PLIDA/MADIP Research Projects

Rename of MADIP to PLIDA

The Multi-Agency Data Integration Project (MADIP) was renamed the Person Level Integrated Data Asset (PLIDA) in 2023. Historical documents and projects retain their references to MADIP.

All projects that use PLIDA data must go through a rigorous assessment and approval process, managed by the ABS. Only authorised researchers will be granted access to de-identified PLIDA data for policy analysis, research, and statistical purposes.

All projects are assessed under the Five Safes Framework. For a project to be approved, the ABS and the data custodians (the agencies that collect the data) must agree to the proposed use of the data. The project must be assessed as being in the public interest and be in accordance with the legislation of the relevant agencies. All users are legally obliged to use data responsibly for approved purposes, comply with the conditions of access, and maintain confidentiality of data.

As of November 2023, there were 204 active projects using PLIDA.

To enquire about any of the projects listed below, including potential research collaboration, or to apply for access to PLIDA data, please email data.services@abs.gov.au.

Below is a list of approved research projects that use PLIDA data, listed under the following categories: 

This page will be updated on a biannual basis.

Commonwealth Government

Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences

Agricultural Labour Demand Forecast Project (2022)

There is currently a lack of consistent and comprehensive agricultural workforce demand and supply data. This project will explore BLADE, MADIP and Farm level Agricultural Data (FLAD) integrated datasets to model agricultural demand for on-farm workers.

Australian Bureau of Statistics

2021 Australian Census and Migrants Integrated Dataset (ACMID) and 2021 Australian Census and Temporary Entrants Integrated Dataset (ACTEID) (2022)

The 2021 Australian Census and Migrants Integrated Dataset (ACMID) consists of settlement records from the Department of Home Affairs, pertaining to permanent migrants who arrived from 01/01/2000 to Census night, that are linked with data from the 2021 Census of Population and Housing. The 2021 Australian Census and Temporary Entrants Integrated Dataset (ACTEID) consists of temporary visa holders information from the Department of Home Affairs, pertaining to temporary entrants who were in Australian on Census night, that are linked with data from the 2021 Census of Population and Housing. 

Survey of Income and Housing Linkage Project (2021)

This project will involve production of high quality data from the Survey of Income and Housing (SIH) using integrated data to supplement or substitute reported data.

Births registration patterns in Queensland (2021)

The Queensland Registry of Births, Deaths, and Marriages (Qld RBDM) have an ongoing goal to register all births occurring in Queensland. The birth registration rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children is typically lower than that of non-Indigenous children. The birth registration dataset linked to the MADIP spine may provide many insights into the current registration rate, how this has changed over time and geographical areas where efforts on registration can be focussed in future.

National Health Survey 2020-21 linkage to MADIP (2021)

This project aims to include medication prescriptions information from the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) for the National Health Survey 2020-21 survey participants, in order to understand PBS dispensings in the context of health risk factors and conditions and to include the medications data on standard microdata products; DataLab and TableBuilder. This project aims to continue this approach for the National Health Survey 2022.

MADIP Settlement Indicators (2021)

The purpose of this project is to develop enduring indicators for annual reporting.  Data will inform Home Affairs’ program delivery, particularly the Humanitarian Settlement Program, and will also be used for internal briefing and reporting.

Output from this project: 

Enhancing income, wealth, housing and expenditure statistics through MADIP (2021)

This project will explore how MADIP could support ABS household income, wealth, housing and expenditure data products. It will investigate use of MADIP to support official statistics, including enhancing future survey designs and data editing for the 2020-21 survey collection.  Outcomes are expected to reduce the burden of the 2023-24 survey and support the release of statistics using MADIP data created by this project.

Coherent imputation to obtain publishable domain estimates (2021)

There are data items on the MADIP that, when aggregated, may provide useful and frequent small domain statistics. These may be a set of related statistics - e.g. health or economic indicators. However, the data items may exhibit under or over coverage and other forms of missingness. This project seeks to address these issues using Deep Neural Networks to coherently and accurately impute missing values for a set of useful, related data items.

Labour Market Analysis Project (LMAP) (2021)

The Labour Market Analysis Project (LMAP) will deliver new insights about changes in employment, jobs and remote working during the COVID-19 crisis and its aftermath. As the project intends to leverage heterogenous data from BLADE, MADIP and ‘big data’ sources, the ABS’ GLIDE knowledge graph platform will be used to build a pilot Longitudinally-Linked Employer-Employee Dataset (LLEED). This will enable analysts to understand the complex labour market interactions among persons, businesses and governments, and to ‘connect the dots’ across a broad canvas of interrelated economic and social factors using a dynamic multisource evidence base.

Proof of Concept for Crime and Justice Data Integration (2021)

This project continues the Proof of Concept for the National Crime and Justice Data Linkage project, which aims to test the feasibility of linking together administrative datasets from Police, Criminal Courts and Corrective Services agencies across Australian jurisdictions. This will allow for the assessment of data linkage methodologies and test the development of a ‘Justice Spine’ which can potentially be linked to other datasets.

Australian Climate Services (ACS) Data Evaluation (2021)

There are significant data and analysis gaps in our understanding of vulnerability and resilience to natural disasters. This is due to poor access to relevant and highly granular data and the resulting inability to develop tailored metrics drawing on linked social, economic, and environmental datasets. ACS is addressing these issues in its support for the prospective National Resilience, Relief and Recovery Agency (NRRRA). MADIP, BLADE and related datasets provide rich information which can be used for in-depth and timely analysis about people and businesses in disaster-prone areas.

Feasibility of Simulating MADIP and BLADE Data (2021)

This project assesses the feasibility of creating simulated microdata that preserves key relationships between variables in MADIP and BLADE while maintaining data confidentiality. 

Assessing the quality: PITMID to MADIP (2021)

This project aims to assess the statistical impact of creating the Personal Income of Migrants Integrated Dataset (PITMID) (2016-2017) from the MADIP asset. The assessment will compare the number and quality of links by visa and State/ Territory. 

COVID-19 Aggregate and modelled outputs (2020)

This project supports rapid respond to government agencies for urgent requests for confidentialised aggregate and modelled statistical outputs or estimates during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

This project makes use of integrated data from the MADIP and BLADE data assets. 

Direct Measure of Capacity to Contribute (‘CtC’) for Non-Government School Funding Model (2020)

This project builds upon research led by the Department of Education, Skills and Employment, providing a direct measure of income as an input into the annual capacity to contribute assessment, which informs the amount of base recurrent funding for non-government schools. Under previous arrangements capacity to contribute was calculated using information on the socio-economic status of the area(s) where the students resided. Integrated data enables the use of a more direct measure of a school community’s capacity to contribute, as well as further research to refine and improve the methods. 

Sociodemographic factors associated with pancreatic cancer (2021)

This project will explore integrated data produced from the MADIP to understand the relationship between sociodemographic factors and the prevalence of pancreatic cancer. The information will be used to inform a National Pancreatic Cancer Roadmap. 

Childhood Integrated Longitudinal Dataset (CHILD) Pilot Project (2020)

The Childhood Integrated Longitudinal Dataset (CHILD) pilot project aims to create a comprehensive dataset with full coverage of Australian children aged 0 to 18. This dataset will provide an up-to-date administrative population base with accompanying demographic and geographic information to inform early childhood and school education national reporting indicators.

Census-based estimates of population (2020)

ABS post-Censual population estimates use a dual system estimation methodology with the Census and the Post Census Review (PCR) used as data sources. This project aims to assess how the administrative data held in MADIP can be used to reduce the risk of an estimation bias in the event of reduced response rates, or other challenges such as reduced Census-PCR linkage rates.

Using linked data for efficient sample design for ABS household surveys (2020)

The ABS will assess potential benefits (reduced sample size, lower respondent burden, maintained accuracy of statistics) of creating survey design strata at the area and household level based on MADIP datasets. This assessment is in line with the ABS response to Linkage of ABS Address Register with Census Data and/or Contact Data, Privacy Impact Assessment, June 2018.

Adding homelessness flag to MADIP 2016 Census dataset (2020)

This project aims to check the feasibility of adding a homelessness flag to the Census dataset of MADIP for 2016 (and 2011 at a later stage). Such a flag on the MADIP would allow targeted analyses of the homeless cohort (and those at risk) to determine their social, economic and health trajectories.

