Australians' attitudes to violence against women

Findings from the 2017 NCAS (National Community Attitudes towards Violence against Women Survey) are now available

The findings of the latest NCAS were released in November 2018 by ANROWS (Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety) and VicHealth. This was the fourth survey conducted in Australia. The NCAS investigates changes in community attitudes in relation to violence against women and gender equality and discusses strategies to prevent violence against women and promote gender equality at every level.

In May 2019 ANROWS and VicHealth released the 2017 NCAS Youth Report which describes young Australian's attitudes to violence against women and gender equality. The Youth Report reveals the attitudes of young people aged 16-24 as well as changes in attitudes over time, and also highlights differences in attitudes between young women and young men.

All reports, videos and other materials from the 2017 NCAS are now available at ncas.anrows.org.au

The special report on attitudes among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians is available here.

Findings from the 2013 National Community Attitudes towards Violence Against Women Survey (NCAS).

Violence against women is widely recognised as a global issue. It is an often invisible, but common form of violence, and an insidious violation of human rights. It has serious impacts on the health and wellbeing of those affected and exacts significant economic costs on communities and nations.

The National Community Attitudes towards Violence Against Women Survey (or NCAS) was developed by VicHealth in partnership with The University of Melbourne, the Social Research Centre and experts across Australia, and supported by the Australian Government Department of Social Services as part of the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children 2010–2022.

In 2013 VicHealth conducted the third national survey of community attitudes. The first survey was undertaken in 1995 and the second in 2009. The NCAS reports and resources on this webpage provide a snapshot of community attitudes to violence at 2013 and over time, and point to the need for future prevention activity. 

Downloads

Resource 1: Summary Report (PDF, 294KB) 8-page highlights report on key survey findings. 

Resource 2: NCAS Report (PDF, 2.89MB) 100-page summary report on survey findings and their implications for the prevention policy and programming.

Resource 3: Full Technical Report (PDF, 2.56MB) 500-page Detailed report on survey methodology, questionnaire development and relevant literature.

Resource 4: Appendixes (PDF, 1.93MB) Appendix to the Full Technical Report.

Resource 5: NCAS - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders’ Attitudes toward violence against women (PDF, 298KB).  This report is a summary of key findings as they pertain to people identifying as of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent or origin (341 respondents).  

Resource 6: NCAS – Attitudes towards Violence Against Women among people born in Non-Main English Speaking Countries (PDF, 306KB). This report summarises findings of the for respondents who were born overseas in a country in which English is not the main language spoken (3,453 respondents).

Young Australians' attitudes towards violence against women

The Young Australian’s Attitudes towards Violence Against Women report (the summary Youth Report) (675 KB) focuses on the responses given by 1,923 young people aged between 16 – 24 years who participated in NCAS.  These findings are compared with those aged 35 – 64 years of age, enabling results to be compared between two generations: young people and their parents. The report identifies positive attitudes and some areas of concern with regard to the attitudes of young people on violence. 

View the full Youth Report here. (915 KB)

Young Australians' attitudes towards violence against women

Watch the video

Resource 7: NCAS Infographics

The NCAS infographics are tools for advocates working in the prevention of violence against women. Each infographic helps to tell the story about how attitudes shape social norms and influence behaviour. 

Download the PDF version (1MB)