Data integration project register

The ABS is involved in a number of data integration projects that maximise the value of public data and statistics.

Data assets – building enduring integrated data assets for policy analysis, and research.

Demography – understanding the characteristics of Australia’s population.

Environment – gaining insights into Australia’s environmental challenges.

Health and Education – gaining insights into the health and education of Australians.

Industry and the Economy – understanding Australian businesses, industries, and the economy.

Migration – examining the characteristics of migrants and the impacts of migration in Australia.

Statistical methodology research – investigating improvements to statistical collections, processes, and outputs.

The ABS respects your right to privacy and is committed to keeping your information safe and secure in all of the data integration projects we are involved in. To learn more about how your information is protected, check out the Privacy, Secrecy and Information Security page.

For enquiries about this release, please email mydataportal@abs.gov.au.

Commencement date: 01/06/2015
Project status: Ongoing

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

Underpinning the PLIDA data asset is the ‘Person Linkage Spine’. The spine aims to cover all people who were resident in Australia at any point during a given reference period. The spine is kept separate from the main body of data, improving privacy and security. The spine and the PLIDA data asset are updated approximately annually.

PLIDA shows how combining existing public data can be used to:

• Inform policy development and better targeting of services, such as health and early childhood services, to people and communities who need them, and
• Provide insight into the effectiveness of government programs to ensure they are delivering value to the Australian public.

Only data that are reasonably necessary for an approved purpose are shared and used in PLIDA. Data that has an enduring linkage to PLIDA is regularly updated for ongoing research.

Other sources of data have been explored for inclusion in PLIDA or for once-off linkage to PLIDA data for specific projects. For a list of once-off linkages to PLIDA, please refer to PLIDA data and legislation. To find out more about specific projects that use data in PLIDA, please refer to the relevant categories in this publication.

This table describes the range of datasets that now have an enduring link to the PLIDA data asset. The periods of time (reference periods) for information in PLIDA datasets are shown by starting year. The PLIDA Modular Product describes the complete list of deidentified data items and reference periods available to approved researchers.

The ABS maintains a catalogue of approved projects that use PLIDA data and other datasets. Information on these projects can be found here on the Data Integration Project Register, and also on the PLIDA/MADIP Research Projects page.

The PLIDA Modular Product can be used to explore patterns and trends in the Australian population and provide new insights into the development and evaluation of government policies, programs and services. Researchers affiliated with Australian Government or academic research organisations can apply for access to the deidentified data in the secure ABS DataLab.

PLIDA/MADIP Case Studies
This webpage presents four case studies highlighting the types of insights that were gained by analysing data from the evaluation phase of the PLIDA.

The ABS employs a privacy-by-design approach for PLIDA (formerly MADIP) and regularly assesses privacy risks. Privacy impact assessments conducted for PLIDA/MADIP and specific projects are published on the ABS Privacy Impact Assessments webpage, including:

• 24/08/2021 – Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) data integration project
• 20/11/2020 - Linkage of Cancer Institute of NSW data with the Multi-Agency Data Integration Project (MADIP)
• 16/09/2020 - Jobs Related Data Integration Project
• 29/11/2019 – Update to 2018 Privacy Impact Assessment – 2019 MADIP PIA Update
• 28/08/2018 - Independent Privacy Impact Assessment - Linkage of National Health Survey 2014/15 with the Multi-Agency Data Integration Project (MADIP)
• 04/04/2018 - Independent Privacy Impact Assessment – Multi-Agency Data Integration Project (MADIP)
   

Commencement date: 10/10/2013
Project status: Ongoing

The Business Longitudinal Analysis Data Environment (BLADE) combines tax data about businesses with information from ABS surveys and other administrative data sources to enable a better understanding of the Australian economy through statistical analysis.

Authorised researchers can use BLADE to study how businesses fare over time and the factors that drive performance, innovation, job creation, competitiveness and productivity.

Only data that is reasonably necessary for an approved purpose are shared and used in BLADE. Data that has an enduring linkage to BLADE is regularly updated for ongoing research.

Other sources of data have been explored for inclusion in BLADE or for once-off linkage to BLADE data for specific projects. 