Proof of Concept for National Crime and Justice Data Linkage Project – Justice and Tax Linkage (2020)

This exploratory work extends Proof of Concept for National Crime and Justice Data Linkage Project activities by testing the feasibility of linkage between selected criminal justice sector datasets with national Personal Income Tax datasets.

Using linked data to investigate non-response and mode choice for ABS household surveys (2020)

This project will assess the use of administrative data linked to survey frames to account for non-response and to ensure that the weighted sample is representative of the population. Analyses of response by mode (online or phone) also allows development of methods to control modal bias and to predict take-up of collection modes by different demographics.

Small Area Wealth Modelled Estimates (2015-16 Survey of Income and Housing) (2020)

This project seeks to produce small area modelled estimates for household net wealth from the 2015-16 Survey of Income and Housing. The primary goal of this project will be to support internal research and development to assess the use of linked data to enhance the production of small area modelled estimates. It is hoped that this will lead to higher quality small area estimates as well as provide insights into process efficiencies that can be implemented to improve the range and speed at which small area estimates can be created in the future. 

Sociodemographic factors associated with lung cancer (2020)

This project will explore a data integration analytical file produced from MADIP to understand the relationship between sociodemographic factors and the prevalence of lung cancer. The information will be used to inform an Australian Government Lung Cancer screening policy and associated guidelines for screening participants. There is potential to establish a 'risk score' to better target the screening population. 

Quality investigation for Survey of Disability, Ageing and Caring (SDAC) 2018 linkage into MADIP (2020)

The linkage of Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers (SDAC) 2018 data into the MADIP dataset achieved an 80% linkage rate. To advise researchers on the appropriate use of this data, we need to understand the biases that are created by this linkage. The target populations for analysis have a lower than 20% prevalence and it is important to know if subpopulations of interest largely failed to be linked.

Feasibility Study: Linkage of National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) data to the MADIP (2019)

The NDIS is a national disability care and support scheme which has significantly changed the way disability support services are funded and delivered. This project involves the linkage of a selection of NDIS data with MADIP. Integration of these datasets willhelp to build a richer picture of Australians living with disability. Analysis will focus on participants’ wellbeing and their housing and economic circumstances. 

Tasmanian Early Childhood Development Outcomes (Tas ECHO) (2019)

The Tasmanian Early Childhood Development Outcomes project will build an enduring linked dataset which can be analysed to identify risk and protective factors (e.g. household income, use of health services, mobility, parental education levels) that influence childhood development in Tasmania and support analysis as students move through education. It builds on a previous feasibility study which integrated Census and Tasmanian education data to enhance the evidence base on the socioeconomic context of early childhood development and student achievement.

Multi Location Businesses Project (2019)

Large, complex, multi-location businesses tend to report business activity from their head office. As a result, business data is heavily biased to the location of the head office, when in reality business activity may be taking place elsewhere. There are an unknown number of business locations associated with these large, complex businesses. This project seeks to take the first steps towards potentially resolving this problem. This project is for internal research and development purposes only. 

Showcasing the use of the National Health Survey (NHS) and MADIP datasets (2019)

This project aims to produce case studies that will demonstrate how health status and behavioural risk factors are related to a person’s use of government services. This project will showcase the potential benefits of research using Integrated NHS and MADIP data to assist with the design, evaluation and better targeting of relevant Government policies. 

Administrative data research for the 2021 Census of Population and Housing (2019)

This project links 2016 Census of Population and Housing data with administrative data to research how it could be used to improve the next Australian Census in 2021. The research is investigating the potential of administrative data to: improve the quality of Census data; add new information to the Census; reduce the cost and burden of running the Census to taxpayers; and provide a contingency for areas affected by a natural disaster or other emergency event at Census time. This research is in line with international initiatives in countries such as Canada, the United Kingdom and New Zealand. 

Education outcome and choice for productivity analysis (2018)

This project aims to provide better measures on the quality of labour inputs for productivity analysis. The purpose of this project is to explore the potential of MADIP to derive aggregate indicator measures. For example, labour market experience and education proxy measures from modelling the relationships between earnings, education attainment, and worker characteristics. 

Feasibility studies: using microdata from the MADIP to help inform and evaluate government products and services relating to Disability, Ageing, Carers, and Mental Health (2018)

This project will investigate the feasibility of using MADIP microdata to provide insight into the design and evaluation of government policies, programs, and services in relation to Disability, Ageing, Carers, and Mental Health. A range of feasibility studies will aim to identify predictive factors and quantify the impact of these on a person’s mental health, physical health, and disability status. The anticipated outcomes will be used to prepare case studies for key stakeholders to showcase the potential benefits of research using MADIP microdata.

Validating government payments benchmarks for use in the ABS Survey of Income and Housing (2018)

This project will compare government payments data from SSRI and the Survey of Income and Housing (SIH). Outputs from this analysis will be used to understand these differences to help assure the quality of SIH 2017-18 outputs. 

The findings of this project will be used for further development and implementation of the NSW Government’s Human Services Outcomes Framework and to inform work to improve the lives of vulnerable children and their families. 

Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water

Socioeconomic analysis to support a healthy environment, strong economy and thriving community (2019)

This project uses integrates data from MADIP and BLADE to create standard socio-economic indicators to generate insights to improve the delivery of investments. The project will systematically access cross-portfolio data to inform how it administrates grants functions to support the Australian Government in achieving a healthy environment, strong economy and thriving community now and for the future.

Indigenous environmental programs: social economic analysis (2019)

This project uses integrates data from MADIP and BLADE to assess, discover and synthesise new evidence in existing government datasets that highlights the return on investment from Australian Government support for Indigenous environmental programs.

Australian Government Department of Education

VET National Data Asset (VNDA) Phase 2 - Measuring VET Student outcomes by Registered Training Organisation (RTO) (2021)

The VET system currently has limited understanding of the effectiveness and outcomes of government funding in VET. This project will enhance the evidence base of the employment and social outcomes of VET students in Australia. Phase 2 will release VET student outcomes by VET providers to the National Skills Commission. The release will be prepared through analysis of the same underlying MADIP and BLADE data as for Phase 1, but with the addition of RTO identifiers. This will provide a more complete, consistent and accurate database on VET performance and will support the National Skills Commissioner to provide evidence-based advice to governments and stakeholders, on student outcomes and return on investment in VET.

Education, Skills and Employment National Data Asset (ESENDA) (2021)

The Education, Skills and Employment National Data Asset (ESENDA) project will create an evidence-base to support Australia’s economic prosperity and social wellbeing by identifying opportunities to drive better outcomes for people, through education, skills and employment pathways.

VET National Data Asset (VNDA) Phase 1 - Measuring the outcomes of Vocational Education and Training (VET) students (2021)

This project uses integrates data from MADIP and BLADE to enhance the evidence base of the employment and social outcomes of VET students in Australia. VET completion and attainment data will be linked to MADIP data to create a longitudinal de-identified student-level dataset. This will support the National Skills Commissioner to provide evidence-based advice to governments on student outcomes and return on government investment. 

VET completion and attainment data will be linked to employment data in BLADE to obtain information on the businesses which consume VET services. This will supplement information on the employment outcomes of students, providing data on the industry of employment for students and on non-wage earnings outcomes. It will also provide insights on the link between specific qualifications and the industry of employer to ascertain the relevance of training to industry and benefits of VET training to employers. 

Skills Tracker (2021)

This project uses integrates data from MADIP and BLADE and builds on the Treasury’s Real-Time Labour Market Tracker project. The Labour Market Tracker project has created a high-quality, high-frequency data asset to monitor the labour market during the current pandemic and associated economic shock. The Skills Tracker project expands on this important resource to inform on emerging shifts in the labour market, the skills held by people without work, and the skilling and re-training needed to get people back into work.

Post School destinations (2020)

This proof-of-concept project looks at the relationship between students’ school performance and their outcomes after leaving school. It brings together secondary school data across all participating states and territories and schooling sectors, and links this to Australian Government data from the MADIP. Approved researchers will use the anonymised datasets to explore student journeys from the start of secondary school to post-school education and employment. This will help identify socio-economic, health and other factors impacting outcomes for young people.

