Chapter 3 — Social and demographic profile of witnesses

Age at time of hearing

At the time of their hearings 656 of the 791 witnesses (83%) were over 49 years of age, with 57 of those witnesses aged over 70 years. See Table 10 for more complete details:

Age range	Males	%	Females	%	Total witnesses	%
30 – 39 years	12	3	6	2	18	2
40 – 49 years	54	13	63	17	117	15
50 – 59 years	186	45	193	51	379	48
60 – 69 years	119	29	101	27	220	28
70 + years	42	10	15	4	57	7
Total	413	100	378	(100)*	791	100

As the table demonstrates, 76% of the total number of witnesses who gave evidence in relation to Schools were aged between 50 and 70 years at the time of the hearing. There were some differences between the ages of the male and female witnesses, with 74% of male witnesses aged between 50 and 70 compared with 78% of female witnesses. In addition, 6% more male witnesses were aged over 70 years.

Chapter 4 provides information on the reported circumstances that led to these witnesses being placed in out-of-home care as children.