Microdata from the 2006 Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey (ALLS) is available in the form of a Basic Confidentialised Unit Record File (CURF) and an Expanded CURF. These CURFs consist of confidentialised data on persons aged 15 to 74 years from all States and Territories (excluding very remote areas) living in private dwellings. The CURFs contain data items on the following topics: general demographic information; linguistic information; parental information; labour force activities; literacy and numeracy practices; participation in education and training; social capital and well being; information and communications technology; household composition; income and literacy skills in prose, document, numeracy, problem solving and health literacy. Each file contains 8,988 records.

The 2006 ALLS Basic CURF is available on CD-ROM and via the Remote Access Data Laboratory (RADL). The Expanded file is only available through the RADL. The RADL is accessible for authorised users via the ABS web site and enables the ABS to make more detailed microdata available than on CD-ROM, while still maintaining the confidentiality of ABS data providers.

Differences between the Basic and Expanded CURFs

As the RADL provides additional protection to the data, the level of detail provided on the Expanded CURF is greater than that on the Basic CURF. Some items that are not on the Basic CURF will be included on the Expanded CURF, for example Family Composition and personal gross weekly income. Other items will be available on the Expanded CURF in more detail, such as occupation and industry of main job. A full list of data items available is available as an Excel spreadsheet in the Details tab on the web page for these CURFs.

For more information about the content and use of the 2006 Basic and Expanded CURFs refer to 2006 Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey Technical Manual (cat.no. 4228.0.55.003) and the 2006 Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey User Guide (cat. no. 4228.0.55.002).