Understanding COVID impacts on social, health, welfare, education and employment of individuals in Australia (2020)

This collaborative project forms part of the evidence base for the Australian COVID-19 response and recovery efforts by modelling the impact of COVID-19 on household incomes, health, education, accommodation and housing, and welfare needs. This project is designed to inform priorities and decision-making to support COVID-19 recovery initiatives, with a specific focus on vulnerable members of the Australian community.

The First Five Years: What makes a difference? (2019)

A growing body of Australian and international research evidence indicates that what happens in the early years has consequences for children’s later educational and health outcomes. This project will enhance understanding of the effects of health and socio-economic factors that drive disadvantage with respect to children’s early development outcomes and identify early childhood policy interventions or protective factors that can improve these outcomes. This project will provide the foundation for an enduring integrated child dataset and will create critical child centred infrastructure that can be supplemented with additional health and welfare data for future researchers.

Drivers of Poor Learning (2019)

This project will identify opportunities to lift the learning trajectories of students by exploring the influence and prevalence of out-of-school factors on academic progress. For the first time, student level data from the National Assessment Program-Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) will be linked to MADIP data to create a longitudinal de-identified student-level dataset. The research will establish a baseline for student learning progress that can be compared with later trajectories to inform on the effectiveness of reforms in the health, social services and education portfolios.

Application of the Investment Approach to Tertiary Education (2019)

This projects aims to assess the feasibility of implementing an investment approach to tertiary education. This approach follows the view that each dollar spent by the government is an investment aimed at achieving one or more benefits. Under an investment approach, efforts are made to continuously improve a model of costs and benefits (monetary and non-monetary) within a given system so that the returns on investments are improved. Among other outcomes, this project intends to use data from MADIP to increase transparency of investment decisions, and develop a framework for the synthesis of evidence, since a conceptual understanding of relationships within the system are required prior to any quantification. 

Measuring the social return on investment from education and training (2018)

This project aims to improve tertiary education funding policy and broader social policy development. The project will identify and incorporate Australia-specific non-monetary benefits of educational attainment into an improved measure of the government’s social return on investment in education and training. The project will also seek to quantify the potential savings gained in other portfolios from investment in tertiary education, for example, whether higher levels of educational attainment reduce health and welfare expenditure per annum.

Better understanding the impact of health and social factors on the transition from education to work (2018)

This project aims to understand the significant social and health risk factors that prevent Australians from completing their tertiary studies and transitioning from tertiary education (including Vocational Education and Training and university studies) to employment. 

Output from this project: 

Benefits of educational attainment (2018)

This project will use MADIP data to showcase the social, health and welfare benefits of education and training for Australians and Australian society as a whole. The project will help the department communicate the importance of education and training to the Australian public and thereby build social licence for education and training policy. This project will also contrast outcomes for different educational pathways to inform more efficient and effective policy initiatives. 

Output from this project: 

Direct measure of capacity to contribute (CtC) for non-Government funding (2018)

The CtC project builds on the work completed in the Socio-economic characteristics of school catchments – exploratory analysis. This work is being conducted using the MADIP for the National School Resourcing Board (NSRB). The project involves creating a direct income measure based on linking the personal income data and residential address data of parents/guardians. The aim is to create a more targeted, more accurate measure that will ensure funding flows to the schools that need it the most. 

 

Socio-economic characteristics of school catchments – exploratory analysis (2017)

This project investigated different models for estimating the socio-economic characteristics of non-government school catchments. The work informed the National School Resourcing Board (NSRB) in their review of the national school funding model. The models developed were compared to the existing Socio-Economic Status (SES) Score index and were used to inform the new Capacity to Contribute (CtC) school funding arrangement. 

Australian Government Department of Finance

Policy environment in Australia (2021)

This project aims to integrate and analyse emerging social, health and welfare policy issues through an enduring and relevant analytical asset. Insights from this project will inform advice to Government on new policy proposals. It will strengthen the capacity of the Department of Finance to assess the efficiency and quality of government spending on many of its strategic policy priorities including interactions of social, health and welfare policies. 

Preparation of costings in accordance with the charter of budget honesty (2018)

Finance supports the Government’s ongoing priorities through the Budget process and fosters leading practice through the public sector resource management, governance and accountability frameworks. Finance is accountable to the Parliament for the accuracy of program expenditure estimates and has an important role in costing new policy under the Charter of Budget Honesty. Analysis of MADIP data will contribute to estimating the costs and impacts of policies for Government. 

Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care

Understanding socio-demographic cohorts in the COVID-19 Vaccines Strategy (2021)

The Department of Health is co-ordinating the COVID-19 Vaccine and Treatment Strategy (henceforth ‘the Strategy’). One of the goals of the Strategy is that Australians will receive safe and effective vaccines under a targeted and responsive national COVID-19 vaccination policy and immunisation program. This project will inform the Strategy by using deidentified data in MADIP linked to the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) dataset to enable more granular breakdowns and analysis of selected socio-demographic cohorts in the administration COVID-19 vaccines, and allow policy interventions to be targeted accordingly. 

Developing a synthetic Australian population using survey and administrative data (2020)

The research objective of this project is to create a synthetic Australian population based on information available in administrative (MADIP) and survey (NHS) data. The public benefit is that a synthetic dataset would be able to inform the development and evaluation of policy internally in the Department. This dataset could be used to assess the effectiveness of policies that have been implemented, especially health policies that are targeted at lifestyle factors. 

Harnessing Academic Expertise End-of-Life Care (2019)

This project will use MADIP to understand Australians’ use of government services at the end-of-life, including settings in which services are provided and their appropriateness. This analysis will inform targeted approaches in providing end-of-life care. The project is within the ambit of the 2019-20 project on Harnessing Academic Expertise for High-Value Data Analytics using innovative techniques and new ways of research collaboration. 

Healthy Mind, Healthy Body: Physical and social impacts of poor mental health (2019)

This project aims to build knowledge and a better understanding of the association between physical health conditions and mental health conditions. It aims to identify policy opportunities to improve life expectancy and health outcomes for people with mental health diagnoses and co-morbid physical health conditions and ensure that people affected by mental health conditions are being appropriately supported by the social welfare system. 

Suicide Prevention Analytics (2019)

The aim of the project is to gain greater insight into the prevalence of suicide and its relationship with risk factors, protective factors and social determinants. This project will inform the National Suicide Prevention Taskforce in supporting the National Suicide Prevention Adviser. The information will be used in the development and refinement of suicide prevention policies and strategies, including helping to assist in mapping need and services to ensure supports are delivered at the right times to the right people in the right places. 

Use of government services by older Australians (2018)

This project will test methods of engaging effectively with policy areas across portfolios for data analysis and will support discovery of analytic insights that inform policies regarding how the funding of government services for older Australians is expended. The project will identify the extent to which policies and programs are interacting with the client groups. It will identify opportunities for policy makers and program managers to work together and better deliver those services, identify duplications and gaps, and unintended outcomes when services are looked at as a whole. 

Variation in opioid use (2018)

Dependence on opioid drugs is associated with a range of health and social problems that affect individual drug users, their family and friends, and the wider public. Fatal opioid overdoses have been increasing for the last decade with the vast majority now being caused by pharmaceutical opioids rather than heroin. This project will investigate the variations in prescription opioid dispensing patterns and service utilisation between different groups of patients and the factors that are likely to be best targeted through interventions. 

GP supply and demand (2017)

Microdata from MADIP will be used to support and inform health workforce planning. This data will complement other health-related data and population data to form the basis of demand estimates for a study of General Practitioner (GP) supply and demand. 

Using linked data to inform breast and cervical cancer screening participation (2021)

The purpose of this project is to gain insights into screening participation for breast and cervical screening programs in New South Wales, and characteristics of people in New South Wales who have been diagnosed with cancer. This project will be undertaken by the ABS Health and Education Data Design and Analysis Hub, with full funding from the Department of Health.  

Improving Private Health Insurance (PHI) modelling capabilities through making better use of data (2021)

The project will investigate the incidence and determinants of private health insurance (PHI) consumption over time. This will enable government to assess PHI and other aspects of health policy based on the best evidence available. The outcome of this project will support ongoing reform in PHI to improve the sustainability of the sector and affordability for consumers.  

