The Australian child maltreatment study: the prevalence of the five types of child maltreatment in Australia

Abstract

Background: The Australian government is committed to reducing child maltreatment and has implemented a range of public health policy and practice initiatives. Reliable data are needed to establish baseline prevalence of maltreatment to inform prevention efforts, and to track change over time. To date, this baseline prevalence data have not been available in Australia. Objectives: To generate estimates of the national prevalence of the five types of child maltreatment (physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, neglect and exposure to domestic violence). Methods: Data from the Australian Child Maltreatment Study (ACMS) were examined to generate prevalence estimates for each of the five types of maltreatment and to establish trends by sex and age group. To comply with conceptual models and international epidemiological practice, participants were deemed to have experienced physical, sexual and exposure to domestic violence if they reported ever experiencing these maltreatment types. For emotional abuse, and for neglect, we applied a chronicity cut-off of experiencing these maltreatment types over a period of weeks or more. Participants were deemed to have experienced multi-type maltreatment if they experienced more than one type of abuse during childhood. Findings: Prevalence rates of physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, neglect and exposure to domestic violence will be reported for the entire sample, and for young people aged 16-24 years. Trends by sex and over time will also be reported. Detailed results are under embargo until March 2022 but have been submitted for publication and will be available for sharing during this symposium. Conclusion: The prevalence of maltreatment and multitype maltreatment in Australia is significant. Given the associations between maltreatment and mental health outcomes and health risk behaviours, targeted efforts to reduce maltreatment are urgently needed. Repeat prevalence studies are needed to track changes.