One in four people think women falsify or exaggerate claims of rape and domestic violence, according to the federally funded survey of more than 10,000 Australians.
And one in five think domestic violence is excusable if the attacker regrets what they have done.
Despite this, 98 per cent or respondents recognise domestic violence is a crime, up from 93 per cent in a similar 1995 survey.
VicHealth, which compiled the results, says despite the wide range of conflicting views, Australian attitudes are changing for the better.
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In the 1995 survey one in seven respondents said women who were raped had asked for it, compared to one in 20 in the latest survey.
VicHealth CEO Todd Harper says efforts to improve the safety of women and change community attitudes have begun to pay off.
"However, the sheer numbers of women affected by violence, mostly committed by the men with whom they share their lives, remain horrific," he said in a statement.
"So we must do everything we can to challenge the kind of attitudes, behaviours and practices that allow violence against women to flourish."
Minister for the Status of Women Tanya Plibersek told ABC Radio there were many areas "where we (federal government) need to do a lot of work with the community to really improve attitudes towards violence against women".
Men and younger people were more likely to tolerate domestic assaults on women, the survey showed.
And it predicted that one in three women would be assaulted in their lifetime.