This table describes the range of datasets that now have an enduring link to the BLADE data asset. The periods of time (reference periods) for information in BLADE datasets are shown by starting year. The Microdata,TableBuilder: Business Longitudinal Analysis Data Environment, BLADE describes the complete list of deidentified data items and reference periods available to approved researchers.

30/04/20 - Microdata: Business Longitudinal Analysis Data Environment, Businesses in Australia 2018-19 (cat. no. 8178.0)
TableBuilder product that enables counts of businesses by various characteristics that were active in the Australian economy in the 2018-19 financial year.

05/04/2019 - Research Paper: Approaches to Analysing Micro-Drivers of Aggregate Productivity, March 2019 (cat. no. 1351.0.55.164)
This research used BLADE data to explore methods of estimating firm contributions to aggregate productivity.

16/06/2016 - Data Integration Case Study - BLADE

10/07/2015 - Information Paper: Construction of the Expanded Analytical Business Longitudinal Database, 2001-02 to 2012-13 (cat. no. 8171.0)
This paper provides a summary of the methodology used to create the EABLD (now known as BLADE), the initial set of data included and a description of potential uses.

Commencement date: 12/11/2013
Project status: Ongoing

The Linked Employer-Employee Dataset (LEED) combines employer information and employee information into an enduring cross-sectional linked dataset. LEED capitalises on data already combined through the Business Longitudinal Analysis Data Environment (BLADE).

LEED can provide unique insights into labour market issues from both a supply and demand perspective and is used to inform labour productivity, firm profitability, job creation, and the effects of policies and business practices on both employees and employers.

This project builds on the outcomes of the LEED prototype (2013) and subsequent feasibility study in 2015 which demonstrated the value of the dataset. In 2018, the ABS developed the current LEED as an enduring data asset.

Information from LEED is now published annually in Jobs in Australia and Personal Income in Australia, and customisable microdata is available through the Microdata: Jobs and Income of Employed Persons TableBuilder release. A Longitudinal LEED (L-LEED) product is now available as a unit record level microdata product in DataLab. The L-LEED is updated annually in late November each year and covers consecutive financial years starting from 2015-16.

The LEED enables more detailed analysis of the Australian labour market than was previously possible - across the three lenses of jobs, persons and businesses.

• Jobs - provides information on the jobs held in Australia each year (more than 19 million in 2016-17), including information about the composition of jobs and about jobs in small geographic areas.
• Persons - provides information on all persons in Australia receiving any income, both income from employment and other sources, and demographic characteristics.
• Businesses - provides information on all businesses in Australia with a tax role, delivering further insights into topics such as job creation and destruction as industries change over time, and elements that assist in exploring the drivers of firm-level performance.

Due to the rich detail of the underlying data, the LEED enables analysis at small geographic areas, such as 2,288 Statistical Areas across Australia, as well as at Local Government Areas and Electoral Divisions. In the 2019 publication of Jobs in Australia, the ABS released Spotlight articles for each of Australia's Local Government Areas, which highlight key statistics about jobs.

The LEED underpins both the Jobs in Australia and Personal Income in Australia publications. Outputs from the LEED are an essential input into the quarterly labour accounts - a core ABS offering.

8/03/2024 - TableBuilder: Jobs and Income of Employed Persons
Link to all TableBuilder releases.

This release provides information about the Jobs and Income of Employed Persons TableBuilder product. TableBuilder is an online tool for creating customised tables and graphs.

6/12/2023 - Jobs in Australia, 2020-21 financial year | Australian Bureau of Statistics (abs.gov.au). Link to latest release - published annually.

6/12/2023 - Personal Income in Australia, 2020-21 financial year | Australian Bureau of Statistics (abs.gov.au). Link to latest release - published annually.

8/11/2022 – Personal Income in Australia, 2015-16 to 2019-20 | Australian Bureau of Statistics (abs.gov.au)

Data on migrants living and working in Australia have been linked with the LEED for the 2019-20 financial year. Additional content and an additional data download have been added to this release. 

8/11/2022 - Jobs in Australia, 2015-16 to 2019-20 | Australian Bureau of Statistics (abs.gov.au)

Data on migrants living and working in Australia have been linked with the LEED for the 2019-20 financial year. Additional content and an additional data download have been added to this release on 19 December 2022.

