A demographic profile of deaths due to interpersonal violence in New South Wales

Abstract

When one person or a small group of people intentionally inflicts an injury on another person or persons, an act of interpersonal violence is committed. Each act of interpersonal violence has many different factors associated with it. These include the type of relationship between the persons involved (for example, partners, caretaker-child), the nature of the act (for example, physical violence), the demographics of the people involved, the method or means used to commit the act, the events leading up to the act and the environment or location the act took place in. Interpersonal violence can result in a range of outcomes, including emergency department visits, hospitalisations and even death. Information about different factors related to interpersonal violence can be obtained using a number of data sources, including death records. This article presents annual age-standardised death rates in NSW due to interpersonal violence for the period 1986–2003 and a demographic profile of these deaths for the years 1999–2003.