New research by the University of Sydney finds that rates of violence and sexual violence against children in Australia have increased sharply over the past decade, with acceleration in more recent years. The study reports higher levels of both sexual assault and violence linked to family violence involving children.
The outlets broadly agree that the increases run from 2014 to 2024 and that the trend is most pronounced in the last three to five years. While the stories focus on the overall rise and describe the findings as reaching a “crisis point,” they do not present differing figures or competing explanations. Instead, they consistently frame the research as new recorded-data evidence indicating worsening outcomes for young people, particularly young girls and boys.