17/12/2021 - Personal Income in Australia, 2014-15 to 2018-19 | Australian Bureau of Statistics (abs.gov.au)

26/10/2021 - Jobs in Australia, 2014-15 to 2018-19 | Australian Bureau of Statistics (abs.gov.au)

16/12/2020 - Personal Income in Australia, 2011-12 to 2017-18 | Australian Bureau of Statistics (abs.gov.au)

10/12/2020 - Jobs in Australia, 2011-12 to 2017-18 | Australian Bureau of Statistics (abs.gov.au)

17/12/2019 - Personal Income in Australia, 2011-12 to 2016-17 (cat. no. 6624.0.55.002)
Formerly Estimates of Personal Income for Small Areas, this release provides a comprehensive range of income indicators across small geographic areas. This publication is now based on the LEED, ensuring better consistency with Jobs in Australia.

27/09/2019 - Microdata: Jobs in Australia, 2011-12 to 2016-17 (cat. no. 6160.0.00.001)
Release of Jobs in Australia data through TableBuilder. This enables users to build their own customised tables from the Linked Employer-Employee Dataset microdata, including for State and Commonwealth Electoral Divisions.

01/08/2019 - Jobs in Australia, 2011-12 to 2016-17 (cat. no. 6160.0)
Jobs in Australia (JIA) provides aggregate statistics from the recently developed Linked Employer-Employee Dataset. It provides information about filled jobs in Australia, the people who hold them, and their employers. JIA provides data across 2,288 Statistical Areas as well as Local Government Areas.

04/04/2019 - Microdata: Jobs in Australia, 2011-12 to 2015-16 (cat. no. 6160.0.00.001)
Release of Jobs in Australia data through TableBuilder. This enables users to build their own customised tables from the Linked Employer-Employee Dataset microdata, including for State and Commonwealth Electoral Divisions. Update for 2016-17 data forthcoming.

18/01/2016 - Microdata: Employee Earnings and Jobs, Australia, 2011-12 (cat. no. 6311.0.55.001)
Employee Earnings and Jobs (EEJ) microdata is a 10% weighted sample of the linked employer-employee data that the ABS developed through the LEED Foundation projects and is available through the Data Lab.

11/12/2015 - Information Paper: Construction of Experimental Statistics on Employee Earnings and Jobs from Administrative Data, Australia, 2011-12 (cat. no. 6311.0)
This paper provides the background to the LEED Foundation projects, a description of the data sources, integration methodology and confidentiality process, summary of results, and limitations of the experimental statistics.

14/05/2015 - Research Paper: Use of a Prototype Linked Employer-Employee Database to Describe Characteristics of Productive Firms, May 2015 (cat. no. 1351.0.55.055)
This study uses a prototype linked employer-employee database (LEED) to analyse both employee and firm characteristics to identify factors that explain differences in labour productivity across firms and industries.

Commencement date: 11/10/2013
Project status: Ongoing

The Australian Census Longitudinal Dataset (ACLD) combines a 5% sample of data from the 2006, 2011, and 2016 Censuses.

Viewing the population over time highlights the effect of policies longer term. This allows for the study of the changing patterns in social and economic conditions at the individual level, gives insight into the pathways that tend to lead to particular outcomes, and how these pathways vary for different population groups.

The ACLD has been used to investigate such questions as:

• Were Australians who were unemployed in 2011 and had moved regions by 2016 more likely to be employed than those who had remained in the same area?
• What are the characteristics of persons transitioning into aged care facilities? How do they compare to those that don’t go into aged care facilities?
• What are recent school leavers up to?
• How is family structure changing over time? What are the characteristics of persons who are transitioning into single parenthood?

18/12/2019 - Australians' journeys through life: Stories from the Australian Census Longitudinal Dataset (cat. no. 2081.0)
This analytical release highlights various journeys through life for Australians. Areas of analysis include employment, education and housing transitions. The most recent release explores the characteristics and transitions from 2006 to 2016 for Australians approaching retirement age.

20/03/2019 - Microdata: Australian Census Longitudinal Dataset, ACLD (cat. no. 2080.0)
This release provides information about the ACLD microdata available in TableBuilder and DataLab. It includes the original 2006-11 dataset published in 2013. The 2011-16 dataset was most recently updated in March 2019 and the three-wave (2006-11-16) data was also released in March 2019.

