 2022; DSS 2022). These factors may also influence the time a victim-survivor takes to report incidents of sexual assault to police. Recent data from the ABS suggest that close to 1 in 3 (31%) sexual assault reported to police in 2022 had occurred more than a year earlier, and 8.4% of all sexual assaults reported in 2022 occurred 20 or more years ago (ABS 2023a).

Reports into women and girls’ experiences with the police and broader criminal justice system, such as the Queensland Hear her voice reports and the National Plan Victim-Survivor Advocates Consultation Final Report, acknowledge that work has been undertaken to improve police understanding of family, domestic and sexual violence (FDSV) and police responses to reports of gendered violence in recent years. However they also highlight responses are still inadequate and lacking in consistency (Fitz-Gibbon et al 2022; Queensland Government 2022). Reports such as these also highlight the need to improve police response for those victim-survivors who experience intersecting forms of inequality and discrimination, for example Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) people, culturally and linguistically diverse people, people with disability, and LGBTIQA+ people, see Population groups (Fitz-Gibbon et al 2022; Queensland Government 2022). The National plan indicates that enhanced education and training of police in terms of responses to reporting of gendered crime and improved access to safe and/or alternative reporting options should be implemented to improve reporting experiences for all people in Australia (DSS 2022).

To understand the current extent of police involvement in sexual assaults in Australia, data on level of reporting to police, available from the ABS Personal Safety Survey (PSS), should be examined alongside recorded crime data (ABS Recorded Crime – Victims and ABS Recorded Crime – Offenders). For more information about these data sources, please see Data sources and technical notes.

Police-recorded sexual assault data are an underestimate of sexual assaults

Examining whether police are contacted following sexual assault can provide an indication of reporting levels and utilisation of police services. Data on whether police were contacted (by the victim-survivor and/or another person) after sexual assault, as well as reasons for not contacting, are available from the ABS PSS. In the PSS, victim-survivors are referred to as people who have experienced violence, see What is FDSV? for more details.

The 2021–22 PSS includes data on female victim-survivors’ most recent incident of sexual assault by a male in the last 10 years. According to these data:

• the police were contacted in relation to 8.3% of sexual assaults
• 7.7% of victim-survivors contacted police themselves (Figure 1) (ABS 2023c). 

Data for males who experienced sexual assault are not available here due to data quality issues, see Data sources and technical notes.

Figure 1: Police contacted after most recent incident of sexual assault, females, 2021–22

Family, domestic and sexual violence data in Australia includes data on the proportion of sexual assaults in the 12 months prior to the PSS that were reported to police between 2005 and 2016. Comparable data are not available for the 2021–22 PSS.

Examining reasons why people did not contact police after a sexual assault can provide insight into how victim-survivors can be better supported and encouraged to seek help. Figure 2 shows that there were a range of reasons why female victim-survivors did not contact police following their most recent incident of sexual assault by a male perpetrator in the last 10 years. According to the 2021–22 PSS, the 2 most common reasons were female victim-survivors did not contact police were they:

• felt like they could deal with it themselves
• did not regard the incident as a serious offence (ABS 2023c).

Data for males who experienced sexual assault are not available here due to data quality issues, see Data sources and technical notes.

Figure 2: Reasons police not contacted after most recent incident of sexual assault by a male perpetrator, females, 2021–22

What do Recorded Crime data tell us?

The ABS collects data on sexual assaults recorded by police in the Recorded Crime – Victims and Recorded Crime – Offenders collections (see Box 1). These collections provide insights into police involvement in responses to sexual assaults in the Australian community over time and across different population groups (see Figure 4 and 5), as well as the different characteristics (see Figure 6) of those sexual assaults recorded by police.

According to ABS Recorded Crime – Victims data, in Australia in 2022:

• 32,100 sexual assaults were recorded, with 5 in 6 (84% or 27,000) perpetrated against females
• the rate of sexual assault was higher for females (206 per 100,000), than males (39 per 100,000)
• there was significant variation in sexual assault rates between states and territories. ACT had the lowest rate of sexual assaults (71 per 100,000 persons) while NSW had the highest rate (152 per 100,000) (ABS 2023a).

Has it changed over time?

Recorded Crime – Victims data show that in Australia, between 2010 and 2022, sexual assault victimisation rates were consistently higher for females compared to males. During this time:

• the victimisation rate for females increased by 43% (from 144 to 206 per 100,000 females), with a 15% increase evident between 2020 and 2021
• the victimisation rate for males increased by 51% (from 26 to 39 per 100,000 males), with a 16% increase evident between 2021 and 2022
• the increase was generally consistent across jurisdictions, although the rate and pattern of increase varied (ABS 2023a).

Victimisation rates are based on all recorded sexual assaults irrespective of age and include incidents of child sexual abuse. See Data sources and technical notes for more information on rates and definitions related to sexual assault.