Australian Government Department of Home Affairs

The Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP) Impact Evaluation Project (2020)

The Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP) Impact Evaluation Project seeks to better understand the broader impacts of the AMEP on migrant outcomes. The findings of the project will be used by Home Affairs to enhance the quality and effectiveness of the AMEP program, in order to increase learner engagement and therefore improve migrant outcomes.

Australian Government Department of Industry, Science and Resources

Women in STEM analytical project (2020)

The Women in STEM analytical project aims to undertake longitudinal analysis of employment outcomes of Australian’s with STEM qualifications from a gender lens. This will provide crucial insights on progression for women in the STEM pathway, through longitudinal evidence using MADIP. 

Australian Government Department of Social Services

How Australian Families are faring in the face of economic and wider-labour market changes pre and post COVID-19 (2021)

There are two purposes to this project: 1. To inform research on how Australian Families are faring in the face of economic and wider-labour market changes pre and post COVID-19, and 2. To provide the department regular (monthly) analytical extracts on families on income support and/or Family Tax Benefit and Paid Parental Leave to monitor Family Tax Benefit population and to help shape future policy development and implementation.

Social harms and health and economic outcomes for cashless debit card program participants (2021)

The Cashless Debit Card (CDC) program is implemented by the Department of Social Services. This project will analyse integrated data in a phased approach, comprising initially MADIP data, followed by CDC program data and finally hospital data held by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. The project will analyse social harms in CDC regions and health, social and economic outcomes for CDC participants.

Identification of people with disability in linked administrative data for service use and outcomes reporting (2021)

This project aims to test the capacity of the National Disability Data Asset (NDDA) to create an indicator for people with disability based on existing administrative data, and to test the NDDA’s suitability for reporting against the future National Disability Strategy (NDS) Outcomes Framework. 

National Disability Employment Strategy Report (2021)

The purpose of this research is to assist DSS to develop a deeper understanding of the labour market participation of working age people with a disability. The department is particularly interested in differences in the nature of labour market of people with a disability across key demographic characteristics that have been shown to impact labour force participation, as well as differences between disability type/group & severity, age when disability was acquired, and availability of supports. 

Characteristics of economically vulnerable persons (2020)

This project will use linked MADIP data to investigate the social and economic characteristics of people who are economically vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Supporting Career Transitions (2020)

This project aims to identify potential career pathways and supporting career transitions in a rapidly changing labour market. Through analysing the Census data and Personal Income Tax data, the project will identify occupational and sector transitions. Online job ads data will also be utilised to identify what occupations have similar occupational and educational requirements. These findings will then be used to identify occupational transitions that appear feasible but are not occurring in practice.

Exits from income support (2019)

An in depth understanding of income support payments is essential for meeting recipients’ needs and ensuring the welfare system supports people in need. This project will use integrated data to better understand what happens when income support recipients leave the system, including transitions and interventions in the lead-up to an exit. Integrated data will provide insights on the influence of health, education and past work experience on the pathways to sustainable employment. 

Intergenerational Welfare Dependence (2019)

People’s life outcomes are strongly related to their family circumstances, structure and transitions as children. Building on research by the University of Sydney, this project will examine the relationship between childhood disadvantage and pathways later in life. The integrated dataset developed for this project will be an important addition to the evidence base on intergenerational welfare dependence. It will extend the scope of possible research beyond welfare payment outcomes for children growing up in low income households to include social, health, employment and economic outcomes.

The prevalence and impact of mental health disorders on income support and student outcomes (2018)

Mental health disorders are the leading cause of non-fatal disease burden in Australia and worldwide. This project will use linked data to investigate the elevated levels of mental health disorders reported in recipients of income support and students to gain policy insights. 

Exploration of characteristics of disadvantage (2018)

This projects aims to investigate the characteristics of disadvantage as captured within MADIP. It will consider links between disadvantage as seen in the social security system to disadvantage apparent in health and tax data. 

Occupational characteristics of welfare (2017)

This project will help understand the characteristics of entrants into the Disability Support Pension and other forms of long-term welfare. It will be used to assess whether the number of claimants can be reduced over time by increasing the quantity and quality of early interventions. The outcomes of this project will be used to better inform early intervention strategies and support the design of better targeted and more effective policies and services relating to the provision of welfare. 

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare

Health and welfare characteristics of current serving, ex-serving and reserve members of the ADF, and their dependents: AIHW-DVA research work program (2020)

This project involves the analysis of data to support the current AIHW–DVA research partnership. This partnership is building a comprehensive profile of the health and welfare of Australia's veteran population. Analysis will be based on the veteran-centred model (VCM) which identifies 7 domains for measuring health and welfare: housing; education and skills; employment; income and finance; health; social support; and justice and safety. The ongoing reporting of suicide rates among serving, reserve and ex-serving Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel is a key output of the work program. 

Outputs from this research:

Socioeconomic determinants of suicide (2020)

The project will investigate socioeconomic determinants of suicide. The analysis will add to a growing international literature on the importance of social determinants in suicide risk 

The Relationship between Social Determinants and Health Outcomes (2020)

This project’s primary aim is to gain greater insight into the extent of the relationship between social determinants of health (including income and financial wellbeing, educational attainment, workforce participation and socio-cultural status) and health outcomes. Health outcomes include health risk factors (e.g. overweight and obesity, physical inactivity, diet, excessive alcohol consumption and smoking), chronic health conditions (e.g. diabetes, arthritis, back pain, depression, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma), and health service usage. 

Experiences of people with disability (2018)

This project will use MADIP to examine receipt of Medicare Benefits Schedule services and income support payments by people with disability and their carers. It is part of a broader project that seeks to improve the evidence base around the experiences of people with disability and their carers in key life areas, such as health, income, social support, employment, education, housing, justice, and safety. 

Bureau of Meteorology

Reducing life lost in heatwaves (2019)

This project will help vulnerable Australians survive future heatwaves. It will combine government data on the weather, population and health and identify which people are most at risk. The results will support the development of better government services to prevent deaths from heatwaves and other natural hazards that are expected to increase as the climate changes. 

Output from this project: 

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)

Ecosystem Account Regional Pilot Projects (2022)

The project will deliver ecosystem accounts at the sub-national level to: (i) demonstrate value for policy and decision making, engage key stakeholders and increase demand for an ongoing program of ecosystem accounts; and (ii) contribute towards the longer-term goal of national ecosystem accounts by testing methods that can be scaled nationally and by increasing capacity for ecosystem accounting in Commonwealth institutions. 

Integrated Analysis for Sustainable Regional Development: Northern Australia with Indigenous extension (2018)

This project used integrated data from MADIP and BLADE to identify opportunities for regional economic development. The Indigenous extension pilot will seek to provide land and water policy-relevant insights for Indigenous communities and industries in the Darwin region.

Outputs from this research: 

Water and society: the relationship between water conditions and regional socio-economic and human health outcomes (2018)

This project used integrated data from MADIP and BLADE to provide new insights into how water conditions impact socio-economic metrics i.e. taking into account the flow, volume, and allocation of water for a given purpose, and how access to water affects communities. It will prototype benefits through a data-driven, robust and repeatable approach to being able to assess how decisions about water sharing will impact or benefit community and change over time.

Outputs from this research:

Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

Women’s Labour Force Participation (2021)

The purpose of this project is to explore women’s labour force participation, with a particular focus on women who are not in the labour force (NILF).

Mental health following the 2019-20 bushfires: service use, help-seeking behaviours and barriers to access in bushfire affected communities (2021)

This project investigates changes in mental health service use, individual help-seeking behaviours and barriers to access in bushfire affected communities following the 2019-20 bushfire season. This work will inform current and future disaster recovery policy and enable the Government to effectively respond to community needs following the 2019-20 bushfires.

PM&C Data Analysis (2020)

This project provides PM&C analysts with access to integrated microdata from MADIP and BLADE, enabling up-to-date analysis and provision of timely advice to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) on emerging policy issues, including informing COVID-19 response and recovery.

Workplace Relations (2020)

This project is designed to support the government as it prepares for Workplace Relations reform. Initial work is designed to establish key facts and figures about the make-up of the Australian Labour Market and the conditions under which Australians are working. The project will start by performing industry/sector comparisons around how employees and contractors are paid, including their working conditions, methods of setting pay and the characteristics of these businesses and employees.

Migration’s impact on Australian society (2019)

This project made use of integrates data from MADIP and BLADE to explore various impacts of international migration on Australia. It aimed to contribute to the evidence base for a broad range of policies, including migration program planning, migration labour market rules, and Commonwealth revenue management.

