This week, a report published by the ABC discussed alleged sexual misconduct by massage therapists in Ballarat.
“The accused men have denied all allegations, with one claiming the accusations stem from social media where “it’s statistically proven 78 per cent of [it] is false and most of it is from females” Confused? As was I.
Apart from demonstrating a limited understanding of how statistics work, it repeats the same tired claim every time we hear allegations of sexual violence. It is also completely unsupported by any credible evidence.
The reality is clear and consistent across decades of research. False allegations of sexual violence are uncommon. The best Australian and international studies place deliberately false reports in the low single digits. A figure frequently cited by police, researchers and frontline services is about five per cent.
What we do see, repeatedly, is the opposite problem. Most sexual assaults in Australia are never reported to police. The ABS Personal Safety Survey shows that most women who experience sexual assault do not come forward at all. Those who do enter a criminal justice system marked by high attrition and low conviction rates. Cases fall away. Charges do not progress. Survivors withdraw because the process is too traumatising or too slow or because they lose faith that anything will change. The crisis is under reporting and systemic failure, not fabrication.
These are not abstract trends. They were front and centre at the National Sexual Violence Roundtable the Working with Women Alliance hosted with Assistant Minister Ged Kearney. In that room, across every discipline, there was no dispute about the real problem. Not one expert raised “false allegations” as a major issue. What they raised instead was the crushing weight of unmet need. The impossibly long waiting lists for specialist services. The lack of consistency in police responses across jurisdictions. The gaps in evidence collection, crisis support and ongoing therapeutic care. The message was unanimous. The system is buckling under the scale and urgency of sexual violence in this country.
Although sexual violence offences carry very high maximum penalties on paper, the reality is very different in practice. Australia’s sentencing landscape is uneven, under reported and far more lenient than many Australians assume. Maximum penalties of 12, 20 or even 25 years appear severe in legislation but sentencing council data and case reviews across jurisdictions tell a different story. Many offenders receive sentences well below those maxima, and in some jurisdictions, there are still instances where sexual assault cases end in community based orders rather than full time custody.
The ACT remains a clear example. Dr Rachel Burgin’s independent review noted that many survivors feel that sentencing outcomes do not reflect the seriousness of sexual harm and that the continued use of non-custodial penalties has caused a loss of confidence in the criminal justice process. When the outcome does not match the harm, survivors rightly feel betrayed. It strengthens the silence that already surrounds sexual violence and reinforces the belief that reporting is unsafe.
At the same time, the claim that false allegations lead to no consequences is simply untrue. Knowingly making a false criminal report is illegal everywhere in Australia. These offences usually carry maximum penalties of one to two years imprisonment. More serious conduct, such as deliberately making a false accusation intended to have someone prosecuted or giving false evidence under oath, is prosecuted as perjury or perverting the course of justice and carries significantly higher penalties. The idea that women can lie with impunity is a myth that has no grounding in law or fact.
Which brings us back to why this public fixation on false allegations is so corrosive. National attitudes research shows that many Australians still believe that a large proportion of reports made by women are false. Researchers describe this belief as a myth that survives because it is culturally convenient. It creates a ready-made excuse to doubt women. It minimises violence. It shifts blame away from perpetrators and into the hands of those who have already been harmed.
False allegations exist and must be dealt with responsibly. But they are a very small part of the picture. The real crisis is the violence that is never reported and never prosecuted. The real crisis is the silence that women are forced into because they know what disbelief feels like. The real crisis is the gap between what survivors need and what our systems currently deliver.
Australia has a choice. We can allow myths to shape our responses, or we can commit to evidence and reform. The National Sexual Violence Roundtable made the answer clear. Women are asking for truth, investment and a system that meets the scale of the problem. They are not asking for suspicion. They are not asking for outdated myths to be repeated as fact. They are asking to be believed.
If we want a safer country, we have to start by telling the truth. Women already pay the price for the violence they survive. They should not also be forced to pay the price of unfounded disbelief.
If you or someone you know is in immediate danger, call 000.
If you need help and advice call 1800 Respect on 1800 737 732, Men’s Referral Service on 1300 766 491 or Lifeline on 13 11 14.