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Opinion | As Australia’s temperature rises, so do rates of domestic violence
- Research shows violence in Australia increased with warmer weather, but the effect of heat was greater on domestic violence than other types of violent crime
- Behavioural changes associated with hot weather may create more opportunities and motivation to act aggressively, including in online speech
Reading Time:3 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
Large parts of Australia are currently in the grip of a heatwave, and climate change means we’re in for more frequent and intense heat events into the future.
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We know extreme heat can pose health risks, especially for vulnerable groups. But increasingly, research is highlighting a relationship between hot temperatures and violence.
Our team analysed close to 1 million reported incidents of domestic, non-domestic and sexual assaults over a 13-year period (2006-2018) in New South Wales. We examined trends related to season, temperature, and where the incidents occurred (inside or outside).
We found violence increased with warmer weather. But the effect of heat was greater on domestic violence than other types of violent crime. The reasons, and solutions, are complex.
Rates of assault were higher in summer than in winter in most areas, except for a few places with snow tourism. Overall, domestic, non-domestic and sexual violence rose as temperatures increased from cool to warm.
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