Outcomes for Job Seekers (2019)

The purpose of this project is to understand how people are faring after they cease participating in employment services programs in remote Australia. It is anticipated that this analysis will show if participants have gained sustainable employment, or experienced different outcomes such as moving to regional and metropolitan areas to look for work or are no longer in the labour force

Imputation from MADIP (2019)

This project will seek to develop and implement methods for imputing missing data, developing synthetic variables and validating the MADIP data asset against other sources. The project will make the imputed data sets available to other authorised users, provide sample code to replicate the methods, and develop academic publications presenting results and documenting the process. This project will result in improved coverage of key concepts needed to conduct analysis in the MADIP environment and contribute to the enduring asset. 

Refresh of ABS project: Modelling labour force status for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples using MADIP (2018)

The Indigenous Affairs Group have identified a need for accurate and more readily available statistics on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander labour force status to better inform their policy work. This project will investigate the feasibility of a machine learning solution using MADIP to create more accurate labour force estimates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Pathways for workers affected by industry downturn (2018)

This project examines the different pathways workers take when they are the subject of an industry downturn, with the aim of supporting economic structural adjustment policy measures based on the factors that limit or enable successful transitions for affected workers.

Examination of the gender wage gap (2018)

The purpose of this project is to examine the gender pay gap and explore if women within certain industries or with certain characteristics are more vulnerable to a wide wage gap compared to male colleagues with similar characteristics. The anticipated outcome from this project is to contribute to ongoing policy discussion related to women’s economic security. 

Recovery or decline? Examining the socio-economic impacts of drought (2018)

Using data from MADIP and BLADE, the project examines regional recovery from the millennium drought. The project explores a number of socio-economic factors in three drought affected Eastern Australia locations. 

Characteristics and outcomes for businesses and employment in regions with early NBN rollout (2018)

This project will address the possible impact early NBN roll-out had in creating or influencing businesses and employment in regions. 

Geoscience Australia

Supporting development of a natural disaster impact forecasting capability (2018)

This project made use of integrated microdata from MADIP and BLADE to produce a stronger evidence base for decisions about disaster mitigation and recovery investments, with the aim to reduce future disaster impacts through better informed policies. It will combine data available across Commonwealth and State Government portfolios and enable a better understanding of costs to, and services provided by, the Australian Government to communities and businesses beyond direct relief and recovery payments in disaster affected regions. 

Output from this research: 

Intellectual Property (IP) Australia

Innovation, IP rights and inequality (2021)

This project will examine (a) how innovation and the use of IP rights impacts within-firm inequality and wage growth for different types of workers, and (b) whether inequality on various margins is causing Australian society to lose potential innovators, including by disadvantaging individuals and firms in accessing the IP system. The project will inform the design of programs aimed at increasing equitable access to government support for innovation and inform policy development for influencing productivity and wage growth.

National Centre of Vocational Education Research

Occupational and employment outcomes for students selecting a VET pathway as an alternative to higher education (2021)

This project investigates occupational and employment outcomes for students selecting a VET pathway. The findings from the project will help inform the educational and employment choices of Australians and provide information to governments to assist in determining the skills needs of the Australian workforce and industry.

Productivity Commission

COVID 19 recovery (2020)

The Productivity Commission is using BLADE and MADIP to help guide research in COVID-19 economic recovery. As the Commission explores structural changes and economic reform, BLADE and MADIP will help inform the potential effects across business and the Australian population.

Vulnerable Supply Chains (2020)

The Productivity Commission is using integrated data from MADIP and BLADE to research the indications of vulnerable supply chains, the impacts if one of these chains were to be broken, and the potential preventative strategies to mitigate these risks. 

Why has youth income slowed? (2019)

Thanks to rising productivity and real wages growth, each new generation has earned more income than the last at a given age and reached the same level of income earlier in life. However, incomes have grown slowly since the global financial crisis, and income growth has been particularly weak for young people. The purpose of this project is to analyse recent trends in youth income growth and what is contributing to these trends. 

Reserve Bank of Australia

Tracking Labour Market Spare Capacity in Real Time (2021)

In this project, the Reserve Bank of Australia will use the jobs related data (as first used by the Treasury on the Real Time Labour Market Tracker project) to monitor and research developments in the labour market. The project will provide insights on labour market transitions at a high frequency and in (almost) real time, and examine how these transitions are influenced by economic policies. In turn, this will improve the Bank’s ability to assess and forecast the degree of spare capacity in the labour market as the economy recovers from the COVID-19 shock, informing monetary policy and economic policy more broadly.

The distribution of income growth in Australia (2018)

This project aims to use MADIP to better understand the dynamics of income growth and how this is associated with population characteristics. This project will provide public value by developing a greater understanding of the drivers of the distribution of income and hence the determinants of income inequality in Australia.

Royal Commission

Investigating life-course outcomes of people with disability (2021)

This project explores individual’s social, economic and health outcomes and their socio-econimic determinants by disability status and experience of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation, using advanced statistical analyses of linked MADIP unit record data.  The results of the analyses are expected to be referenced in the final report and inform the Disability Royal Commission’s recommendations aimed at preventing and better protecting people with disability from experiencing violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation and improving lives and experiences of people with disabilities.

The Murray-Darling Basin Authority

Water and Society Extension Project (2019)

The Water and society project uses MADIP and BLADE data to explore the relationship between water conditions (flow, volume, connectivity and allocations) and regional socio-economic and human health outcomes.

The Treasury

Migration and Regional Development in Australia (2021)

This project is a collaboration between the Centre for Population, Australian Treasury and the OECD investigating the use of administrative data to better understand the economic impact of overseas migration in Australia, particularly on productivity levels and local labour markets. This project will inform the Treasury Centre for Population’s program of research.

Real-time Labour Market Tracker – Phase 1 and 2 (2020)

As the economy recovers from the COVID-19 shock, it will be crucial to understand developments in the labour market. While numerous datasets are currently being used to monitor the labour market, high-quality high-frequency administrative datasets are not being fully exploited. The purpose of this project is to extract greater value from MADIP and BLADE by integrating them into a data asset that can be used to monitor numerous aspects of the labour market, in as close to real time as possible. This will help to inform forecasts, and policy development and assessment, by allowing an examination of how the labour market is tracking relative to what is expected.

Australia’s Population – Research Work Program of the Centre for Population, Treasury (2019)

The research to be undertaken by the Centre will align with the following four research questions: i) What is Australia’s current population and how has it changed over time? ,ii) What will Australia’s population look like in the future? iii) What drives people to relocate? iv) What is the impact of population changes on Australia?

Exploring the use of government funded health services (2018)

This project will use exploratory data analysis to better understand how people use government funded health services, by looking at patterns of Medicare Benefits Schedule used. Additionally, the project aims to understand which groups are using government funded health services, by looking at characteristics such as income, age, sex, geography and private health insurance coverage.

Benefits of MADIP microdata for microsimulation modelling (2017)

This project will investigate the potential of microdata from the MADIP to enhance The Treasury’s capability to analyse the interactions between taxes, transfers and Government services. A particular focus will be on the suitability of the MADIP data for use in microsimulation modelling of Government programs. 

Australian Life Tables: Retirement Income Sub Tables - Australian Government Actuary (2017)

This project is focused on analysing and evaluating sub-group mortality rates for all Australians aged over 65. It seeks to identify more meaningful predictors of mortality, which will then inform the compilation of more robust and accurate Life Tables. 

This information will support Governments in the development of retirement or social welfare policy, and the insurance and superannuation industries to create more relevant retirement income products, which could improve the financial wellbeing of older Australians.

State Government

New South Wales Department of Communities and Justice

Their Futures Matter (2020)

This project uses longitudinal de-identified linked government administrative data to create a data platform that will: (1) identify groups of vulnerable children and young people within the NSW population, and highlight their poor long-term social outcomes, and the high government service and support costs required to address the needs of these groups. (2) examine the personal and family characteristics associated with poor long-term outcomes for individuals in these groups. (3) serve as an evidence-based tool to support business cases for new public policies and interventions aimed at improving the outcomes for vulnerable children. (4) Support the evaluation of the effectiveness of public policies and interventions.

