Are younger or older Australians more likely to experience alcohol-related violence?
Younger Australians are generally more likely to experience alcohol-related violence than older Australians. Australians aged 18-24 years are the age group most likely to experience physical abuse, verbal abuse, and/or being put in fear by someone under the influence of alcohol (34%), followed by those aged 25-29 years (32%).
12% of Australians aged 14-17 years experienced alcohol-related violence in the past 12 months, compared to 34% of 18-24 year olds; 32% of 25-29 year olds; 25% of 30-39 year olds; 22% of 40-49 year olds; 21% of 50-59 year olds; 14% of 60-69 year olds; and 9% of 70+ year olds.
Source: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW). 2019 National Drug Strategy Household Survey.
Alcohol-Related Violence: An incident of physical abuse, verbal abuse or being put in fear, in which the perpetrator or victim reports that alcohol use contributed to the violence.
Physical Abuse: An act which causes pain and/or injury to the victim.
Put in Fear: Feeling threatened and/or afraid for one’s personal safety due to the actions, speech or behaviour of another.
Under the Influence of Alcohol: There is no single objective standard for being under the influence of alcohol. Similarly, data sources used in the NADK do not provide a definition of this term. It is popularly understood as referring to an individual who has consumed enough alcohol to impair their mental, physical, and/or cognitive faculties. However, definitions and standards may vary between jurisdictions, sectors and organisations.
Verbal Abuse: Speech which is designed to humiliate, degrade, demean, intimidate, or subjugate (including the threat of physical violence).