Sexual Violence Reports in Australia Just Hit a Record High — Then Barely Went Down
Reports of sexual violence in Australia reached their highest level ever in 2024. In 2025, they dipped less than 1% nationally, according to the annual domestic, family and sexual violence report released this week. Over the last 15 years, reported sexual violence has risen 64% (The Guardian, 9 September 2026).
Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek responded to the report by reading a letter to Parliament from a mother of three. The woman described being a parent today as "feeling like you're standing at the edge of a field watching something unfold." Plibersek has spoken about this topic in Parliament before. In October 2025, she made a formal statement to the House of Representatives about the Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commission's yearly report, honouring victims and survivors and remembering the women and children who have been killed (Parliamentary Hansard, 30 October 2025).
The government has a lot of policy work in progress. On 30 August 2026, the Albanese Labor Government announced a new expert advisory council to guide Australia's efforts to end domestic, family and sexual violence (ministers.dss.gov.au). The National Plan to End Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence runs from 2026 to 2036. The Department of Social Services is asking the public for input on a new law: the Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2026 (AIHW FDSV summary; DSS consultations). A federal parliamentary committee is also running an inquiry into whether being a victim of this kind of violence is linked to suicide (aph.gov.au).
The data behind those headline numbers, last updated on 18 August 2026 by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), shows the burden falls heaviest on the youngest Australians. In 2024, 56% of recorded sexual assault victims were under 18 — about 22,400 victims. The rate was highest among people aged 10–17, at 519 per 100,000 people (AIHW, police-reported sexual assault data published 18 August 2026; AIHW, child sexual abuse). Sixty per cent of women aged 15–17 had been sexually harassed at work in the previous five years, compared with 27% of women aged 50–64, according to the Australian Human Rights Commission (AIHW, young women).
Where you live makes a difference, too. The rate of hospitalisations for family and domestic violence in 2024–25 was highest for people in very remote areas (AIHW, factors associated with FDSV). A separate AIHW report from May 2026 looked at how young people hospitalised due to family and domestic violence use health services (AIHW, 7 August 2026).
The Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commission — a government body that advises on policy and advocates for victims — has been pushing the government to go beyond listening to children and young people and actually take action. In June 2026, the Commission put out a media release titled "New report urges action for children and young people experiencing violence — not just listening," based on experiences shared with Plibersek and Assistant Minister for Social Services and Prevention of Family Violence Ged Kearney (DFSV Commission, 9 June 2026). Plibersek spoke about ending family, domestic and sexual violence at Labor's national conference in August, saying too many women and children have been killed (Plibersek, 10 August 2026).
The broader context here is that these numbers are a problem for the government. A 64% rise over 15 years, a record high in 2024, and a drop of less than 1% in 2025 is not a trend any minister wants to be responsible for. Plibersek's choice to read a mother's letter instead of leading with the statistics is a familiar move in Parliament, and a good one — it puts a human face on an issue that can feel like just numbers. But what the mother was responding to is the data, and the data is barely shifting. The expert advisory council, the proposed new law, the parliamentary inquiry, and the National Plan running to 2036 are all steps in a process. Whether that process turns into real results is the question that will follow this government, and the next one, for the next decade.