20/03/2019 - Information Paper: Australian Census Longitudinal Dataset, Methodology and Quality Assessment, 2006-2016 (cat. no. 2080.5)
This publication provides in-depth information about the sampling and linking methodologies, and linkage results, It includes information about the original 2006-11 dataset published in 2013, the 2011-16 dataset most recently updated in March 2019, and the three-wave (2006-11-16) data released in March 2019.

26/02/2019 - Australians' journeys through life: Stories from the Australian Census Longitudinal Dataset (cat. no. 2081.0)
This analytical release highlights various journeys through life for Australians. Areas of analysis include employment, education and housing transitions. The current release focuses on a series of interactive maps which enable users to choose a particular region and explore, in depth, the employment status of people who moved out of that region and of those who stayed.

28/11/2014 - Census Data Enhancement project: An update, 2011 (cat. no. 2062.0)
This publication summarises the outcomes of the 2011 Census Data Enhancement (CDE) project, including the creation of the ACLD.

Australian Census Longitudinal Dataset (ACLD)
The Multi-Agency Data Integration Project (MADIP)
(see: Data assets)

Commencement date: November 2021
Project status: Approved, not started

The Post Census Review (PCR), formerly called the Post Enumeration Survey, is run immediately following the Census of Population and Housing, and has been conducted for every Census since 1966.

The PCR measures the overcount and undercount of the Census. This is achieved by linking PCR records to Census records to determine which persons in Census were counted once, which were counted more than once (overcount), and which were not counted at all (undercount).

PCR requires a very high standard of linkage to produce accurate estimates, requiring personal identifiers (name, date of birth, address) from both PCR and Census. This is done within tight security provisions consistent with Census protocols. Personal identifiers are erased from all PCR environments per the time frames in the Census Privacy Statement. Only aggregate estimates are published from the PCR.

The Post Census Review provides a critical component to 2021 Census rebasing of the Australian Estimated Resident Population (ERP).

It also provides users with an assessment of the completeness of Census counts, allowing them to take this into account when using Census information; and independently evaluates the effectiveness of Census enumeration procedures so that improvements can be made for future Censuses.

Commencement date: October 2020
Project status: In progress

A critical path to ensuring the success of the five yearly Australian Census is through large scale testing. The 2020 Census Operation Readiness Exercise (ORE), previously called the Census Dress Rehearsal, and its subsequent review, will provide the necessary data to support testing of Census linking procedures and systems, ahead of the main event in August 2021.

Field tests are an important part of development for ABS collections. They provide feedback on systems, processes and respondent behavior that enables improvement of the collection and smoother participation for respondents.

Commencement date: September 2020
Project status: In progress

This project will support the research required to develop and implement low-response contingencies to improve data that ABS provides to the community through the Census of Population and Housing.

Low response contingencies will help us maintain high-quality Census data, even if an unexpected event occurs that impacts on the Census response. This research will involve several different approaches: 

• Improving and repairing the Census with administrative data
• Improving the linkage rate between Census and administrative data (MADIP)
• Exploring how a 5% sample of 2011 Census data linked to 2016 Census data can be used to improve Census data quality.

The integrated data from this project will be for internal ABS Census Program use in researching new methodologies in the lead up to the 2021 Census. To promote transparency of the work that is being conducted, some public-facing outputs will be produced, for example research articles and high-level communications. No data will be published.

The Census of Population and Housing (Census) is one of the ABS’ most critical, legislated functions. High quality Census data is critical to informing the planning and delivery of Government and community services, business decisions and academic research.

This research will support improvements to 2021 Census data, including in the event of an unacceptably low response

Commencement date: August 2020
Project status: In progress

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) and the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) have established a project to enhance the suite of national crime and justice data collections to enable person-level data linkage, and to undertake data linkage with key justice, health and welfare services datasets.

The initial phases of this project have linked together administrative datasets from Police, Criminal Courts, Corrective Services and Juvenile Justice criminal justice agencies across several Australian jurisdictions, in order to assess data linkage methodologies and test the development of an NCCJS Justice Spine which can potentially be linked to other datasets.

This project will support the analysis of employment and financial outcomes of people who have come into contact with the criminal justice sector, addressing a key data gap highlighted by the Prison to Work report. It also tests the viability of using existing linkage methodologies to link crime and justice data with other administrative datasets.

