Background: Violence is an important determinant of health, it has been related to poor mental health, increased suicide risk and poor physical health. People with disability are at particular risk of violence. Little is known about disability-related inequalities in violence trends in Australia. We examined: (i) the trend in the prevalence of violence among people with and without disability, (ii) trends in disability related inequalities in violence exposure on relative and absolute scales, (iii) whether these trends differed by age, sex, and disability groups.

Methods: We used data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey from people aged 15-64 years. We conducted age standardisation to adjust for age differences between people with and without disability, standardising to the Australian standard population of 2001. We estimated prevalence of violence for people with and without disability, as well as absolute and relative inequalities, for the periods 2003-2006, 2007-2010, 2011-2014, 2015-2018, 2019-2022. Analyses were stratified by 10-year age categories, sex and disability groups (sensory, physical, psychological, injury, and other).

Results: The age-standardised-population-weighted prevalence of violence was consistently higher among people with disability than among people without disability across the study period. Our aged-stratified analyses showed some evidence that disability-related inequalities increased among those aged 25-34 years. When comparing males and females, the prevalence of violence was highest among women with disability compared with all other groups across 2003-2022, and relative inequalities were substantially higher among women in the period 2011-2014 (PR: 4.59, 95% CI: 2.25-6.92). Across disability groups, people with psychological disability displayed the most pronounced differences in violence prevalence (compared with those without psychological disability).

Conclusion: Inequalities in the distribution of violence between people with and without disability were persistent throughout 2003-2022. The findings highlight the urgent need for targeted support to ensure safety for people with disability.