Publications.

Allambee is proud to have commissioned the UWA Public Policy Institute to undertake this landmark report estimating the lifetime costs of sexual assault and abuse across health, justice, education, and employment systems. It reveals the compounding financial and social toll of inaction and makes the case for sustained investment in recovery and prevention.
 

Sexual violence is a pervasive issue in Australia, affecting victim-survivors, their families, communities, and demands a profound allocation of taxpayer and community resources.

Quantifying the economic cost of sexual violence, provides governments and policymakers with critical evidence of the value of sustained investment in specialist sexual violence services to ensure better outcomes for victim-survivors into the future.

Specialist sexual violence services are the epicentre of sexual violence response and prevention in Australia, providing a highly specialised suite of service responses for tens of thousands of victim-survivors each year and yet they remain critically underfunded.

Increasing incidents of sexual violence are colliding with strained and under-capacity services, with many people facing lengthy wait times for support.  

This delay in critical supports is creating real and significant long-term harm increasing the risk of chronic health issues, justice involvement, family instability and reduced workforce participation.

The report recommends sustained and strategic investment in specialist services, functional data systems, evaluation, and best practice service models to provide lasting impacts to victim-survivors, their families, the wider community and the Australian economy.

The cost burden is not evenly shared across society

Most of the cost burden falls on the individual and society, through disruptions to employment, earnings and healthy years lived. 

The remaining costs are shared between the Commonwealth and state governments through foregone tax revenue and welfare, justice and health spending.