Crime rates for family and domestic violence

Incidents of family or domestic violence can be reported to police. Examining crime rates for family and domestic violence makes it possible to compare how often police are engaged in response to incidents of family and domestic violence over time and across different population groups in the Australian community. Data on crime rates for family and domestic violence in Australia are drawn from the ABS Recorded Crime - Victims collection, which is based on crimes reported to police in each state and territory.

The visualisation below allows users to explore crime rates for selected family and domestic violence offences recorded by police per 100,000 people, by sex over time. In Australia, between 2014–2021, the rate of family and domestic violence sexual assault offences increased, with victimisation rates consistently higher for females compared with males. Rates for homicide and related offences fluctuated over time, with the number of offences ranging between 105 and 173 each year. 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 incidents.

Victims of family and domestic violence crimes, by sex, 2014 to 2021

Indigenous family and domestic violence

The visualisation below allows users to explore the number and rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander victims of select family and domestic violence offences recorded by police per 100,000 Indigenous Australians, over time for states and territories where data is available. Between 2014–2021, the rate of Indigenous victims of family and domestic violence offences differed across states and territories and by offence type, with rates fluctuating for each jurisdiction over time. Of available data, rates of assault were consistently higher for each jurisdiction than for other offence types examined. For each year examined, over 4 in 5 assault offences were perpetrated by a family member in the Northern Territory, compared with around 1 in 5 in South Australia and 1 in 10 in New South Wales.

Indigenous victims of family and domestic violence crimes, by states and territories, 2014 to 2021

Family and domestic violence sexual assault

The visualisation below allows users to explore the number and proportion of sexual assaults recorded by police, by several characteristics (sex of victim, state and territory in which the incident was reported, age at incident, time to report and relationship of offender to victim). In 2021:

  • Around 1 in 4 (25%) offenders of family and domestic sexual assault were current partners. The proportion of female victims of sexual assaults perpetrated by a current partner (28%) is more than 3 times higher than for male FDV sexual assault (8%).

  • 2 in 3 (66% or 7,500) reported sexual assaults were amongst victims aged less than 18 years of age, with the most common age at incident younger for males (57% aged 0–9 at time of incident) than for females (37% aged 10–17 at time of incident).

  • Just over half of all sexual assaults were reported within the first year and around a quarter were not reported for five or more years.

Characteristics of family and domestic violence sexual assaults, 2020 and 2021

Family and domestic assault

The visualisation below allows users to explore the number and proportion of family and domestic assaults recorded by police in 2020 and 2021, by several characteristics (sex of victim, state and territory in which the incident was reported, age at report, setting where crime occurred and relationship of offender to victim). Of those states and territories where data are available, victims aged 25–34 at the time of report accounted for the highest proportion of all victims for most jurisdictions. With the exception of the Northern Territory, the majority of family and domestic assaults occurred in a residential setting. In the Northern Territory, family and domestic assaults were also common in community settings.

Characteristics of family and domestic assaults, 2020 and 2021

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Family and domestic homicide

The visualisation below allows users to explore the number and proportion of family and domestic homicides recorded by police, by several characteristics (sex of victim, age at report and setting where crime occurred). It shows that there were more female than male family and domestic homicide victims and these homicides were more likely to happen at a residential address than elsewhere in the community.  

Characteristics of family and domestic homicide, 2020 and 2021