Family, domestic and sexual violence data in Australia allows users to explore data for a core set of family, domestic and sexual violence measures over time and for different population groups. It is structured according to a framework developed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) (ABS 2009; ABS 2013a; ABS 2013b). This framework uses six elements as central organising principles for information relating to family, domestic and sexual violence, and shows the key relationships that exist between the elements (Figure 1).
Source: adapted from ABS 2013a.
The framework was developed to support the Council of Australian Governments National Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women and their Children, 2010–2022 (National Plan), priority area ‘Building the Evidence Base’. It provides the foundations for improved data and reporting of family, domestic and sexual violence across the Commonwealth, states and territories and the non-government sectors.
Elements, measures and data challenges
The measures in this release are grouped together based on five of the elements, allowing users to explore: the context in which family, domestic and sexual violence exists in Australian society; the risk of family, domestic and sexual violence, people's experience of family, domestic and sexual violence; responses to family, domestic and sexual violence by individuals, families, the community and formal systems, and the impacts and outcomes of family, domestic and sexual violence. For each of these five elements there are a range of challenges which impact the availability of data, and some examples are provided below.
What influences family, domestic and sexual violence?