Growing Up in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children
www.aifs.gov.au/growingup

Data access

Data dictionary
Database of approved data users
Data users guide (PDF 3.7MB) | Word (3MB)
Data users information
Manual for the Access to and Use of FaHCSIA Longitudinal Survey Datasets (Word 286K)
Copyright acknowledgments for scales and instruments used in Wave 1: PDF (100K) | Word (46K)

The first data from Wave 1 of Growing Up in Australia: the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children was launched by the Minister for Family and Community Services, the Hon. Kay Patterson on May 16, 2005. Wave 2.5 data has been released, with applications to receive the data currently being accepted. The Wave 2.5 dataset will have all Wave 1, 1.5 and 2 data included as well. Existing users of the Wave 2 data will need to submit a new application to receive Wave 2.5 data.

Ordering the Data - Release 2.5

New Licensing Arrangements for LSAC

Release 2.5 of the LSAC data is now available. Due to changes in the access arrangements, prospective users will need to read the following to understand how to obtain access to the dataset.

Feedback from users in the past has indicated that there are a number of problems in relation to some of the provisions set out in the Deed of Licence, particularly in relation to indemnity and intellectual property. Organisations with multiple users have also sought an alternative to the per-user fee structure for licences.

In response to these concerns, the Australian Government Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA) has developed a new data access policy for its longitudinal datasets. Users will gain access to the data either through organisational licensing arrangements or through individual licensing arrangements.

Ordering the General Release Data through an Organisational Deed of Licence

Under organisational licensing arrangements, organisations sign an Organisational Deed of Licence for access to the LSAC and HILDA (Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia) datasets. Individuals within the organisation who require access to the data will sign a shorter Deed of Confidentiality. The Organisational Delegate, the officer responsible for the Deed, nominates a central contact person (a Data Manager) who is responsible for managing the security of the data and regulating access to the data within the organisation. The Data Manager is required to liaise with FaHCSIA on data access issues and provide information to FaHCSIA about the use of the datasets within the organisation.

A major advantage of the organisational licensing arrangements is a better assignment of the rights and responsibilities between the organisation and individual users. It also streamlines access to the data as the datasets would be held on site and be paid for up front.

Information about the new licensing arrangements has been sent to many academic and government organisations. Contact details for organisations which have an Organisational Deed of Licence in place are listed below.

Users at an organisation which has an Organisational Deed of Licence will only be able to gain access to the data under the organisational licensing arrangements. They will need to contact the Data Manager at their organisation for the appropriate Deed of Confidentiality and application form to sign.

If your organisation is not listed but you believe your organisation may be interested in signing an Organisational Deed of Licence, please contact FaHCSIA on longitudinalsurveys@fahcsia.gov.au

Users at an organisation which has not signed an Organisational Deed of Licence will still be able to have access to the data under Individual Deeds of Licence. Links to these documents are available below.

As with any legal document, all users should read the licences that they sign and make sure that they fully understand their responsibilities and obligations under the deed. In order to ensure that FaHCSIA’s policy is clear and fully understood all applicants should read the Manual for the Access to and Use of FaHCSIA Longitudinal Survey Datasets (Word 286K).

Ordering the General Release Data through an Individual Deed of Licence

The data are provided as SAS datasets and SPSS system files datasets on a CD. Full documentation is included.
As with any legal document, all users should read the licences that they sign and make sure that they fully understand their responsibilities and obligations under the deed. In order to ensure that FaHCSIA’s policy is clear and fully understood all applicants should read the Manual for the Access to and Use of FaHCSIA Longitudinal Survey Datasets (Word 286K).

To apply for the Release 2.5 General Release data using an individual license, please click on the type of user that best describes you:

Australian User
Overseas User

Australian Users

There are two separate Deeds of Licence for Australian users. Please read the following lists and click on the link for the Deed that you will require.

If you are:

An academic at an Australian University, Institute of Technology or TAFE;
A researcher, such as a research assistant, attached to an Australian University, Institute of Technology or TAFE;
A Masters or PhD student at an Australian University, Institute of Technology or TAFE. Note: Both the student and their supervisor must apply and pay for access to the dataset independently. Both the student and their supervisor must be located at the same institution;
An employee of an Australian Commonwealth agency (including FaHCSIA);
An employee of a State/Territory agency;
A researcher within statutory bodies whose primary business is research; or
Individuals within other statutory bodies. Please note that this category of applications will be granted access on a case-by-case basis;

You will need to complete the following documents:

Other Australian users whose applications will be considered on a case by case basis include:

Users attached to other organisations (such as private research organisations, lobby groups). Please note: the data will only be released to private (non-academic) institutions if their prime business is research and the data is used for research purposes only;
Private consultants. Please note: the data will only be released to private consultants if their prime business is research and the data is used for research purposes only;

You will need to complete the following documents:

Overseas Users

If you are:

An overseas academic at a university;
An overseas PhD Student at a university. Please note that access will only be granted in exceptional circumstances and both the student and the supervisor must apply for and pay for access to the same dataset independently. The student and their supervisor must be located at the same university;
An overseas researcher who works at private institutions whose primary business is research and the data is used for research purposes (applications will be considered on a case-by-case basis);

You will need to complete the following documents:

Questions?

Please email:

longitudinalsurveys@facsia.gov.au if you have any queries about the LSAC application process
Mark.Sipthorp@aifs.gov.au for queries about the LSAC data

Organisational Delegates and Data Managers

Organisation	Organisational Delegate	Data Manager	Contact Details
Access Economics	Dr Andy Weiss	Stephen Smith	stephen.smith@accesseconomics.com.au
Allen Consulting Group	James van Smeerdijk	Andrew Wade	awade@allenconsult.com.au
Australian Bureau of Statistics	Brian Pink	Rajni Madan	rajni.madan@abs.gov.au
Australian Fair Pay Commission	Dr Patrick Laplagne	Samantha Farmakis-Gamboni	samantha.farmakis-gamboni@fairpay.gov.au
Australian Institute of Family Studies	Prof. Alan Hayes	Ross Millward	ross.millward@aifs.gov.au
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare	Dr Diane Gibson	Cynthia Kim	cynthia.kim@aihw.gov.au
Australian Treasury	Dr Ken Henry	Philip Gallagher	phil.gallagher@treasury.gov.au
Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs	N/A	Research and Analysis Branch	longitudinalsurveys@fahcsia.gov.au
Flinders University	Prof. Chris Marlin	Katrina Hall	office.research@flinders.edu.au
NATSEM	Jeannie McLellan	Rebecca Cassells	rebecca.cassells@natsem.canberra.edu.au
Productivity Commission	Bernard Wonder	Lyn Tucker	ltucker@pc.gov.au
Reserve Bank of Australia	Ric Battellino	Laura Berger-Thomson	ThomsonL@rba.gov.au
University of New South Wales	Prof. Richard Henry	Andrew Wells	a.wells@unsw.edu.au
University of Wollongong	Prof. Lee Astheimer	Ms Pamela Epe	pam_epe@uow.edu.au
University of York	Trevor Sheldon	Mark Wilson	mw119@york.ac.uk

If your organisation is not listed but you believe your organisation may be interested in signing an Organisational Deed of Licence, please contact FaHCSIA on longitudinalsurveys@fahcsia.gov.au