Commencement date: August 2019
Project status: In progress

This project, led by the Department of Social Services, aims to build a broader picture of income support recipients’ pathways once they leave the system, and, if possible, the interventions that occurred in the lead-up to this outcome.

This project will be used to better understand outcomes of recipients once they leave income support to assist with designing effective income support policies and employment programs. Linking administrative income support data to recent employment history, health and education data will provide insight into who needs more support in finding work.

Commencement date: October 2019
Project status: In progress

This project, led by the Department of Social Services, aims to broaden the picture of the impact of intergenerational welfare dependence by investigating the relationship between a child’s social, health, education and employment outcomes and their parent’s use of income support.

This project will provide policy makers across government agencies with detailed insights into the characteristics and protective factors associated with pathways out of childhood disadvantage, as well as the effect of geographical location on these pathways.

It may also identify possible points of intervention, to guide the development of policy and support programs aimed at breaking the cycle of disadvantage, allowing the government to develop targeted interventions with the potential to reduce lifetime welfare spending.

Commencement date: 30/08/2019
Project status: Completed

This project will support the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services 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 information will be used to design services to promote the safety, stability and development of vulnerable children, young people and their families.

Commencement date: 26/10/2018
Project status: In progress

This project will combine social housing address lists with the ABS Address Register to create new social housing metadata that will enhance ABS collections, such as the Survey of Income and Housing and the Census of Population and Housing. These quality improvements for accuracy, coverage, and coherence of ABS statistical indicators (such as those used in the National Housing and Homelessness Agreement) will assist policy makers at Commonwealth and state level.

Better measures of the performance of social housing policy will allow policy makers to develop more targeted and effective policies and services. This will contribute to the objective of all Australians having access to affordable, safe, and sustainable housing that contributes to social and economic participation.

Commencement date: 04/07/2017
Project status: Completed

Almost all deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians are registered, but some are not identified and recorded as such when registered. Therefore, registration data underestimates the actual number of deaths and death rates and consequently their application can result in overestimates of life expectancy of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. Hence the number of registered deaths needs to be adjusted before compiling life tables.

This project linked the 2016 Census data with all deaths that were registered within one year following the Census to estimate factors for adjusting registered deaths. Adjusted deaths were used to compile life tables.

Benefits of the project include:

• A more accurate measure of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander life expectancy - a critical measure under the Closing the Gap agenda.
• Life expectancy has been produced for three categories of remoteness compared to two in the previous release: Major Cities, combined Inner & Outer Regional, and combined Remote & Very Remote (keenly sought after).
• Life expectancy by Index of Relative Socio-Economic Disadvantage was also produced for the first time.

10/12/2018 - Linking Death registrations to the 2016 Census, 2016-17 (cat.no. 3302.0.55.004)
This information paper describes the background and rationale for the 2016 Census to Death Registrations linkage project.

29/11/2018 - Life Tables for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, 2015-2017 (cat. no. 3302.0.55.003)
This publication presents life tables for male and female Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians for the reference period 2015-2017, for Australia, selected states and territories, Remoteness Areas and Index of Relative Socio-Economic Disadvantage.
 

Commencement date: 12/10/2016 (PES 2016)
Project status: Ongoing

The Census Post Enumeration Survey (PES) has taken place shortly after each Census since 1966, in order to provide an independent measure of Census coverage. It determines how many people should have been counted in the Census, how many were missed, how many were counted more than once, and how many were counted in error.

The PES:

• Provides estimates of net undercount that are used to calculate population estimates for Australia and its states and territories
• Provides users with an assessment of the completeness of Census data, allowing them to take this into account when using Census information; and
• Independently evaluates the effectiveness of how a Census is run, so improvements can be made in future Censuses

Accurate estimates of the resident population are required for a wide range of uses including:

• The allocation of seats to States and Territories in the House of Representatives of the Australian Parliament
• The distribution of Commonwealth payments to States and Territories
• Planning and performance reporting
• Demographic, social and economic research

23/02/2018 - Census of Population and Housing: Details of Overcount and Undercount, Australia, 2016 (cat. no. 2940.0)
This publication presents estimates of undercount and overcount for the 2016 Census, resulting from the 2016 Census Post Enumeration Survey.