Changes in crime rates may be due to changes in reporting behaviour, increased awareness about forms of violence, changes to police practices, and/or an increase in sexual assault incidents. Between 2014 and 2022 there was a smaller increase in the number of sexual assaults that were reported to police less than a year after the incident (39%) than for those reported 12 or more months after (108%) (ABS 2023a).

Figure 3 allows users to further explore the number and rate of sexual assaults recorded by police per 100,000 people since 2010, by sex of victim and the state and territory the sexual assault was recorded, over time.

Figure 3: Victims of sexual assault, by sex and location, 2010 to 2022

Is it the same for everyone?

Police-recorded sexual assaults can be explored in terms of a range of victim and crime characteristics, including: sex of victim, age at report, time to report, setting where the crime occurred, whether a weapon was used and relationship of offender to victim. Examining data by victim characteristics provides insight into which groups are most affected by sexual assault.

Sexual assault perpetrated against children is considered a form of child sexual abuse (see Children and young people). Incidents of child sexual abuse recorded by police are captured in ABS sexual assault victims data and can be examined when data are reported by age at report. According to Recorded Crime – Victims data, in 2022:

• The sexual assault victimisation rate was highest amongst people aged 10–17 years (489 per 100,000) and lowest for those aged 65 and over (11 per 100,000) at the time of reporting to police. This is true for both females and males.
• Between 2010–2022, the sexual assault victimisation rate increased across all age groups, except 0–9 years (ABS 2023a).

Figure 4 allows users to further explore the number and rate of sexual assaults recorded by police per 100,000 people since 2010, by sex of victim and age group, over time.

Figure 4: Victims of sexual assault, by age at report, 2010 to 2022

Consistently over time, most sexual assaults were classified as aggravated, and most did not involve the use of weapon. Sexual assaults in a residential setting were consistently more common than in the community. In 2022, 80% of all sexual assaults were classified as aggravated and 65% occurred in a residential setting (ABS 2023a, ABS 2023b). See Data sources and technical notes for information on terminology used here.

Of all sexual assaults recorded in 2022, over 2 in 3 (69% or 22,200) were reported to police within the first year following the incident. A lower proportion was reported when only looking at sexual assaults categorised as family and domestic violence (FDV) (57%). Police investigations were still ongoing 30 days after an offence was recorded in around 2 in 3 (66% or 21,300) sexual assaults recorded in 2022.

Figure 5 allows users to further explore the number and proportion of sexual assault victims, by type of assault, time to report, setting where crime occurred, use of weapon, and outcome of investigation.

Figure 5: Characteristics of sexual assault, 2010 to 2022

Perpetrators of sexual assault are often known to the victim

Recorded Crime – Victims data, for the 7 states and territories (excludes Western Australia) where relationship data were available, show that of all sexual assaults in 2022:

• 76% were perpetrated by someone who knew the victim
• 19% were perpetrated by strangers, with similar proportions for females (19%) and males (18%)
• 5.7% of cases a perpetrator wasn’t able to be identified or a relationship was not specified (ABS 2023b).

When looking at victims by age at incident in 2022:

• For females and males aged 0–9, the sexual assault offender were most commonly a family member (61% and 46% respectively). Around 1 in 10 were perpetrated by siblings (12% for females and 8.6% for males) (ABS 2023b).
• For each male age group from 10 years onwards, offenders were most commonly a known person who was not a family member (ABS 2023b).
• For females in the middle age groups (25–34 to 45–54) the offender was most commonly a family member, while a known person who was not a family member was most commonly the perpetrator for the remaining age groups (10–24 and 55 and over).
• For females, more than 1 in 10 (12%) sexual assaults were perpetrated by a current partner, with females aged 35-44 having the highest proportion of any age group (1 in 4 or 26% perpetrated by current partner).

Figure 6 allows for further examination of sexual assaults, by sex of victim, relationship to offender and across age at incident and age at report. Presented proportions are based on all sexual assaults for a specific age group.

Figure 6: Sexual assaults by relationship of offender to victim, 2022

How many people are recorded as sexual assault offenders?

According to ABS Recorded Crime - Offenders data, around 6,400 people had a principal offence of sexual assault recorded during 2022–23. This represents a rate of 28 offenders per 100,000 people (ABS 2024). These data do not reflect the total number of sexual assaults that recorded offenders were involved in or proceeded against by police during the period and do not include offenders of sexual assault whom police were unable to identify. There are currently no data available to establish the number offenders police were unable to identify. Future development work may provide some insight (Box 2).

Following police charges, individuals may become a defendant in 1 or more criminal court case. For more information on defendants in sexual assault cases, see Legal systems. Sexual assault offenders may also take part in specialist perpetrator interventions, which work to hold perpetrators to account and change their violent, coercive and abusive behaviours. More information can be found in Specialist perpetrator interventions.

More information

• National sexual violence responses
• Sexual assault in Australia