Longitudinal Studies

“We have to see evidence of success as points of light all around us and join them up to create a universe of opportunity for our children. These results from the Footprints in Time data provide more points of light.”

Professor Mick Dodson AM
Director National Centre for Indigenous Studies, Australian National University Chair of the Footprints in Time Steering Committee, 2003 to 2021

Our mission

We seek to improve the lifetime wellbeing of people and families in Australia. We pursue this mission through the creation and promotion of longitudinal evidence. The evidence informs policies and practices to improve the lifetime wellbeing of people and families in Australia.

To achieve this mission we will:

  • produce and manage quality longitudinal data sets and encourage their use
  • foster collaboration between longitudinal survey developers, researchers and policy makers
  • facilitate broader use of longitudinal data

Longitudinal data

Longitudinal data is data collected from the same individuals or other entities over time. Other entities could include households or businesses.

The data can show how actions and events can affect outcomes later in life.

The Longitudinal Studies fact sheet explains longitudinal data and its value in answering critical questions.

Longitudinal surveys

We have four active surveys.

The Journeys Home: A Longitudinal Study of Factors Affecting Housing Stability study is now complete.

These studies follow their own cohort of people over time. The studies chart changes through various life stages and explore the reasons behind them.

Access to datasets

Data is available at no cost through the Australian Data Archive Dataverse platform. If you are an authorised data user, you can download the datasets to:

  • a password-protected PC
  • a secure network
  • an approved cloud service.

There is a Dataverse page for each of the four active longitudinal studies.

For more information, please visit our Dataverse page or contact LongitudinalStudies@dss.gov.au

Research and publications

We are involved in a variety of research projects involving the analysis of longitudinal data and the development of longitudinal research methodology. We analyse the data to inform policy discussion and development.

You can find more about the research on individual study pages including:

  • Technical Reports
  • Annual Statistical Reports
  • Annual Reports
  • Research summaries and data highlights

If you would like to request research on a particular topic of interest, please email LongitudinalStudies@dss.gov.au

Contact

To contact us, email LongitudinalStudies@dss.gov.au

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