Family and domestic and sexual violence

Introduction

There is no single definition of family, domestic and sexual violence (FDSV) in Australia which can include a wide range of behaviours and harms that can occur in both family and non-family settings. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) defines family and domestic violence (FDV) as violence that occurs within a family or intimate relationship. Sexual violence, which can also occur as part of FDV, is defined as sexual violence that is perpetrated by anyone.¹ FDV can also include emotional abuse and coercive control.

The National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022–2032 defines sexual violence as sexual activity without freely given or obtained consent including when consent is withdrawn or the person is unable to consent due to their age or other factors.² It includes unwanted sexualised comments, being coerced into watching pornography, or restricting contraception.

Among females, intimate partner violence contributed to 1.7% of the total disease burden in 2024 (data unavailable for males).³ In 2015–16, violence against women and their children in Australia was estimated to cost $22 billion.⁴

Latest results

The Personal Safety Survey, conducted regularly since 2005, collects information about types of violence experienced by men and women.⁵ This general population survey shows that males and females experience violence differently.

In 2021–22, Australian males were disproportionately impacted by violence from strangers, experienced by 31.1% of males and 11.3% of females since the age of 15. Females, however, were disproportionately impacted by FDV, with 27.4% of Australian females and 11.9% of males age 18 years and older experiencing FDV by an intimate partner or family member since the age of 15.⁵ Corresponding figures for FDV experienced in the past 12 months were 1.9% and 0.7%, respectively, noting that male results should be interpreted with caution due to the smaller number of cases. When the perpetrator of violence was limited to an intimate partner, 23.3% of women and 7.3% of men had experienced such abuse since the age of 15.⁵

In Queensland, 831,400 women (41.6%) reported experiencing physical and/or sexual violence since the age of 15 in 2021–22 (male results are not available by jurisdiction). The majority of this abuse was FDV with an estimated:⁵

• 620,500 (31.0%) women reported the abuse was committed by an intimate partner or family member
• 579,300 women (29.0%) experienced abuse by a cohabitating partner using a broader definition of violence that includes emotional and economic abuse
• 968,000 women (52.3%) experienced sexual harassment and 397,700 (19.9%) had been stalked.

From the same survey, recent experiences of Queensland women 18 years and older were:⁵

• 146,1000 women (7.3%) experienced physical and/or sexual violence in the past two years with 77,300 (3.9%) reporting the abuse was committed by an intimate partner or family member
• 144,200 women (7.2%) experienced abuse by a cohabitating partner using a broader definition of violence that includes emotional and economic abuse
• 251,300 (12.6%) of women 18 years and older had experienced sexual harassment and 77,800 (3.9%) experienced stalking in the past 12 months.

Offences

In Queensland, there were 27,921 identified FDV assaults in 2022–23 representing 50.1% of all assaults. In the same year, 11,835 property damage offences were attributed to FDV, 28.7% of such offences.⁶ Considering victims of offences recorded against the person where the relationship was known, 58.1% were in a family or domestic relationship with the offender. In instances where a partner/ex-partner or family member perpetrated the assault, females had 2.3 times more occurrences than males, increasing to 3.0 times more when limited to assaults by partners/ex-partners.⁶

In 2023–24 there were 27,857 domestic violence protection orders (DVOs) initiated in Queensland and another 14,745 were varied.⁷ DVO breaches were recorded 59,483 times in 2022–23.⁶ From 2013–14 to 2022–23, breaches of domestic violence orders have increased 255.2% with the rate of breaches increasing 24.7% between 2021–22 and 2022–23.⁶

Using methodology that also included additional review of the relationship of offenders to victims, 35,483 assaults were classified as FDV-related in Queensland in 2023 with 68.7% occurring to females.⁸ This approach also identified 3,359 victims of FDV-related sexual assault in 2023 of which 89.7% of victims were female.

Homicides

In 2023–24, there were 19 (13 female, 6 male) identified FDV homicides with 68%, all females, having a known history of FDV.⁹ Since 1 July 2016, there have been 183 FDV homicides in Queensland.⁹ The National Homicide Monitoring Program (NHMP) reports that in 2024, there had been 37 female victims of intimate partner homicide nationally with 11 in Queensland¹⁰ AIHW reports that in 2022–23, there were 84 domestic homicide victims with 38 killed by an intimate partner.¹¹ Of intimate partner homicides, females were the victim in 89.5% of deaths.

