Growing Up in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children
www.aifs.gov.au/growingup
Participant information
Updates from 2007
2008 CALENDAR AND NEWSLETTER
All families will be sent a 2008 calendar and the latest Growing Up in Australia newsletter in December. If you don’t receive a copy, please contact 1800 005 508.
WAVE 2 DATA
Results from the second wave of interviews are currently being released. Some of the early trends have already been sent to you.
Access to the data set is only available to approved researchers who have to abide by strict security and confidentiality protocols. Before gaining access to the data, researchers must apply for permission and sign a deed of confidentiality that sets strict guidelines for the use of the information.
As your privacy is very important to us, we also remove any information that could identify individual families or children from the data set before providing copies to approved and registered users.
The first opportunity for the second wave of data to be discussed will be at the inaugural Growing Up in Australia conference.
We are very pleased with the number of submissions received for the inaugural LSAC Research Conference.
The papers presented will cover a diverse range of topics, some of which are:
- Are mothers' and fathers' parenting styles related to children's obesity and its progression from the preschool to school years?
- Parenting quality and its effect on Australian children’s wellbeing over time.
- Why do children of young parents have poorer outcomes?
- Job quality, parental mental health, and their implications for children.
- Do today's children have more problems than children born 20 years ago?
- The financial consequences of relationship breakdown and re-partnering amongst families with young children.
- Is children’s socio-emotional development at 2-3 years affected by their non-parental care experiences, in particular long hours of care?
'Life at' series
The Institute is very pleased to be involved with the Life at series consisting of both documentaries and Internet website developed by Film Australia in conjunction with Heiress Films. The series draws on the experience of the Growing Up in Australia study. We know that many of you enjoyed Life at 1, the first installment in this unique Australian series following 11 babies and their families. The series tracks families through their ordinary routines and milestones, and looks at the impact on their lives of things such as parents' relationships, finances, work, health and education.
Following from the successful screening of Life at 1, a Life at 2 website was launched by the ABC to provide updates on the families and their children between the documentary waves.
One feature of the Life at 2 website is the live forums, where parents and other interested people have the chance to ask the experts questions about different topics. The first forum was in July with Professor Ann Sanson, principal scientific advisor to Growing Up in Australia, on: "If the world really has gotten any better or worse for our children in the past twenty years". Forums, held each month, also cover:
- 'Does it take a village' (August) by Dr Ben Edwards, an Institute researcher.
- 'The childcare question - what are the choices' (September) by Dr Linda Harrison, consortium member.
- 'The role of grandparents' (October), by Sebastian Mission, Data Manager (LSAC).
- 'Parents and jobs: What does family friendly really mean?' (November) by Dr Lyndall Strazdins, consortium member.
You can visit the Life at 2 website and join in on the discussion live at the scheduled times (last Wednesday in every month, except December) or, alternatively, you can checkout the website to view previous forums by looking at the 'Latest Research Message Board' and/or the monthly archives.
Film Australia is currently in the midst of production of Life at 3. Institute researchers returned to conduct the Growing Up in Australia interviews with the families featured in the first documentary. Advice and commentary is being provided by some of our Consortium Advisory Group members, who felt privileged to catch up with the families and see how they are progressing.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THE STUDY?
More information about the Growing Up in Australia study is available on the publications page including newsletters, discussion papers, articles, brochures and publicity material.
PROVIDING FEEDBACK TO US
We have received some really positive feedback from parents who are involved in the study, and also some amusing anecdotes. 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/
PREVIOUS INFORMATION
We plan to keep you informed about Growing Up in Australia by regularly updating this page. For reference, previous updates will still be available.
2003 - introductory information about the study, questions to be asked, privacy, how the information will be used etc.
2004 - 10,000 families participated in the study, report on what we found, how the data will be used, what happens next, etc.
2005 - information about the release and launch of the Wave 1 data and findings from Wave 1, including facts about infants and four-five year old children.
2006 - information about the 'Life at' documentary series, second wave of interviews, mail out questionnaires.
And thank you for continuing to be part of this very important study. Only through your continued support can we obtain the best possible information for the benefit of all children.
