Domestic violence against children, including sexual assault, in Australia has risen dramatically in the last five years, according to new research.
Sexual violence against boys aged 17 and younger rose by 50 per cent in three years from 2021, while the same type of violence against girls aged between 10 and 17 rose by 51 per cent in the 10 years between 2014 and 2024, according to a study by the University of Sydney.
Experts say domestic violence and sexual assault against children is reaching a “crisis point”. Nine
Dr Lucy Grummitt, lead author of the study, which was published in JAMA Network Open, said the data should be a wake-up call for governments and authorities to take greater action against domestic and sexual violence against children.
“We are at a crisis point,” she said.
“Sexual assault and family and domestic violence have increased over the decade, but what’s particularly concerning is that the steepest increases were in the last three to five years.”
According to the Red Heart Movement, run by the Australian Femicide Watch, 23 Australian children have been killed in alleged domestic violence incidents in 2026.
This includes a five-year-old child who was allegedly stabbed to death by their mother in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, last month.
The study used data collated by the Australia Bureau of Statistics, as well as the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
The data showed family and domestic violence related assault against both boys and girls rose sharply in 2020, corresponding with the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and wide-scale lockdowns across Australia.
The paper noted this was a key reason behind the rising rates of violence against children.
“The COVID-19 pandemic, with lockdowns leading to increased time spent within households, reducing access to external support or opportunities to detect family and domestic violence,” it said.
“Subsequent cost-of-living pressures intensified in the post-pandemic period, correlating with increases.”
There was no major change in child hospitalisations from assault-related injuries, though Grummitt said this data is actually more concerning than it seems on the surface, as it suggests some support networks and services may be unable to meet the rising number of cases.
“Our child maltreatment rates describe substantiated cases, meaning they have undergone an investigation by child protective services,” she said.
“One concern is that the declines we found reflect an issue with system capacity rather than a true decline in exposure.
“State and territory child protection agencies may not have the capacity to investigate all reports of abuse they receive, with the proportion of cases investigated over the past decade declining from half to one third.”
Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).