Existing evidence shows that females are disproportionately impacted by intimate partner and domestic homicide globally. Intimate partner/family-related homicides accounted for 31% of all global homicides in 2021.¹² Females were the victim in about 54% of killings that occurred in the home and 66% of all intimate partner homicides. Because only about 60% of female homicides internationally record the perpetrator relationship to the victim, the proportion of female killings could be much higher.¹²

Sociodemographic factors and impacts

Domestic violence can affect anyone in the community irrespective of age, sex, race, religion, culture, physical conditions or income status. Women, children and elderly people, however, are at greater risk. Other risk factors are alcohol and drug addiction, being exposed to violence especially at an early age, from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) background and/or on temporary/dependent visa status, pregnancy, having a mental illness, and being gender-diverse or of First Nations background.^1,13 It is likely that FDV is under-reported at different levels across sociodemographic groups.

Impacts of domestic violence is multidimensional with significant implications for victims, their children, family and friends, employers and co-workers. Domestic violence has far-reaching consequences for individuals, communities and society. Individual consequences include injury, disability, emotional and psychological trauma, unintended pregnancies, induced abortions, homelessness, use of alcohol and other drugs, self-harm and suicide.^1,14

Domestic violence is a crime and a fundamental breach of human rights. In Queensland, the Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act (2012) has been the main law for protecting Queenslanders from domestic violence and all domestic violence incidents are reportable to Police. In 2024, the Criminal Law (Coercive Control and Affirmative Consent) and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2024 was added. In addition to criminalising coercive control, this law amended consent laws by adopting an affirmative model of consent that requires free and voluntary agreement to participate in a sexual activity. The Domestic and family violence prevention strategy 2016–2026 delivered its 4th action plan with initiatives such as continued evolution and expansion of FDV specialist courts, developing a system-wide response to FDV perpetrators, and strategies to increase culturally-safe services for First Nations peoples who interact with the justice system.¹⁵

Queensland Government offers support services through specialised 24/7 hotlines for women, men and members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer/questioning and asexual (LGBTQIA+) communities who are affected by domestic violence.⁶ Also, 1800RESPECT provides nationwide victim support and counselling services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as well as CALD people.¹⁶

Trends

From 2005 to 2021–22, the proportion of Queensland women who experienced physical violence in the past two years declined from 8.8% to 6.0% while violence committed by a cohabitating partner violence declined from 3.9% to 2.0%. From 2012 to 2021–22, the proportion of Queensland women who reported cohabitation partner emotional abuse declined from 7.8% to 5.7%.⁵

National comparisons

In 2021–22, nationally 27.4% of women 18 years and over reported experiencing intimate partner or family member violence since the age of 15. The comparative figure for Queensland was 31.1%, which was second highest among the Australian jurisdictions after Northern Territory. 3.9% of Queensland women 18 years and over experienced similar violence in the last 2 years, compared to 3.5% nationally.⁵

Magistrates’ court generally deal the applications or breaches of protection orders.¹⁷ In 2023–24, the proportion of civil cases finalised in the Magistrates’ court involving a family or domestic violence protection order for Queensland was 59.2%, higher than the national average of 41.9%.¹⁸

Further, in 2023, the rate of recorded victims of sexual family and domestic violence related offences in Queensland was 61.5 per 100,000, while it was 52.8 per 100,000 for Australia. The rate for Queensland was second highest after New South Wales (72.1 per 100,000).¹⁸

Additional information

Data and statistics

Additional information is available from:

• Australian Institute of Health and Welfare: Family, domestic and sexual violence
• Australian Bureau of Statistics: Crime and justice
• Queensland Courts: Queensland Courts’ domestic and family violence (DFV) statistics
• Australian Government Productivity Commission: Socio-economic outcome area 13: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families and households are safe

Strategies and general information

• Services Australia: What is family and domestic violence
• Queensland Government: What you need to know about domestic and family violence in Queensland
• Queensland Government Department of Justice: Domestic and family violence prevention strategy 2016–2026