New South Wales Department of Education

Pathways for the Future – Reform Project (Pathways Project) (Stage 2) (2021)

The Pathways for the Future project will use MADIP to provide an end-to-end view of students’ journeys through school to employment. The project’s findings will provide young people with information about the outcomes of different educational pathways, enabling them to make more informed and individualised choices about their pattern of study and pathway into meaningful work. The research findings will also inform government policies and programs that help young people transition through the education system and find meaningful employment. This data linkage project is the extension of the previous Pathways for the Future project.

Development of an evidence-based NSW Early Childhood Education Outcomes Framework (2020)

This data linkage project aims to develop an outcomes framework that could be used to measure, monitor and track the impact that early childhood education program participation has on the developmental outcomes of children in NSW. By understanding the link between early childhood education and experience in the first few years of formal schooling, this project will provide the evidence base required to identify reliable and robust measures and indicators for inclusion in the framework. Additionally, findings from the project will help inform the development of both short-term and long-term initiatives and reporting tools to measure and support the proposed outcome indicators. 

New South Wales Department of Industry

Pathways for the future: Reform project (Stage 2) (2018)

This project aims to provide young people with information to make individualised choices about their pattern of study and pathway into meaningful work. The research findings will also inform government policies and programs that help young people transition through the education system and find meaningful employment. 

New South Wales Treasury

Pathways to success - Understanding positive trajectories for vulnerable people (2018)

The purpose of this project is to identify and explore the factors that are consistent amongst disadvantaged and vulnerable people who go on to achieve positive outcomes. By using health and social welfare information available through the MADIP dataset we can explore what factors underlie resilience in these instances. The findings of this project will be used for support development and implementation of the NSW Government’s Human Services Outcomes Framework and to assist work improving the lives of vulnerable children and their families. 

South Australian Department of Innovation and Skills

Socioeconomic barriers to labour force participation (2019)

This project will use MADIP to investigate the socioeconomic barriers to labour force participation and provide a basis for quantitative analysis of target population groups that face disadvantages in the labour market. The project will provide an evidence base that will identify socioeconomic barriers that unemployed people or people not in the labour force experience when seeking to engage in training/education or employment (e.g. level of education, carer responsibilities and health concerns). This analysis will also help to gain insights into some of the key determinants of long term unemployment in South Australia and whether there are any patterns evident in the data for those who find employment (e.g. completion of a qualification, decrease in use of health care, etc.) relative to those who find it difficult to gain employment. The data gained through this exploratory project will be used to construct a consistent process for integrating social aspects into the Department’s skills investment planning. 

South Australian Department of the Premier and Cabinet

Thriving South Australia (2021)

More informed social and economic development policy and program evaluation will enhance well-being for South Australians through effective government programs. This project will investigate the drivers of well-being in the state, including early child development, socio-economic status, mental, physical and social health, as well as environmental conditions. The aim is to deliver holistic, evidence-based policy advice to the governance bodies of the state to support the ability of South Australians to thrive using the analysis and insights derived from a range of investigations conducted into these drivers. More specifically, it aims to identify areas of vulnerability in the community and improve the reach and effectiveness of services aimed at improving wellbeing and reducing inequality and poverty. 

Industry and Employment Dynamics in South Australia - Data update (2020)

This project will update the integration of data from the BLADE and South Australian Business Research Environment (SABRE) (formally Return to Work SA datasets) with person-level data from MADIP. The project follows successful completion of a pilot study and aims to create an evidence base to better understand overall employment and industry performance in South Australia and inform economic policy development and program evaluation. 

South Australian Department of Treasury and Finance

Understanding welfare trajectories for homeless and vulnerable people (2018)

The South Australian Government is trialling a new service intervention for homeless people known as the Aspire program. In conjunction with the Aspire program, this project will utilise MADIP data to undertake analyses of disadvantaged, vulnerable and homeless population groups in South Australia, with a particular focus on their access to social security and basic medical services. This analysis will provide an important context for evaluation of the SA Aspire Program. 

Victorian Department of Health and Human Services

MADIP Interoperable Spine Demonstration Project - DHHS Community Health Future Directions (2019)

The ABS and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) are working with the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to explore ways to connect the integrated data assets held by ABS and AIHW to create enhanced research datasets without needing to duplicate the data integration work already undertaken. The mechanism for achieving this is referred to as an interoperable spine. 

To demonstrate the feasibility of the interoperable spine, Victorian Department of Health and Human Service (DHHS) data will be used to assemble a research dataset through the interoperable spine. The DHHS research will explore the different types of services that Community Health clients interact with, the socio-demographic characteristics of Community Health clients and whether there are specific cohorts in the client group. This project will assist the Victorian Government to develop better responses for Community Health clients, which recognise and respond to the specific health and wellbeing needs of individuals and communities. 

MADIP-Vic DHHS Child Protection Project (2019)

This project will support the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to identify intergenerational drivers of entry into the Victorian Child Protection system. It will provide new insights from Commonwealth data and will act as a proof of concept for linking Victorian Government data with Commonwealth data. The analysis will seek to answer the question: What factors influence children and young people entering the Child Protection system including out-of-home care before the age of 5? The research will identify socio-economic and demographic protective and risk factors that influence a child’s likelihood of interaction with the Child Protection system. This analysis will be used to promote the safety, stability and development of vulnerable children, young people and their families

Victorian Department of the Premier and Cabinet

Workforce Modelling and Reform (2022)

The purpose of this project is to identify workforce constraints in specific workforce occupations, set government budget priorities, plan for future workforce needs and support the design of reform initiatives. A workforce model has been developed that estimates the future supply and demand of workers in the Victorian social services sector. The MADIP and BLADE data will be utilised to improve the accuracy of the model. In addition, the data will be used to provide additional insights, relating to workforce retention and recruitment, migration, education and career pathways within the sector.

State and Territory economic trend and labour market analysis (2021)

The project will use integrated data from MADIP and BLADE to investigate employment and unemployment impacts of COVID-19 at a granular (microdata) level to help support Australia’s economic recovery and improve targeting of employment and training programs at the State and Territory level. 

Western Australian Department of Communities

Valuing social outcomes for the North-West Aboriginal Housing Fund (2019)

The North-West Aboriginal Housing Fund aims to create pathways towards social and economic independence and wellbeing for Aboriginal people in the Pilbara and Kimberley. The Fund will invest in projects that increase affordable, suitable and stable housing options, increase opportunities for educational attainment and job stability, and empower Aboriginal people and communities. Robust estimates (baseline and potential improvements) for welfare spending, income tax revenue and employment income are essential. This MADIP project will investigate the overall research question of: What is the economic value of social outcomes for people, particularly Aboriginal people, in the North-West region of Western Australia?

Academic Institutions

Australian National University

Australian labour market institutions (2022)

Australia has a unique set of labour market institutions for addressing economic inequality, most notably its system of occupational minimum wages and its job protection system. Since the 1990s these institutions have experienced changes which, combined with high quality microdata, make an ideal setting for analysing their effects. This project will evaluate the impact of minimum wages and unfair dismissal laws on wages, inequality and other firm labour market performance metrics (hiring, firing).

Impact of high-skilled immigration on Australian firms and workers (2022)

Using restrictive employer-employee matching micro-level data covering the universe of Australian firms and workers spanning the period 2000–2018, this project estimates causal effects of supply-driven increase in the share of foreign-born workers on Australian firms. This project uses applied econometric methods. The research hypothesis is that increase in the share of foreign-born workers increased the total factor productivity of local firms. Furthermore, these effects are significantly stronger for firms with low initial productivity and small size. The positive productivity effect of immigrants was also associated with faster growth of capital, larger exports, and higher wages for natives.  

Individual and firm-level effects of natural disasters (2021)

Natural disasters such as bushfires, floods and cyclones can have a powerful impact on the economic wellbeing of individuals and firms. In recent years, the literature on disaster preparedness and the effects of natural disasters has expanded rapidly. This project will expand this literature by estimating the effects of natural disasters on firm performance, and individual economic wellbeing. This will estimate both the short-term effects of natural disasters on labour market dynamics, as well as the medium-term scarring on key economic outcomes such as productivity, and firm innovation and digitisation. Where possible, research will also test whether certain population subgroups are more vulnerable following disaster.