21/06/2012 - Census of Population and Housing - Details of Undercount, 2011 (cat. no. 2940.0)
This publication presents estimates of net undercount for the 2011 Census of Population and Housing, resulting from the Census Post Enumeration Survey (PES).

PES results from earlier Censuses can be found on the Past & Future releases tab of the publications above.

Commencement date: 01/06/2015
Project status: Completed

This project tested the feasibility of combining 2011 Census of Population and Housing and Personal Income Tax data, looking at the linkage rates and linkage accuracy to inform future projects.

This project demonstrated the feasibility of linking nationally important datasets.

Commencement date: 09/01/2015
Project status: Completed

This three year data integration project by the ABS and the Department of Social Services demonstrated that combining Social Security data with ABS datasets can provide national statistical assets for policy related research and evaluation. It was a pre-cursor to the Multi-Agency Data Integration Project (MADIP), and helped inform various technical aspects of that project.

This project produced additional information such as education and qualifications, work (including hours worked, occupation and industry), ethnicity, income, and housing with information about people who interact with the social security system. The statistics are experimental, given various limitations related to the linking and weighting of records. For more information, refer to Limitations section in “Microdata: Australian Census Longitudinal Dataset with Social Security and Related Information, experimental statistics, 2006-2011 (cat. no. 2085.0)”.

This project helped to build the evidence base available to inform the development of policies to improve the well-being of Australians.

21/09/2021 - Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET); more than a youth policy issue
This paper builds on the authors' February 2021 working paper to investigate extending standard reporting of NEET to include all working age persons 15-64 years of age. A new three-category classification is proposed for the working age NEET population. The authors highlight the importance of collaborative data integration projects for social policy design and development.

01/02/2021 - Not in Employment, or Training (NEET): More than a Youth Policy Issue
This working paper uses analysis from this project to suggest that standard reporting misses out on information concerning 80 per cent of the working age NEET population in Australia. Combined with other demographic insights, these results have implications for welfare policy, and indicate a wider range of demographics should be considered under the NEET classification. This may also have implications for international reporting.

23/08/2017 - Microdata: Australian Census Longitudinal Dataset with Social Security and Related Information, experimental statistics, 2006-2011 (cat. no. 2085.0)
This experimental statistical release brings together data from the Department of Social Services' Social Security and Related Information with the 2006-11 ACLD. This publication provides information about the microdata available in TableBuilder and DataLab, and selected analytical insights including two infographics.

Commencement date: February 2021
Project status: In progress

This project assesses the use of Levy Payers data to support ABS Agricultural Commodities, Livestock and Commodity Value surveys from 2019/20 onward.

Levy Payers data is a relatively new source of unit-level data on Agricultural commodities available to the ABS. The data includes a record of the industry specific levies paid by businesses that buy, sell, process, produce or export agricultural produce. Information is currently available for a selected number of commodities (e.g. wheat, grains, grapes, sugar).

The project will initially focus on REAC commodities including sugar, canola and wheat and on VACP crop value comparisons.

Initial analysis for sugar and wheat has shown that levies data is a potentially rich, quality source of information that may improve the quality of ABS Agriculture collections. 

Levies data also has the potential to reduce provider burden, particularly for farmers who have already supplied this information to government.

Commencement date: 30 March 2020
Project status: In progress

Land is a key asset, but one that can be challenging to value accurately. Building on a government-academic alliance between The University of Queensland, The University of Melbourne and the Department of Treasury and Finance, Victoria, this project proposes to address this by developing a comprehensive, robust and user-friendly set of modelling tools. These will be used to study land use allocation, infrastructure delivery and government taxation revenue.

The modelling framework proposed will benefit society by:

• Minimising risks in predicting property-related tax collections arising from land valuations;
• Providing a robust empirical base on which to develop policy advice to government to optimise land use, infrastructure and housing taxation; and
• Informing social and public policy, particularly for planning and urban design.

Commencement date: 21/06/2019
Project status: In progress

This project will integrate government data on Australian agricultural businesses (farms) to establish an enduring data asset which could be used to inform a range of agricultural and environmental issues. For this project, the dataset will be used to develop new insights on the effects of climate variability and climate change on farms.

Analysis of the integrated dataset could help to improve government drought policy programs and/or support development of private drought insurance markets. More effective drought policy programs would help to better target policy interventions to farmers in the most need and most likely to benefit in the long-term.

