Six times more sexual assault reports than robberies: Productivity Commission

The number of people reporting sexual assault has jumped by nearly 50 per cent over the past decade, according to a Productivity Commission report.

The number of Australians reporting sexual assault has jumped by nearly 50 per cent over the past decade.

The number of people reporting sexual assault has jumped by nearly 50 per cent over the past decade, according to a Productivity Commission report into the state of the justice system, with six times more Australians disclosing sexual assaults than unarmed robberies.

The report, released on Monday, shows that about 0.12 per cent of the population (124 out of 100,000 Australians) reported that they had been sexually assaulted in 2022, compared to about 0.09 per cent (87 out of 100,000) in 2013.

The commission did not measure how many of the complaints resulted in a conviction.

Comparatively, 19 in every 100,000 Australians reported they had been the victim of an unarmed robbery in 2022, a number that has dropped marginally since 2013 (26 in 100,000).

About two in every 100,000 people was a victim of homicide in 2022 – a figure that has largely stayed the same over the past 10 years – and about 18 in every 100,000 Australians reported an armed robbery, down from 24 in 100,000 a decade ago.

The commission’s overview of the justice system was released as part of the annual Report on Government Services, which looked into the state of expenditure, resources and efficiencies across various government sectors.

NSW was the jurisdiction with the highest reported proportion of sexual assault complaints, with 152 in every 100,000 people in the state disclosing an incident. This was up from 110 in every 100,000 people in 2013.

The Northern Territory followed closely behind (144 in every 100,000), followed by Queensland (140 in 100,000), Western Australia (113 in 100,000) and South Australia (100 in 100,000).

In Tasmania, 98 in 100,000 people reported a sexual assault, in Victoria the number was 92 in 100,000 and in the ACT it was 71.

The report comes just one week after Labor revealed the latest step in its $14.7m commitment to tackle issues with the way sexual assault complaints are prosecuted, announcing an Australian Law Reform Commission review into the criminal justice system.

The review, announced by Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus last Tuesday, will investigate frameworks about evidence, court processes and jury directions and laws about consent.

The inquiry will also consider whether more training is needed for judges, lawyers and police to enable “trauma-informed and culturally safe justice responses”.

The terms state that the inquiry will investigate “laws and frameworks about evidence, court procedures/processes and jury directions”, “laws about consent”, and “policies, practices, decision-making and oversight and accountability mechanisms for police and prosecutors”.

It will also look into “support and services available to people who experience sexual violence”.

“This should include consideration of current supports such as legal assistance, appropriately trained and accredited interpreters, witness assistance and intermediaries, and the accessibility of those supports; innovative supports including independent legal representation and information and resources provided to victims and survivors about supports available and justice processes,” the terms of reference read.

It comes amid changes to state legal frameworks regarding sexual assault offences, as various jurisdictions undergo law reform reviews into consent laws.

The Australian revealed earlier this month that a parliamentary committee had recommended the Queensland government adopt a new affirmative consent bill, despite concerns from the state’s law society that the bill could criminalise married couples having spontaneous sex and be misused in messy divorce cases.

NSW, the ACT, Tasmania and Victoria have reformed consent laws in recent years to adopt an affirmative model, in the wake of the #MeToo movement.