Police-recorded sexual violence offences have reached their highest level since national figures were first released over 30 years ago, prompting renewed calls for sexual violence to become a distinct, properly funded national priority.
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The Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commission’s 2026 Yearly Report to Parliament found recorded offences at their highest level since the Australian Bureau of Statistics began releasing national data in 1993.
But the Commission warned police figures captured a fraction of the sexual violence occurring across Australia, with reporting rates remaining extremely low.
This means the record doesn’t represent the full prevalence of sexual violence, only incidents reported to police and recorded as offences.
The Commission said repeated inquiries had also documented poor responses experienced by victim-survivors across the justice, family law, health, education and community service systems.
Despite the record number of reports, National Plan measures show no sustained reduction in recorded sexual assault and related offences since the 2022–23 baseline.
The report warned that increased contact with police and the justice system doesn’t show that fewer people are committing sexual violence or that victim-survivors are safer.
Most recorded sexual assaults occur outside intimate relationships.
Almost 60 per cent of sexual assaults recorded by police occur outside family and intimate partner relationships, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics data in the report.
The finding challenges the tendency to treat sexual violence primarily as part of domestic and family violence policy.
While the forms of violence frequently overlap, sexual violence can also be perpetrated by acquaintances, colleagues, friends, dates, authority figures and strangers.
The Commission said sexual violence had distinct drivers, impacts and prevention, service and justice requirements that demanded specific attention.
It found sexual violence was often treated as an addition to broader domestic and family violence reform instead of as a serious form of violence requiring its own coordinated response.
“Sexual violence requires targeted and sustained national attention, investment and reform,” the report said.
Victim-survivors face fragmented systems
People with lived experience told the Commission they had to navigate fragmented services and systems without consistent support.
One consultation participant said no one was responsible for holding together the different parts of a victim-survivor’s experience.
The report found poor outcomes were being reported across different forms of sexual violence and across prevention, early intervention, response, recovery and healing.
It called for a stronger national approach to understanding the drivers of sexual violence, evaluating effective interventions and translating that evidence into policy and practice.
The Commission said national reforms must recognise the overlap between domestic, family and sexual violence without letting sexual violence in other contexts disappear from policy, funding or public reporting.
Commission calls for dedicated national priority
The Commission recommended that sexual violence receive distinct and properly resourced priority within the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022–2032.
The recommendation would require governments to ensure sexual violence remains visible within national policy, research, investment, prevention and service responses.
It also called for greater coordination between the Second Action Plan under the National Plan, Australia’s child-safety frameworks, the dedicated national plan addressing violence against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and children, and the National Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Child Sexual Abuse.
The report identified workforce pressure as a significant concern, with consultation participants describing high burnout and staff turnover among specialist sexual violence workers.
Without sustained investment and a qualified specialist workforce, the Commission warned services will struggle to meet demand or provide victim-survivors consistent trauma-informed support.
The finding forms part of the Commission’s broader conclusion that Australia has strengthened its response to domestic, family and sexual violence but cannot yet show that its policies and investments consistently improve safety.
The Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commission’s complete 2026 Yearly Report to Parliament contains further findings on sexual violence, justice-system responses, housing, early intervention and government accountability.