The Fiscal Ventilator (2020)

This project will examine the short-term distributional consequences of Commonwealth actions to supplement incomes of millions of Australians who found their economic opportunities restricted while their essential costs of living piled up. It will focus on the recipients of JobKeeper, Jobseeker, related payments (such as Youth Allowance, Parenting payment and special benefit), and eligible Australians that gained early access to retirement savings held in their superannuation.

Employment effects of the JobKeeper program (2020)

The project uses integrates data from MADIP and BLADE to assess how many jobs were saved under the JobKeeper policy, controlling for other business support measures that were available contemporaneously. Over time, and in addition to this objective, the datasets requested will enable a comprehensive analysis of the business support measures initiated in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The effect of COVID-19 and the introduction of temporary telehealth items on use and costs of GP services: a whole-of-population linked data study (2020)

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, general practice in Australia has undergone a rapid transition in the way services are delivered including the introduction of temporary telehealth items (TTHI). Using Medicare Benefits Schedule data linked to Census data, compiled through MADIP, this study will examine changes over time in GP use and costs in relation to TTHI initiatives. The study will inform current and longer-term directions for widescale integration of telehealth.

Correction for linking bias in Data Integration Partnership Program (DIPA) data sets (2020)

The purpose of this project is to develop and adapt methods to address possible linking errors within integrated DIPA datasets to enable valid statistical inferences. The anticipated outcome is a generic method that can be applied to ABS integrated data sets to adjust for statistical bias due to false negatives or false positives. A particular focus will be on the linkage of survey to administrative data as this will enable the research work to draw reliable conclusions on methods for accounting for statistical bias when linking survey to administrative data.

Study of Income Inequality (2019)

This project will exploit MADIP to learn more about income inequality in Australia. MADIP has several characteristics which enable different aspects of income inequality in Australia to be probed for the first time (relative to what is already known from data sources like Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey, ABS Survey of Income and Housing, the Census and the ATO Personal Income Tax sample file). The anticipated outcomes of the project will be an improved understanding of income inequality in Australia. In particular, the research team aims to learn more about the income dynamics of the top 1% of households, and the geographic causes and consequences of income inequality. 

Using whole-of-population linked data to strengthen evidence for improving health and health care in Australia: Equity of out-of-pocket costs for Medicare services and prescription medicines (2019)

This project aims to examine socioeconomic variation in out-of-pocket costs for medical services on the Medicare Benefits Schedule and for prescriptions under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. It will describe the distribution of these out-of-pocket costs in relation to household income to assess the extent to which payments toward health care costs are related to ability to pay, and how out-of-pocket costs vary by sociodemographic characteristics and key health conditions. This will provide information regarding equity of health care financing in Australia to inform policy and practice. 

Using whole-of-population linked data to strengthen evidence for improving health and health care in Australia: Secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease in primary care (2019)

This project aims to identify factors associated with variation in secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD) care in primary care. This will provide information to practitioners and policy makers to improve CVD management and potentially reduce the incidence of secondary CVD events in Australia. 

Using whole-of-population linked data to strengthen evidence for improving health and health care in Australia: Variation in fatal burden of disease. (2019)

This project will use linked Census and mortality data within MADIP to quantify socioeconomic variation in fatal burden of major diseases in the Australian population and develop an Index of Preventive Potential to identify areas of potential health gain and prioritise clinical and public health action. The anticipated outcomes of this project include new robust evidence on variation in fatal burden of disease and an Index of Preventive Potential. 

Filling in the picture: Utilising MADIP to understand equity with Australia’s tax, transfer (welfare) and health systems (2018)

The project will use MADIP to understand the operation and outcome of the tax, transfer (also called ‘welfare’) and health systems within Australia. The project will provide information on the geographic, demographic, and socioeconomic characteristics of the population found to relate to taxable income, income support payments, and health service usage.

Qualification mismatch and earnings (2018)

This project will utilise MADIP data to estimate the earning penalty associated with qualification mismatch for workers of various ethnic groups. The research team anticipate that qualification mismatch will have varying effects on earnings for workers of different ethnic groups, with the variations reflecting qualification recognition and discrimination in the labour market. 

Filling in the picture: Utilising MADIP to understand equity within Australia's tax, transfer and health systems (2017)

The aim of this project is to undertake a detailed targeted analysis of MADIP to understand the operation and outcomes of tax, transfer, and health systems within Australia. This will be followed by a detailed targeted analysis of these outcomes. 

Charles Sturt University

Mortality of people using mental health services and medicines (2021)

People living with mental illness have, on average, between a 13 and 23 year reduced life expectancy compared to the rest of the population. Understanding the interplay between socio-economic factors and mental and physical health is important when considering health outcomes of people with poor mental health. This project seeks to inform on health outcomes for people living with mental illness through measures such as death rates, causes of death and estimates of life expectancy.

Deakin University

Barriers to Citizenship and the Economic Integration of Australian Immigrants. Evidence from the 2007 Immigration Reform (2021)

This project examines whether barriers to citizenship affect the economic and social integration of immigrants by exploiting the exogenous variation in the waiting periods for naturalisation introduced by the 2007 citizenship law reform in Australia. The findings will be important for future immigration policy changes in the residency requirement in Australia. Moreover, the results will have implications about social cohesion and economic activity in the Australian community.  

Macquarie University

The effects of paid parental leave take-up on income shifting, and the health and healthcare use outcomes of Australian women 2018

This project will evaluate the impact of Paid Parental Leave on income shifting and the health and health care use outcomes of Australian women. This project will make use of MADIP and Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey data.

Monash University

Socioeconomic Inequities in the use of Mental Healthcare (2021)

The project aims to describe the socioeconomic inequity in Australian mental healthcare use, and to identify the causal pathways that drive inequities, through the application of microeconometric methods to longitudinal datasets. The project will provide greater understanding of the barriers that people face in accessing treatment and how to overcome them. Ultimately, the research should aid in the design of cost-effective policies that improve health outcomes and that reduce inequities in access.

Healthcare resource use patterns in marginalised groups in Australia (2018)

Understanding how marginalised groups are impacted by policy changes is a fundamental consideration for allocating government health expenditure. Utilising MADIP, this project aims to assess the use of healthcare resources in marginalised groups and, where possible, use longitudinal data to assess the impact of relevant policy changes on marginalised groups in Australia. 

Queensland University of Technology

Characteristics and health service utilisation of Australian affected by cancer (2022)

Over one million Australians are living with a cancer diagnosis. They often have complex unmet needs and require ongoing care from a multidisciplinary team. In 2016, the Clinical Oncology Society of Australia (COSA) recommended comprehensive and responsive survivorship care, in which the importance of engaging primary care services was emphasized. Using the MADIP data, this study aims to investigate the changes in models of care and health services utilisation among this population following the COSA recommendation.

Examining ecological risk factors associated with spatial disparities in cancer burden in Australia (2021)

There is clear evidence that a high level of spatial variation in the burden of cancer exists across Australia. However, it is not clear why these observed patterns exist. To help address this gap in knowledge, the proposed study aims to investigate the association between the spatial patterns in known cancer risk factors and the spatial patterns in cancer-related indicators by small geographical area level. Results will be incorporated into future extensions of the Australian Cancer Atlas. Findings from this study will inform the design and targeting of future interventions aimed at reducing cancer burden in Australia.

Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology

Mapping Automated Decision-Making Dynamics in Australia (2022)

Artificial intelligence (AI) and automated decision-making (ADM) technology diffusion will significantly impact future patterns of economic organisation. However, there is currently no comprehensive, systematised database on the use of AI and ADM in Australia or worldwide. Tracking the growth and development of these technologies, and concurrent changes in economic structure, will provide valuable information to strategy and policy analysis, and create an important new input into further research. This project will build a dataset measuring and mapping spatial and time series trends in technology diffusion, skill automation, labour market supply and demand, and economic structural change.

Specialist homelessness services (2021)

This project aims to build knowledge on the Victorian Specialist Homelessness Services (SHS) workforce in Victoria. Guided by key sector strategic documents developed by the sector and the Victorian Government, the data and insights gained will support strategic and effective investment decisions over the long term to grow and strengthen the SHS workforce. The project will support strategic goals, including increasing recruitment and retention as well as guiding the sector towards a more diverse, sustainable and suitably qualified workforce.

