The Growing Up in Australia team
Growing Up in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children is conducted in partnership between the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA), the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) and the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
- FaHCSIA provides overall management of Growing Up in Australia on behalf of the Australian Government.
- AIFS is responsible for design and content of the study and preparation of research and statistical reports.
- ABS is responsible for data collection and delivery, instrument development and management of the Growing Up in Australia sample.
A consortium of leading researchers at research institutions and universities throughout Australia provides advice to the study. The consortium brings together significant research and management expertise. It includes researchers from a wide range of disciplines, including child development, sociology, epidemiology, public health, family studies, psychology, paediatrics and child health, early childhood education, services and social policy research, and economics. This breadth of expertise ensures comprehensive coverage of influences on child development.
AIFS Growing Up in Australia team
The Institute's Growing Up in Australia team is led by Matthew Gray, Project Executive Director, and Ben Edwards, Senior Research Fellow, Longitudinal Studies.
| Project Executive Director | Daryl Higgins |
| Executive Manager, Longitudinal Studies | Ben Edwards |
| Design Manager | Jacqueline Harvey |
| Data Analyst/Research Fellow | Galina Daraganova |
| Data Manager | Mark Sipthorp |
| Senior Research Officer | Brigit Maguire |
| Senior Research Officer | Jenny Renda |
Consortium Advisory Group members
The Institute is supported by Assoc. Professor Ann Sanson as Principal Scientific Advisor, and the Consortium Advisory Group (CAG) which includes members of each of the Consortium partners. The CAG is chaired by Professor Steve Zubrick and its membership is as follows:
- Dr. John Ainley, Principal Research Fellow and former Head of Research at Australian Council for Educational Research, Melbourne
- Professor Donna Berthelsen, Faculty of Education, Queensland University of Technology
- Professor Michael Bittman, School of Behavioural, Cognitive and Social Sciences, University of New England
- Dr Bruce Bradbury, Senior Research Fellow, Social Policy Research Centre, University of New South Wales
- Assoc. Professor Linda Harrison, School of Teacher Education, Charles Sturt University - Bathurst
- Assoc. Professor Jan Nicholson, Principal Research Fellow, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Melbourne
- Professor Bryan Rodgers, Family Health and Wellbeing, Australian Demographic and Social Research Institute, Australian National University
- Professor Ann Sanson, Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne
- Professor Michael Sawyer, Research and Evaluation Unit, Women's and Children's Hospital, School of Paediatrics and Reproductive Health, University of Adelaide
- Dr Lyndall Strazdins, Fellow, National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Australian National University
- Professor Graham Vimpani (Representative of the National Research Partnership), Director, Child Adolescent and Family Health Service, University of Newcastle
- Professor Melissa Wake, Centre for Community Child Health at the Royal Children's Hospital, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute and University of Melbourne
- Professor Stephen Zubrick, Head, Division of Population Science, Institute for Child Health Research, Perth
Scientific Policy and Advisory Group
An additional advisory group, the Scientific Policy and Advisory Group, was appointed to provide high level strategic, scientific and policy input. It consists of national and international experts in all aspects of child development covered by the study as well as longitudinal research methodology and policy research.
Members are as follows:
Overseas
- Professor Judy Dunn, MRC Research Professor, Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Research Centre, Institute of Psychology, Kings College, University of London
- Professor Jeanne-Brooks Gunn, Teachers College, Columbia University, USA
- Dr Sarah Friedman, Director of the Appalachian Regional Educational Laboratory, USA
- Professor Clyde Hertzman, Department of Health Care and Epidemiology, University of British Columbia, Canada
- Dr Richie Poulton, Director, Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Research Unit, University of Otago, New Zealand
- Dr Gary Resnick, Senior Study Director, Child and Family Studies, Westat, USA
- Dr Jerry West, Program Director, Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, NCES, USA
Australia
- Professor Jan Carter
- Professor Alan Hayes, Director, Australian Institute of Family Studies
- Dr Christina van Kraayenoord, Director, Schonell Special Education Research Centre, University of Queensland
- Professor Terry Nolan, Head School of Population Health, The University of Melbourne
- Assoc. Professor Graeme Russell, Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, NSW
- Professor Sue Spence, Head of Psychology, School of Psychology, University of Queensland
- Professor Fiona Stanley AC, Director, Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, Western Australia
- Assoc. Professor Judy Ungerer, Department of Psychology, Macquarie University
Design
Information on various aspects of early childhood development is being collected to provide a major evidence base for policy and intervention initiatives. To achieve this goal, Growing Up in Australia is collecting data addressing 11 specific research questions.
The design process is managed by the Australian Institute of Family Studies Growing Up in Australia team.
Data expert reference group
In early 2009, a LSAC Data Expert Reference Group (DERG) was established to provide technical advice on issues relating to data treatment, manipulation and quality assurance. The Group is chaired by the Chair of the LSAC Consultative Advisory Group and is made up of representatives from FaCHSIA, AIFS and ABS, two external statistical experts and an experienced LSAC data user. The Group is scheduled to meet three times per year with the inaugural meeting held on 12 February 2009.
Functions of the group are to:
- advise on the treatment of data and discretionary decisions regarding data management;
- advise on, and where appropriate undertake, data quality assurance work to increase the reliability of the LSAC data set;
- advise on data file structure and documentation;
- participate in the development of discussion papers on data management prepared as part of each data collection wave; and
- advise on the need and best procedures for conducting scaling of measures and producing composite scales or variables.
The issues discussed at the Inaugural meeting on 12 February were:
- the group’s role and function;
- weighting strategies and approaches;
- data imputation and the degree to which this is undertaken;
- quality assurance of scales;
- performance of scales over time; and
- the construction of the Outcome Index in Wave 3 and future waves.