This glossary provides definitions of data items presented on the Sexual offending dashboard.
Adult offenders
Offenders aged 18 years or over at the time of their first police proceeding in the reference period for a sexual offence.
Age group of offenders
Age group at the time of an offender’s police proceeding for a sexual offence for individuals with one sexual offence incident in the reference period or the earliest date of police proceeding for individuals with more than one police proceeding for a sexual offence incident.
Age of victims
The age of the victim is their age in years on the date of the sexual offence. For all data except those provided by Victoria Police, we calculated the age based on the victim’s date of birth and the start date of the sexual offence. For Victorian data, which did not include date of birth, we used the victim’s age at the time of the offence, which was provided by Victoria Police. We used offence names or descriptions and the recorded age of the victim, where applicable, to identify offenders with child sexual offences and non-child sexual offences. For any offences where the victim’s age was inconsistent with the offence description, we changed the age to a missing value. If these victims had any other sexual offences perpetrated against them with offence names that did not specify an age, their age was not changed. This affected our ability to calculate the number of offenders proceeded against for a child and non-child offence. Some offenders with child sexual offences may not have had identified victims.
Alleged offender
Persons aged 10 years and over at the time of an offence who the police have initiated action or proceeded against for one or more sexual offences between 1 July 2021 and 30 June 2022. Action includes arrest, caution and summons on a date in the 2021–22 reference period. Persons aged less than 10 years at the time of a sexual offence were excluded because they were below the age of criminal responsibility during the reference period.
Child sexual abuse material offences
Child sexual abuse material offences involve conduct pertaining to material that sexually depicts children. Every Australian jurisdiction has specifically criminalised the possession, distribution and production of child sexual abuse material.
Child sexual offences
Child sexual offences were defined in the way the relevant jurisdiction defined the applicable offence type. For penetrative or non-penetrative sexual conduct offences, a child sexual offence is an offence against a child under the age of consent for that jurisdiction. The age of consent is 16 years in all jurisdictions that provided data. For persistent sexual abuse offences and enabling unlawful sexual conduct offences, children are defined consistent with the laws of the relevant jurisdiction. To identify child sexual abuse material offences, we used the offence description and applied the relevant jurisdiction’s definition of a child with reference to their depiction, description or some form of representation in the sexual material. For these offences, most states and territories that provided data define a child as being under the age of 16 years (Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia) while two states and territories (Northern Territory, Victoria) define a child as being under 18 years. These variations may mean child sexual abuse material offences include victims with different age ranges for different jurisdictions.
Enabling unlawful sexual conduct
Enabling offences involve various forms of conduct undertaken with the intent of enabling unlawful sexual conduct. These include:
- coercion—making another person do something against their will through the use of violence, force or intimidation, specifically with the intent of engaging in unlawful sexual conduct of some kind;
- deception and trickery—unlawful sexual conduct committed against victims procured through false pretence, false or misleading representation, or fraud; deceptive recruitment of victims into delivering sexual services; and deception regarding sexual health status in the context of sex work;
- use of substances—coercive or deceptive administration of intoxicating substances to render a victim incapacitated so as to allow the offender to engage in unlawful sexual conduct against them;
- procuring, grooming and encouragement—enticing or persuading a person into engaging in unlawful sexual conduct. Because of the nature of this conduct, the offences relate mostly to victims who are children or young people;
- incitement—offences that involve offenders encouraging or making (through whatever means) another person commit a sexual offence;
- facilitation—any conduct that aids or enables another person to commit a sexual offence or to avoid apprehension for a sexual offence;
- causing a child to perform sexual service—conduct that results in a child providing commercial sexual services.
Handling of unlawful sexual material
Handling of unlawful sexual material includes image-based sexual abuse and conduct pertaining to child sexual abuse material.
Image-based sexual abuse
Image-based sexual abuse involves taking and/or distributing an intimate image or recording without the consent of the person depicted, or threatening to take and distribute such material. This material can include depictions of a person engaged in a sexual act, or images of a person’s breasts, genitals or anal region.
Index event
An offender’s index event is the only or first police proceeding for a sexual offence or offences in the reference period. The offender’s age at police proceeding is based on the date of this first police proceeding. Offenders proceeded against for more than one offence type in an index event are counted separately for each offence type where offence types are disaggregated, but they are included only once in the total number of offenders.
Indigenous
Includes Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander. An offender or victim is classified as Indigenous if they identified at least once as Indigenous in 2021–22.
Non-child sexual offence
For penetrative or non-penetrative sexual conduct offences and image-based sexual abuse offences, non-child sexual offences are offences involving victims aged 16 years and over, and for enabling unlawful sexual conduct offences, non-child sexual offences are offences not involving children as defined by the relevant jurisdiction.
Non-Indigenous
An offender was classified as non-Indigenous if they identified as non-Indigenous each time in 2021–22 or if they had an Indigenous status of non-Indigenous on at least one occasion and a status of ‘not stated’ on the remaining occasions.
Non-penetrative sexual conduct
Non-penetrative sexual conduct includes a range of behaviours involving sexual physical contact without penetration. These refer broadly to conduct of a sexual nature, including sexualised touching or touching of the genitalia, and sexual behaviours or gestures in the presence of a victim.
Offence type
Sexual offences are categorised into broad types of conduct based on categories developed by an extensive national review of child sexual abuse and sexual assault legislation in Australia by the Australian Institute of Criminology. The categories are: penetrative or non-penetrative sexual conduct, persistent sexual abuse, handling of unlawful sexual material (including image-based sexual abuse and conduct pertaining to child sexual abuse material), and conduct done to enable unlawful sexual conduct.
Penetrative sexual conduct
Sexual intercourse with or penetration (to any extent) of another person. This does not include penetration carried out for proper medical or hygienic purposes, or any other purpose authorised by law.
Persistent sexual abuse
Persistent sexual abuse offences apply in circumstances where a child has been subjected to ongoing patterns of sexual abuse in which repeated instances of sexual offending are perpetrated by an offender over a period of time.
Proceeded against
A legal action initiated by police against an alleged offender for an offence or offences.
Reference period
The financial year beginning 1 July 2021 and ending 30 June 2022.
Relationship with primary victim
This refers to the offender’s relationship to the only victim if one victim was involved in the sexual offending or the closest relationship to a victim if more than one was involved. The closest relationship is intimate partner (including former intimate partners), followed by non-intimate partner family member, non-family member known to victim and stranger.
Sex
Data presented refer to an individual’s sex (ie sex characteristics) rather than gender (ie ‘social and cultural identity, expression and experience’; ABS 2021). This reflects the definitions in the data provided by the source organisations.
Sexual offence
A sexual offence includes any offence within Australian and New Zealand Standard Offence Classification (ANZSOC), (third edition) Division 03: Sexual assault and related offences (ABS 2011). Data were requested from police before the release of the 2023 edition of ANZSOC. Division 03 of the 2011 edition defines sexual assault and related offences as ‘acts, or intent of acts, of a sexual nature against another person, which are non-consensual or where consent is proscribed’. It excludes sexual servitude offences, which are classified as a slavery-like offence. It also excludes offences against public order sexual standards (eg prostitution) as these offences do not involve an unwilling victim and are therefore not considered assault. It also excludes sexual acts that do not require a specific victim (eg indecent exposure, lewdness) and sexual acts not committed against a person (eg bestiality, necrophilia). Abduction, taking, detention or enticement for sexual purposes (where known) are also excluded.
Youth offenders
Offenders aged under 18 years at the time of their first police proceeding in 2021–22 for a sexual offence.