Commencement date: 29/03/2019
Project status: Completed
Completion Date: 30/06/2019

This project integrated Agricultural Census data with the Business Longitudinal Analysis Data Environment (BLADE) to support the following projects funded under the Data Integration Partnerships for Australia (DIPA):

1. The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) undertook analysis to explore the relationship between water availability and regional socio-economic and human health outcomes.
2. The CSIRO undertook analysis of integrated data to support sustainable regional development in Northern Australia, by delivering specific insights for that region and developing methods for potential application to other regions.

This project successfully demonstrated that Agricultural data could be integrated with BLADE and the processes that have been developed will be used to develop a substantially longer time series of Agricultural data on BLADE. This data will be known as the Farm Level Longitudinal Agricultural Dataset (FLAD) and will include Agricultural census and survey data from 2005/06 to 2016/17. The FLAD data is scheduled for integration with BLADE in early 2020.

The intended benefits of the project included the improved delivery of government services to citizens, reduced cost of government services, and enhanced capabilities within agencies to use data for evidence-based policy.

24/10/2019 - Project Results: Water and society, the relationship between water conditions and regional socio-economic outcomes

24/10/2019 - Project Results: Northern Australia, Integrated analysis for sustainable regional development

Commencement date: 14/05/2018
Project status: Completed

This project examined energy productivity and business performance by bringing together information from an extract of the Business Longitudinal Analysis Data Environment (BLADE) with information from the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting System.

This analysis will allow the Clean Energy Regulator and Department of the Environment and Energy to advise on trends in energy use and business performance, taking into account structural changes over time.

Commencement date: 01/04/2015
Project status: Completed

This project investigated the methodological feasibility of using satellite imagery data to supplement current agricultural information. The project also assessed the methodological feasibility of determining crop types from satellite imagery data.

If using satellite imagery is found to be feasible, it will potentially reduce contact with survey respondents, improve the timeliness and accuracy of agricultural statistics, and reduce data collection costs.

05/12/2017 - UN Big Data Global Working Group Satellite Imagery and Geospatial Data Task Team Report

19/09/2014 - Research Paper: Methodological Approaches for Utilising Satellite Imagery to Estimate Official Crop Area Statistics (Methodology Advisory Committee) (cat. no. 1352.0.55.144)

Commencement date: 11/10/2013
Project status: Completed

This project adds value to the ABS Household Energy Consumption Survey (HECS) by integrating household level electricity supply data via a National Meter Identifier where collected in both HECS and the Business Survey of Residential Electricity Distribution. This data will complement the range of detailed income, wealth and energy items collected as part of the main HECS.

This additional linked data provides up to two years of historical electricity supply data to better understand longer term energy use patterns, which will inform energy policy decisions.

25/03/2014 - Microdata: Household Energy Consumption, 2012 (cat. no. 4670.0.30.001)
This product provides information about the release of microdata from the Household Energy Consumption Survey (HECS), Australia, 2012.

24/09/2013 - Household Energy Consumption Survey, Australia: Summary of Results, 2012 (cat. no. 4670.0)
This includes summary information from the 2012 Household Energy Consumption Survey (HECS) and the Business Survey of Residential Electricity Distribution (BSRED), Experimental Estimates.

Commencement date: 04/04/2013
Project status: Ongoing

Land as an asset represents a major proportion of Australia's national economic value and is involved in a significant proportion of economic activities. The Land Accounts have produced experimental tables including land cover by land use in both area (hectares) and value ($). Future work on land accounts will work collaboratively with other government agencies to increase the utility of a combined land account dataset.

Complete land accounts provide an in depth understanding of how land is used across Australia. This is extremely important for managing the environment, planning of future cities, and understanding the impacts of a changing environment on the Australian landscape.

15/06/2017 - Land Account: Queensland, Experimental Estimates, 2011 - 2016 (cat. no. 4609.0.55.003)

27/08/2015 - Land Account: South Australia, Experimental Estimates, 2006 - 2011 (cat. no. 4609.4.55.001)

18/07/2014 - Land Account: Great Barrier Reef Region, Experimental Estimates, 2014 (cat. no. 4609.0.55.001)
This release presents the ABS' first experimental land account to demonstrate a method for reporting land use, rateable value, and land cover.
 

