Joint media release - Domestic violence and sexual assault on the rise

Senator Kerrynne Liddle
Shadow Minister for Social Services
Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians
Senator for South Australia

Melissa McIntosh MP
Shadow Minister for Communications
Shadow Minister for Women
Federal Member for Lindsay

Senator Maria Kovacic
Shadow Assistant Minister for Child Protection and the Prevention of Family Violence
Shadow Assistant Minister for Women
Shadow Assistant Minister to the Leader of the Opposition
Senator for New South Wales

Domestic violence and sexual assaults on the rise

4 September 2025

Yesterday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released crime statistics from across Australia for 2024. Sexual violence is getting worse.

Between 2022 and 2024, sexual assaults rose 17% and, notably, family violence homicides and related offences increased nearly 65%.

In 2024, there were 99 women who died from family and domestic violence related homicide.

Shadow Minister for Social Services and Indigenous Australians, Senator Kerrynne Liddle, said, “family and domestic violence remains a key Coalition priority.”

“The latest ABS statistics confirm that Australian families are enduring a sustained family violence epidemic which the Albanese Government is not turning the dial on.

“We are united in wanting to better address well-known drivers of violence, including addiction, and to get the funding it promised out the door quicker. Critically, the stand-alone Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Action Plan has been delayed for far too long.

“The Coalition will continue to hold the Albanese Government to account and seek greater emphasis on prevention and early intervention aligned with the priorities in the National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children.”

Shadow Minister for Women, Melissa McIntosh MP said, “it is totally unacceptable that there are significant rises in domestic violence and sexual assaults across Australia. Women and children must be safe in their own homes.”

“In 2024, 81% of sexual assault victims were female and family and domestic violence related homicide victims were most commonly women. The Albanese Government must take these reports seriously and let the Australian people know what more they are doing to urgently address this alarming increase in violence against women.”

“The women of Australia deserve better.”

Shadow Assistant Minister for Child Protection and the Prevention of Family Violence, Senator Maria Kovacic said, “family and domestic violence is our nation's greatest shame.”

“Over the last 3 years, rates of family and domestic violence homicides have sky-rocketed and I am especially worried about the number of young victims. Family and domestic violence sexual assault victims have increased by 16% from 2023, with 32% of those victims aged between 10 and 17 at the time of the incident.”

“This is our greatest national shame, and it deserves more than silence. Tanya Plibersek, Katy Gallagher and Ged Kearney need to explain how we can address these numbers, which have skyrocketed over the last 3 years.”

“Behind every number in this report is a parent or child not coming home anymore, or a family member whose life has been stolen.”

The Coalition will work constructively with the Government to tackle our country’s greatest national shame – family and domestic violence.