Growing Up in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children
www.aifs.gov.au/growingup
The investigators
Growing Up in Australia is being designed and implemented by a large consortium led by the Australian Institute of Family Studies in partnership with the Australian Government Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs.
Growing Up in Australia was initiated and funded as part of the Australian Government's Stronger Families and Communities Strategy by the Australian Government Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. The study is being undertaken in partnership with the Australian Institute of Family Studies, with advice being provided by a consortium of leading researchers at research institutions and universities throughout Australia. The data collection is undertaken for the Institute by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
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.
The Consortium involves a number of leading research organisations with expertise in child development. Consortium members are all associated with the National Research Partnership for Development, Health and Wellbeing.
AIFS LSAC Team
The Institute's LSAC team is led by Matthew Gray, Project Executive Director, and Diana Smart, General Manager (Research).
AIFS team members are:
| Project Executive Director | Matthew Gray |
| General Manager (Research) | Diana Smart |
| Project Manager | Carol Soloff |
| Design Manager | Linda Bencic |
| Data Manager | Sebastian Misson |
| Data Administrator | Mark Sipthorp |
| Survey Officer | Siobhan O'Halloran |
Consortium members
- Australian Institute of Family Studies (Lead agency)
- Australian Council for Educational Research
- TVW Telethon Institute for Child Health Research
- Queensland University of Technology
- Macquarie University
- Charles Sturt University
- Murdoch Children's Research Institute
- Australian National University's National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health and Centre for Mental Health Research
- University of New England
- University of Melbourne
Consortium Advisory Group
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, Deputy Director, Australian Council for Educational Research
- Dr Donna Berthelsen, Centre for Applied Studies in Early Childhood, Queensland University of Technology
- Professor Michael Bittman, Department of Sociology, University of New England
- Dr Bruce Bradbury, Senior Research Fellow, Social Policy Research Centre, University of New South Wales
- Dr Linda Harrison, Senior Lecturer, School of Teacher Education, Charles Sturt University - Bathurst
- Assoc. Professor Jan Nicholson, Griffith Psychological Health Research Centre, School of Psychology, Griffith University
- Dr Bryan Rodgers, Senior Fellow, Family and Community Health Research Unit, National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health
- Assoc Professor Ann Sanson, Department of Psychology, University of Melbourne
- Professor Michael Sawyer, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Women's and Children's Hospital, Department of Paediatrics, University of Adelaide
- Professor Sven Silburn, Co-director, Centre for Developmental Health, Institute for Child Health Research, WA
- Dr Lyndall Strazdins, Research Fellow, National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Australian National University
- Assoc. Professor Judy Ungerer, Department of Psychology, Macquarie University
- Professor Graham Vimpani (Representative of the National Research Partnership), Director, Child Adolescent and Family Health Service, University of Newcastle
- Dr Melissa Wake, Director, Research and Public Health Unit, Centre for Community Child Health, Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne
- Professor Steve Zubrick, Head, Division of Population Science, Institute for Child Health Research, WA
Scientific Policy and Advisory Group
An additional advisory group, the Scientific Policy and Advisory Group, was appointed during 2002 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
Design teams
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 14 specific research questions that span six research domains - child functioning, family functioning, education, child care, health and socio-demographics.
For each wave of Growing Up in Australia six Design Teams have been formed around these research domains. Each team comprises members from the Consortium Advisory Group of Growing Up in Australia as well as others who have expertise in the area. Consultants were assigned in Wave 1 to complement the composition in each of the teams. A Sampling Team was also established to guide the development of the study's sample design.
The design process is managed by the Project Operations Team at the Australian Institute of Family Studies.
- Wave 1 Design teams, Sampling team and consultants - Word (60KB) | PDF (104KB)
- Wave 2 Design teams - Word (68KB) | PDF (77KB)
- Wave 3 Design teams - Word (105KB) | PDF (49KB)
