Growing Up in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children
www.aifs.gov.au/growingup
Participant information
Update on 2005
WAVE 1 DATA RELEASE AND LAUNCH
The Minister for Family and Community Services, Senator the Hon. Kay Patterson launched the release of Wave 1 data with the first Growing Up in Australia Annual Report on May 16 2005, at the Melbourne Museum.
Data from the main study are now available to researchers and policy makers. The detailed data will only be available to researchers who abide by strict security and confidentiality protocols. Researchers who want to use the data will need to apply and sign a deed of confidentiality. Details are on the Data Access page on the website.
Your privacy is very important to us, so any information that could identify you or your family has been removed from the data set. Other additional measures have also been taken to ensure that no one can be identified.
For further information you can read about how the data will be used.
FACTS ABOUT THE INFANTS IN THE STUDY
- Sixty per cent of the infants were living with brothers and sisters.
- About one-third of the infants were still being breastfed.
- About one-third had at least one regular form of child care, with care by grandparents the most popular option, closely followed by day care centres.
- Thirty per cent of infants were born by caesarian section.
- At birth, 50 per cent weighed at least 3430g, and 13 per cent weighed more than 4000g.
FACTS ABOUT FOUR-FIVE YEAR OLD CHILDREN IN THE STUDY
- Most of the children aged four-five years (89 per cent) were living with at least one brother or sister.
- Most of the children were at pre-school, with some already at school.
- Most are read to by their parents at least three times a week (47 per cent of parents read to their child every day).
- Twenty per cent are spoken to in a language other than English.
- Almost all had gone to a playground or a swimming pool in the last month.
- Since they were born, 62 per cent of the children have lived in at least two houses.
- Two out of five children live in families that own a dog (one-quarter of families have a cat and one-third have another pet).
FEEDBACK
If you have any feedback about being in the study that you would like to pass on please contact us by email at lsacweb@aifs.gov.au or by phone on freecall 1800 005 508.
CONTACT US
Growing Up in Australia
Freecall 1800 005 508
Australian Institute of Family Studies
Level 20, 485 La Trobe Street, Melbourne, Vic 3000, Australia.
Tel: (03) 9214 7888; Fax: (03) 9214 7839;
Web: http://www.aifs.gov.au/growingup/
MORE INFORMATION
See the main participant information page.