University of Chicago

Regional Dynamics (2022)

The goal of this project is to understand how international trade shocks (and potentially other shocks, like climate changes) affect regional markets in Australia over different time horizons through the investment decisions of firms and workers. It combines new theoretical and empirical frameworks to uncover the mechanisms that determine the physical and human capital adjustment of firms and workers in different regions following changes in the cost of imported goods and demand for exported goods. 

Macro causes and effects of post-secondary education (2021)

This project aims to understand the complex interactions between macroeconomic conditions, higher education, student loans, individual labour market outcomes and firm performance, using a combination of causal analysis and structural dynamic models. Topics include: (i) Effects of student loans on individual outcomes and firm-level productivity, (ii) Effect of commodity prices on educational outcomes and long run productivity (“human capital dutch disease”), (iii) Measuring macroeconomic returns to higher and vocational education.

University of Melbourne

The Impact on the Labour Force Outcomes and Structure of Sexual Minorities (2022)

This project aims to analyse the impact of the 2017 Marriage Act amendments on the labour force outcomes, and structure of sexual-minorities via potential distributional changes to wage-earnings and within-household specialisation. The result of this research will help understand how the labour force outcomes of sexual minorities are impacted by institutional policies through the legitimisation of their relationships and develop further understandings of the relationship between legislative change and evolving societal attitudes.

Analysing mortality trends with multiple cause of death data (2022)

This project seeks to assess the quality of specific information reported on death certificates against risk factors measured in the National Health Survey and develop improved methods to measure the relative contribution of co-morbid conditions to mortality. The project also will use multiple cause of death data to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mortality in Australia and measure socio-economic and geographic inequalities in specific and clusters of causes of death.

Improving Australians’ health through understanding relationships between health and other factors (2020)

This Project aims to understand the interrelationship between socioeconomic, family status, employment, private health insurance, government assistance, and health. 

Disability and the social determinants for health in Australia (2018)

This project will explore the health-effects of social and economic disadvantage experienced by people with disabilities in Australia. This work requires longitudinal information in order to establish cause and effect. For the first time, the project will be able to connect disability information with health outcomes to describe health inequalities for people with a disability and how these inequalities are changing over time. The MADIP data can transform the quality of evidence and enable better targeting of policies and services.

University of Queensland

Predicting the Value and Use of Urban Land (2019)

This project seeks to reduce state government revenue risks and improve resource management through accurate predictions of land values. The first phase of the project involves the analysis of MADIP and BLADE data. 

University of Sydney

Age Pension Income Means-Test and Late Life Labour Supply (2019)

This project intends to understand the effect of Australia's Age Pension income means-test on late life labour supply and its effect on taxation revenue. It will estimate the reduction in labour supply of female Australians around the pension eligible age, the reduction in taxable income and tax revenue due to the income means-test of the Age Pension.

The income and substitution effect of disability pension on labour force participation (2019)

This project aims to evaluate the impact of 2012 policy changes to the Disability Support Pension (DSP) on labour force participation. It will test whether the relaxation of the cap on total working hours in access to DSP will increase disabled individuals' labour supply and to estimate how many more hours and how much more income.

Mapping inequities for people with disability (2018)

This project aims to identify, map and analyse the distribution of social, economic and health inequities between disabled and non-disabled Australians. Using the integrated data available in MADIP the project will map and track indicators of social, economic and health outcomes of working age people with disabilities compared to people without disabilities at an aggregate level across Australia. The project also intends to identify the determinants of inequalities in social, economic and health outcome between disabled and non-disabled Australians. 

University of Technology Sydney

Measuring the true cost of cancer (2020)

This project is part of a larger research area of Centre for Research Excellence in Value Based Cancer Care which was awarded in 2019 (NHMRC). This project will provide estimates of the true economic cost of cancer to individuals, government and society. Using a quasi-experimental method, the project will estimate the impact of cancer as a ‘health shock’ on their labour market, income and welfare payments, as well as direct treatment costs incurred. The project will also evaluate the contribution of differences in cancer treatment to known inequalities in prognosis and outcome due to socio-economic status, cultural diversity, and rural/remote residence, using the MADIP. 

University of Western Australia

From Micro to Macro: Understanding how microeconomic shocks cause aggregate macroeconomic fluctuations (2020)

This project uses integrated data from MADIP and BLADE to investigate how microeconomic shocks affect the macroeconomy. The analysis measures the extent to which shocks to important sectors propagate and amplify via other sectors of the Australian economy that are dependent on one another. Quantifying the aggregate impact of sectoral interdependence is important for both microeconomic and macroeconomic policy.

Private health insurance enrolments (2019)

This project will explore factors driving the demand for private health insurance in Australia. It also aims to examine the impact of having private health insurance on health care use and health outcomes of Australians. This project requires longitudinal data in order to establish causes and effects. Anticipated outcomes from this project include providing a robust evidence base for ongoing policy discussions related to private health insurance enrolments, health care use and the health of Australians.

Victoria University

Analysis of Early Childhood Sector and Stakeholder Vulnerability to inform the Be You Initiative (2021)

The Centre for International Research on Education Systems (CIRES) and the Mitchell Institute (MI) at Victoria University have been contracted by Early Childhood Australia (ECA) to develop an index of early childhood community vulnerability. The index will provide an estimation of children’s vulnerability with respect to early years learning across Australia’s local communities. This index will be used by ECA to support early childhood services through the Be You initiative (i.e. the National Mental Health in Education Initiative). The index and associated report will be submitted to ECA at the end of the project.

Western Sydney University

Impact of smoking reduction on life expectancy (2020)

This project aims to examine whether the population-based tobacco control intervention is more effective in increasing average life expectancy among Australians compared to a high risk tobacco control intervention or a combination of the two when smoking prevalence is reduced to 10% and 0% respectively.

Private Institutions

Berghofer Medical Research Institute

Skin Cancer Overdiagnosis Project (2021)

This research will involve the analysis of data in MADIP for a project aimed at investigating and quantifying the extent of overdiagnosis of melanoma and keratinocyte cancer in Australia. 

Cancer Australia

Patterns in primary malignant brain cancer treatment, outcomes and equitability (2022)

There is currently a lack of comprehensive national data on brain cancer treatments and associated outcomes in Australia. This project will explore integrated data to investigate treatment patterns for surgical, radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatment services among persons dying from primary malignant brain cancer within the Australian population. This project will improve our understanding of treatments applied for people with brain cancer.

E61 Institute

Micro heterogeneity and macroeconomic performance: before and after the virus (2021)

The research will have both a long-term and short-term focus: 1. Micro dimensions to the productivity and wage slowdown: how did within-firm productivity (e.g. technology), labour and capital reallocation and net entry shape pre-pandemic trends and what are the opportunities for future growth? And 2. Which firms and workers are most sensitive to economic shocks? What is the distributional impact of large-scale events (e.g. COVID-19 downturn) on workers and businesses? How does this vary over different time horizons and across different qualities of matching between workers and businesses? 

Grattan Institute

Australian Labour market utilisation and effects of temporary migration (2021)

This project explores the utilisation of temporary migration in the Australian labour-force and the effects of temporary migration on individual and firm-level outcomes. This analysis will explore labour-market characteristics of businesses which employ high rates of temporary migration; how firm-level characteristics change leading up to, and in response to, higher levels of temporary migration; and characteristics temporary migrants over time, compared to similar workers, and relative to salaries initially nominated by employers.

Income Mobility of Australians (2020)

The project will examine how Australians of different educational background (qualification level and field of education) move across income quantiles over time. 

Income of education professionals over time (2020)

This project is interested in tracking the careers of school teachers in Australia in comparison with other professions such as nursing and medicine. It will also investigate teacher welfare by understanding how often people leave teaching, and where people who depart teaching go. 

Nous Group

Understanding the social determinants of mental health in Australia (2021)

This project will use data from the National Health Survey and other MADIP datasets to understand relationships between social determinants and mental health outcomes.

Telethon Kids Institute

Private health insurance enrolments and health care use of Australians (2019)

This project will use MADIP data to explore factors driving the demand for private health insurance in Australia. It also aims to examine the impact of having private health insurance on health care use and health outcomes of Australians. Anticipated outcomes from this project include providing a robust evidence base for ongoing policy discussions related to private health insurance enrolments, health care use and the health of Australians. 

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