Microdata: Person Level Integrated Data Asset (PLIDA)

PLIDA is a longitudinal data asset combining social, health, education, income and taxation data for the Australian population.

Release date and time

29/06/2018 11:30am AEST

Overview

The Person Level Integrated Data Asset (PLIDA) is a secure data asset combining information on health, education, government payments, income and taxation, employment, and population demographics (including Census) over time.

The ABS is trusted as the Accredited Data Service Provider for PLIDA. The project is enabled through a partnership of agencies, which includes:

Australian Bureau of Statistics
Australian Taxation Office
Department of Education
Department of Health, Disability and Ageing
Department of Social Services
Services Australia
Department of Home Affairs

Approved researchers can use de-identified PLIDA data to look at patterns and trends in the Australian population and provide new insights into the development and evaluation of government policies, programs, and services.

PLIDA Modular Product

All access to PLIDA data is via the PLIDA Modular Product (PMP), a detailed microdata product available to approved researchers in the ABS DataLab. Researchers can request access to the PMP by completing the ABS DataLab project proposal for detailed and integrated microdata. Access is subject to approval by PLIDA data custodians.

Data Files and Structure

PLIDA is comprised of a collection of datasets that have been linked together using the Person Linkage Spine.

The PMP is a collection of discrete modules corresponding to different datasets (for example, modules relating to Personal Income Tax, the Medicare Benefits Schedule and Higher Education) from which users select according to their research needs. Modules are requested and approved individually. Only the modules needed for an approved project are provided to the researchers.

Some PMP modules can be linked with the Business Longitudinal Analysis Data Environment (BLADE) using certain person-to-business relationships, such as employee to employer.

PMP modules that make up PLIDA are listed below. A complete list of PMP modules and data items can also be downloaded from the Data downloads section below. Most PMP modules are updated on a regular basis. The update schedule is determined by the data supply agreements between the ABS and data custodians and the scheduling of ABS data integration activities.

Core Modules

Modules	Custodian	Description
Core Demographics	VARIOUS	Demographic information combined from multiple sources by the ABS.
Core Income	VARIOUS	Income information combined from multiple sources by the ABS.
Core Locations	VARIOUS	Location information combined from multiple sources by the ABS.
Core Relationships	VARIOUS	Partner and parent-child relationships information combined from multiple sources by the ABS.
Core Scoping	VARIOUS	Vitals, residence, and activity information combined from multiple sources that can be used to scope the PLIDA population to a point in time.
Core Disability Flags	VARIOUS	Disability flags to scope the disability population to those who receive disability-related government payments and services. These are community-supported disability flags as part of the disability project.

Disability

Modules	Custodian	Description
Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers	Australian Bureau of Statistics	Information about people with a disability, people aged 65 and over, and their carers.
National Disability Insurance Scheme	National Disability Insurance Agency	Information about participants, applicants, carers, providers, supports, outcomes, and payments in the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

Education

Modules	Custodian	Description
Australian Early Development Census	Department of Education	Information from the AEDC, a nationwide collection of early childhood development at the time children commence their first year of full-time school.
Childcare Administrative Data	Department of Education	Information on all service providers delivering an early childhood education program to children enrolled aged 0 to 6. The data was collected using two childcare systems (CCS and CCMS) and includes identifiers and service / provider information as well as parent/child information and childcare centre information.
Higher Education	Department of Education	Information about enrolments, completions, courses, and loan amounts for students studying at Australian higher education institutions.
Apprenticeships and Traineeships	Department of Employment and Workplace Relations	Information about Australian Apprentices and their employers.
Total VET Activity	National Centre for Vocational Education Research	Information about students undertaking Vocational Education and Training, collected by Registered Training Organisations.

Families and Households

Modules	Custodian	Description
Australian Census Longitudinal Dataset	Australian Bureau of Statistics	A 5% sample of longitudinally linked 2011 and 2016 Census records.
Birth Registrations	Australian Bureau of Statistics	Information on persons born in Australia and their parents, including demographics and location information.
Census of Population and Housing	Australian Bureau of Statistics	Information from the ABS Census of Population and Housing, including person, family, and dwelling information.
Death Registrations	Australian Bureau of Statistics	Information on persons who have died in Australia, including cause of death and demographics.
General Social Survey	Australian Bureau of Statistics	Information on the social characteristics, wellbeing and social experiences of people in Australia.

Health

Modules	Custodian	Description
National Health Survey	Australian Bureau of Statistics	Information about the health and wellbeing of people in Australia, such as medical conditions, health and lifestyle risk-factors, mental health, and use of health services.
National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing	Australian Bureau of Statistics	Information on the mental health and wellbeing of people in Australia, including prevalence of selected mental disorders, level of impairment, health service usage, suicidality and self-harm behavious, and demographic and socio-economic characteristics.
Patient Experience Survey	Australian Bureau of Statistics	Information on peoples' experiences of and access and barriers to healthcare services including GPs, specialists, dental professionals, hospitals, and emergency departments.
National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey	Australian Bureau of Statistics	Information on Australians' dietary behaviors, nutrient intake, physical activity, and sleep.
Australian Immunisation Register	Department of Health, Disability and Ageing	Information about vaccinations provided to people, as recorded in the Australian Immunisation Register.
Medicare Benefits Schedule	Department of Health, Disability and Ageing	Information about claims processed for subsidised health services provided to people under the Medicare Benefits Schedule.
National Aged Care Data Clearinghouse	Department of Health, Disability and Ageing	Information on people receiving aged care and the services and organisations providing care.
National Cancer Screening Registry	Department of Health, Disability and Ageing	Information on people participating in the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program (NBCSP) and the National Cervical Screening Program
Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme	Department of Health, Disability and Ageing	Information about medicines provided to people under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.
Australian and New Zealand Hip Fracture Registry	Neuroscience Research Australia	Information about older people admitted to hospital with a broken hip in Australia and New Zealand
Medicare Consumer Directory	Services Australia	Demographic information about persons who have registered for a Medicare number with Services Australia.

