Methods

Data source and sample

This analysis draws on the 2021 National Community Attitudes towards Violence against Women Survey (NCAS), a national survey measuring community attitudes and understanding related to violence against women and gender inequality (8). The NCAS uses a stratified random sampling approach to achieve a representative sample of Australians aged 16 years and older (n = 19,100) (8). Respect Victoria funded an additional 1,500 interviews in Victoria, increasing the Victorian sample to 6,143 respondents and enabling more detailed item-level analysis within the state (8). Demographic variables collected in the NCAS include gender, enabling disaggregation of item responses where sample sizes permit (8).

The NCAS was administered primarily via computer-assisted telephone interviewing to mobile phone numbers, consistent with prior NCAS waves (8). An online bridging survey (push-to-web) pilot is described separately in the NCAS technical report and is not the focus of this analysis (8). 

Measures

Analyses were conducted at the item level for three NCAS scales (8):

• Attitudes towards Violence against Women Scale (AVAWS): 43 Likert-scale items across three subscales (Minimise Violence, Mistrust Women, Objectify Women). Higher scores reflect greater rejection of violence-supportive attitudes.
• Attitudes towards Gender Inequality Scale (AGIS): 17 Likert-scale items across five subscales (Reinforce gender roles, Undermine leadership, Limit autonomy, Normalise sexism, Deny inequality). Higher scores reflect more gender-egalitarian attitudes.
• Understanding of Violence against Women Scale (UVAWS): 19 items assessing recognition of violence and understanding of its gendered nature across three subscales (Recognise Violence Against Women, Recognise Domestic Violence, Understand Gendered Domestic Violence).

Analysis

Two complementary analyses were conducted.

1. Item–scale correlations: For each scale (AVAWS, AGIS, UVAWS), item–scale correlations were calculated to identify items most strongly associated with overall scale scores. Higher absolute correlations indicate items that more strongly differentiate respondents with higher versus lower overall scores on the relevant scale.
2. Item distributions and gender differences: Descriptive statistics were used to examine agreement distributions and variability for individual items, including the proportion agreeing (‘strongly agree’ + ‘somewhat agree’), standard deviation (SD) as an indicator of dispersion, and gender differences in agreement.

These analyses address two research questions: Research Question 1 (RQ1): ‘Which specific attitude items most strongly differentiate overall scale scores in Victoria?’; and Research Question 2 (RQ2): ‘How are Victorians divided on specific attitude items, and which items show the strongest gender differences?’, including where endorsement is common, where responses are polarised, and where gender differences are concentrated.