The latest figures come from the first comprehensive report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare looking at sexual, family and domestic violence in Australia.
The report has drawn from 20 different major sources including recent Australian Bureau of Statistics data to build a picture of what is known about family, domestic and sexual violence in Australia.
Louise York from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare explains how the data was gathered.
"There is some evidence that some of the types of violence are going up over time": Louise York. Source: SBS News
"So we looked at survey data as well as about the responses to these types of violence such as police data, hospital data and supported homelessness service data," Ms York told SBS News.
"What the report shows is that over time violence over all in the community has been going down. But there is no real evidence that that is the case for family domestic and sexual violence, and in fact there is some evidence that some of the types of violence are going up over time."
Women remain at greater risk of violence and certain groups are more vulnerable, including young women, pregnant women and Indigenous girls.
domestic violence Source: AAP
The effect on children exposed to violence can also be lifelong, with children who were physically or sexually abused before the age of 15 more likely to also be victims as adults.
