Three quarters of young Aussies have been abused online or in person during the last 12 months

A shock survey has found most young Aussies have been the victims of online or face-to-face abuse in the past year. See who is most at risk.

Three quarters of young people say they have been abused online or in person in the last year, a shocking survey has found.

Three in 10 people aged 15 to 24 years have suffered sexist abuse, while one in five say they have been sexually harassed.

More than 20 per cent say they have been on the receiving end of homophobic slurs.

Unwanted sexts are also an issue, with one in five respondents receiving an unsolicited nude photo from someone in the last year and the same number again saying they have been asked to send one, when they didn’t want to.

It comes as the generation that grew up with the internet is split over whether social media is good for them.

Siblings Mitchell Dunbar, 16, with his sister Erin Dunbar, 18. Picture By Ryan Osland

The Big Youth Survey undertaken by Year13, an organisation which helps young people into work, study or uni after Year 12, found that far more females than males are abused.

Year13 Co-founder Saxon Phipps said 71 per cent of females have experienced some type of abuse in the last year compared with 54 per cent of males. While 96 per cent of non-binary and non-conforming said they have been victims.

“From this we can see the reality that females are far more likely to be victimised while just going through their day to day life than males are,” Mr Phipps said.

“These are societal issues.”

The survey of more than 1300 young people did, however, find males are more likely to experience online and in person bullying than females.

Females are more likely to suffer sexual harassment and sexism.

Erin Dunbar, 18, said like most young women she regularly receives weird messages from men, saying things like, “You’re really cute and I want to do this or that to you,” she said.

“But that’s life on the internet.

“There are creepy people, being creepy people.”

Her brother Mitchell, 16, said his male friend gave away personal information to someone online who started blackmailing him.

Both siblings said they’re pretty cynical about what they see online and are always on the lookout for bots sending computerised messages trying to get their details so they can scam them.

Youth survey results – Their name is Louis, 18, (surname withheld). They have been abused in the street.

Louis, 18, who did not want to give a surname and prefers the pronouns they/them, said they came out as non-binary and queer, aged 14.

They have been followed in the street by males of various ages and abused because of their appearance.

“They would say, ‘What’s in your pants?’, ‘Are you a boy or a girl?’, ‘Are you one of those transgenders?’” said Louis, who has also suffered ableism, due to having autism.

It comes as around more than a third (37 per cent) of 15 to 24-year-olds said they have had a more negative than positive school experience.

That figure rose to 53 per cent among young people from poorer backgrounds.

Half believe social media is bad for them

This is the generation that has grown up on Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat, but are now split as to whether social media is good for them.

The results show that 50.4 per cent of 15 to 24-year-olds surveyed in the Big Youth Survey believe social media is a positive influence in their lives, while 49.6 say it is a negative influence.

Makia Bailey, 15, who spends around two hours a day scrolling through her feeds said it was a positive influence because she can keep up with friends.

But her friend Neisha Macleod, 15, said it could also have a negative impact on users.

“Sometimes it can take away from real life experiences if people spend too much time on it,” she said. “It can also set false expectations.”

Left to right: Charlie Woolf, 15, Makia Bailey, 15, Neisha Macleod, 15, Hamish Corcoran, 15. Picture: Ryan Osland

Charlie Woolf, 15, who spends a lot of time on his phone when he’s at home, said being able to connect with people was a positive but “just posting and consuming social media is not good for you”.

“Some people put things out about their life that are not true and sometimes that makes others feel bad,” he said.

While his mate Hamish Corcoran, 15, said it depends how you use social media as to whether it is a positive or a negative.

“Posting and talking to people you don’t know is not good,” he said.

Psychologist Deirdre Bradner said it was encouraging that half of young people recognise that social media can be detrimental in their lives because it shows an “awareness of the issues”.

“Is this information objective? How much is this interrupting my life? Does it control me?” Ms Bradner said. “These are the types of questions they need to ask themselves.”

Originally published as Three quarters of young Aussies have been abused online or in person during the last 12 months