Income and Taxation

Modules	Custodian	Description
ATO Client Register	Australian Taxation Office	Demographic information about persons who have registered for an Australian Tax File Number with the ATO.
Business Owners & Sole Traders	Australian Taxation Office	Concordances to enable PLIDA data about sole traders and partnership beneficiaries to be linked to BLADE data about the businesses they operate.
Capital Gains Tax	Australian Taxation Office	Information about capital gains tax paid by persons or sole traders on profits from disposing of assets such as property, shares and crypto assets.
ABS Derived Income	Australian Taxation Office	Information on income derived by the ABS from ITR and PS data to align with ABS income definitions.
Income Tax Return	Australian Taxation Office	Information from individual income tax returns submitted to the ATO, including income, losses, deductions, expenses, offsets, tax withheld and debts.
Payment Summaries	Australian Taxation Office	Information from payment summaries provided by employers to their employees and submitted to the ATO, including payments and the amounts withheld from those payments.
Rental Property Schedule	Australian Taxation Office	Information about rental property income and expenses for individuals, trusts and partnerships.
Superannuation Accounts Extract	Australian Taxation Office	Information about superannuation account holders and their superannuation accounts.
Single Touch Payroll	Australian Taxation Office	Information about individuals’ payroll data from their employers.
Member Contributions Statement	Australian Taxation Office	Information on contributions received for each superannuation fund member during a financial year.
Property Transactions Dataset	Australian Taxation Office	Information on all transfers of freehold or leasehold interests in real property situated in Australia.
Self Managed Superannuation Funds	Australian Taxation Office	Information on the income tax and member contributions made to self-managed super funds in Australia.
Labour Force Survey	Australian Bureau of Statistics	Information on the labour market activity of Australia’s resident civilian population aged 15 years and over.
APS Employment Dataset	Australian Public Service Commission	Employment data of all current and former APS employees.
COVID-19 Early Release of Super scheme	Australian Taxation Office	Information about individuals' requests of early release of their superannuation under the COVID-19 Early Release to Super scheme.
JobKeeper Payment	Australian Taxation Office	Information about payments to eligible persons under the JobKeeper Payment scheme.
JobMaker Hiring Credit scheme	Australian Taxation Office	Information about payments made for eligible employees under the JobMaker Hiring Credit Scheme.

Migrants

Modules	Custodian	Description
Migrant and Traveller Demographics	Department of Home Affairs	Demographic and location information about persons who have migrated or travelled to or from Australia
Settlements Database	Department of Home Affairs	Information about permanent migrants who have settled in Australia.
Travellers	Department of Home Affairs	Information about people who have travelled in or out of Australia.
Travellers - Estimate Resident Population	Department of Home Affairs	Information about people who have travelled in or out of Australia.
Travellers - Physically Present	Department of Home Affairs	Information about people who have travelled in or out of Australia.
Visa Applications and Grants	Department of Home Affairs	Information about people who have applied for visas to migrate to Australia.
Adult Migrant English Program	Department of Home Affairs	Information about participants in the Adult Migrant English Program, a free service to help eligible migrants improve their English language skills.

Social Support

Modules	Custodian	Description
Data Exchange	Department of Social Services	Information about clients of select programs funded by government grants, reported through the DSS Data Exchange.
DOMINO Centrelink Administrative Data	Department of Social Services	Information about people who have interacted with Centrelink, including demographics, eligibility for Centrelink benefits, and actual benefits received.

Applying for access

Researchers affiliated with Australian Government or academic research organisations can apply to use the PLIDA Modular Product in the DataLab for in-depth analysis using a range of statistical software packages.

Information about the DataLab can be found on the About DataLab page.

To find out how to apply for access to the PLIDA Modular Product in the DataLab, email mydataportal@abs.gov.au.

Further information to assist users in understanding and accessing microdata is available from the Microdata Entry Page.

Support

A User Guide for the PLIDA Modular Product is provided for approved researchers in the DataLab.

For additional information about and support for using the PLIDA Modular Product, or for technical support using the Datalab, email mydataportal@abs.gov.au.

Further information

The PLIDA/MADIP Privacy Impact Assessments page provides further information about the independently conducted assessment of PLIDA including compliance with the Australian Privacy Principles and targeted stakeholder consultation.

Further information about ABS statistical data integration is available on the ABS Data Integration page.

Data downloads

PLIDA: Data Item List

Data files

PLIDA data item list - 07 August 2026
Download xlsx [2.75 MB]
PLIDA data item list – Machine Readable - 07 August 2026
Download zip [633.81 KB]

Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 1700.0.

APA

Citation