About the Life Course Data Initiative

The Life Course Data Initiative (LCDI) pilot is being delivered by the ABS, in partnership with the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Government, South Australian (SA) Government and Adelaide University’s BetterStart. The pilot runs from 2023-24 to 2026-27.

The Commonwealth Treasury and Department of Social Services are leading the implementation of the Targeting Entrenched Disadvantage package, with a focus on intergenerational disadvantage, community outcomes and improving child and family wellbeing. 

As part of the commitment to Targeting Entrenched Disadvantage, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) received funding to deliver the Life Course Data Initiative (LCDI) pilot over four years from July 2023. The ABS is working with its partners to create an evidence base, bringing together data from a range of early childhood, health and community services, and associated data insights, to inform long-term policy responses to address disadvantage. The LCDI focuses on addressing evidence gaps about the early years of Australians’ lives, particularly ages 0-14 years, to better understand and address disadvantage. 

The LCDI is expected to help: 

• improve access to data for communities and enable shared decision-making
• understand children’s outcomes and the impact of early life experiences
• researchers explore the social, economic and wellbeing outcomes in geographic locations, and how the different strengths in communities can help people thrive
• inform public policy response to improve the outcomes for people in areas and populations who are more likely to experience disadvantage.

The ABS is talking with a range of experts including policy makers, community organisations and researchers to help shape research and data priorities related to disadvantage. Stakeholders have said it is important to consider outcomes across different areas of life, with a focus on both improving wellbeing and alleviating disadvantage. 

The LCDI pilot is being delivered by the ABS, in partnership with the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Government, South Australian (SA) Government and Adelaide University’s BetterStart. The pilot runs from 2023-24 to 2026-27.

Over the four-year pilot, the ABS is working with the partners, across all aspects of the pilot LCDI, including data integration and data sharing, governance, research and understanding community data needs. This includes safely linking a range of ACT and SA datasets to the Person Level Integrated Data Asset (PLIDA) and building research partnerships to demonstrate the value of integrated data in addressing disadvantage. 

The Life Course Dataset involves safe linking of the existing PLIDA to a selection of ACT datasets, BetterStart’s Better Evidence Better Outcomes Linked Data (Adelaide University), state and territory births registry data, and Commonwealth childcare data.  

The dataset became available to researchers of approved LCDI projects from March 2025, supporting analysis of people's experiences over the life course. It is accessible to researchers working on LCDI research projects with approval from relevant data custodians, and where required, ethics committees.

For more information, refer to Life Course Dataset and developments.

The ABS is helping approved external organisations access data for research projects. This work will help demonstrate the value of the Life Course Dataset. Projects are being led by:

• Australian Capital Territory Government and Australian National University
• South Australian Government and Adelaide University’s BetterStart
• Life Course Centre.

For more information, refer to Research program.

Using the Life Course Dataset, the ABS is publishing statistics to support a better understanding of children’s experiences and outcomes across Australia. This will include work to develop an experimental indicator of child disadvantage which incorporates measures relevant to children’s social, economic, and educational wellbeing. 

For more information about the ABS statistical program, refer to Analytical insights. Initial insights from the ABS statistical program are available in Analytical insights and Methodological insights.

Community Data Liaison Officers (CDLOs) are working with communities and place-based initiatives to understand their data needs and help them access and use data to support local decision-making.

For more information, refer to Community program and Community stories. 

The ABS is conducting an evaluation of the LCDI to inform government and partners about possible future directions. The evaluation will aim to collect and understand the changes brought by the pilot, in real-time as much as possible, to help guide the work program and understand what is working and what is not. 

For more information about the LCDI, contact life.course@abs.gov.au.