Commencement date: December 2012
Project status: Ongoing

This project combines administrative data from the NSW Department of Primary Industries - Water, and the Queensland Water Directorate with ABS survey data. Outputs from this project are included in the annual ABS Water Account, Australia (cat. no. 4610.0) publication.

The Water Account publication presents information on the physical and monetary supply and use of water in the Australian economy. The Water Account also provides information on the water use and consumptive practices of households and key industries (Agriculture and Water Supply, Sewerage and Drainage Services).

Annual publication - Water Account, Australia (cat. no. 4610.0)

Commencement date: April 2021
Project status: In progress

The Department of Health is coordinating the COVID-19 Vaccine and Treatment Strategy (‘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 of COVID-19 vaccines, and allow policy interventions to be targeted accordingly.

Successful implementation of the Strategy is a high priority for the Australian and state/territory governments. Understanding which population groups may be under-serviced by the administration of the vaccine is critical to fulfilling the objectives of the Strategy and ultimately achieving a high-level of vaccination among the total Australian population. Research questions answered by this project will contribute to developing or modifying vaccination policies and programs.

Commencement date: May 2021
Project status: In progress

The National Disability Data Asset (NDDA) is a joint integrated data project aiming to bring together Commonwealth and state and territory data to better understand the life experiences and outcomes of people with disability in Australia. The NDDA aims to contribute to improved outcomes for people with disability, their families and carers.

An 18-month pilot phase for the NDDA began in April 2020. Five government test cases were undertaken to demonstrate the potential of using linked data to support improved policy development, program design and service delivery for people with disability. This project, led by South Australia, is one of the five test cases and focusses on pathways from education to employment.

The project explores the barriers to employment, identifies background and pathway factors that explain variations in outcomes, identifies supports which help to close the gap between people with disability and the general population, and describes the pathways into employment or further education for young adults with disability.

Understanding the interaction between people with disability and the education and employment systems is valuable. Project findings will help inform the design of an enduring NDDA, and support improved policy development and program design, facilitating improved education to employment outcomes for people with disability.

Commencement date: June 2021
Project status: In progress

The National Disability Data Asset (NDDA) is a joint integrated data project aiming to bring together Commonwealth and state and territory data to better understand the life experiences and outcomes of people with disability in Australia. The NDDA aims to contribute to improved outcomes for people with disability, their families and carers.

An 18-month pilot phase for the NDDA began in April 2020. Five government test cases were undertaken to demonstrate the potential of using linked data to support improved policy development, program design and service delivery for people with disability. This project supports the Outcomes Measurement test case being led by the Commonwealth Department of Social Services.

This project tests:

• the NDDA’s capacity to create an indicator for people with disability based on existing administrative data, and
• the NDDA’s suitability for reporting against the future National Disability Strategy Outcomes Framework using data on housing-related supports.

The NDDA aims to deliver a more complete picture of the supports and services that enhance the life outcomes of people with disability. Investigating whether cross-system data matching can provide an accurate and complete indicator for people with disability is critical for informing the design of an enduring NDDA. By having a deeper understanding of the extent to which people with disability interact with the broader housing supports system, and the impact of services and supports on their outcomes, governments will be able to plan for better support services.

Commencement date:
Project status:

In 2014, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) established a research partnership to build a comprehensive profile of the health and welfare of Australia’s veteran population. This project involves the analysis of data to support the AIHW–DVA research partnership.

As a result of integrating Veteran information with MADIP analysis will be undertaken to describe the characteristics of the 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 findings of the project will be used to inform targeted policies, programs and interventions aimed at improving health and welfare services. Organisations supporting veterans, including Commonwealth Government Departments and service providers, will gain a better understanding of veterans’ needs.

Commencement date: 11 June 2020
Project status: In progress

This Project, led by the NSW Department of Communities and Justice, aims to deliver insights that will inform priority setting and resource allocation across government to focus on improving the long-term outcomes for vulnerable children or young people and their families at the earliest opportunity. To this end, the Project uses longitudinal de-identified linked government administrative data to create a data platform to: 

• serve as an evidence-based tool to support new policies and interventions aimed at improving the outcomes for vulnerable children and young people; and
• support the evaluation of the effectiveness of public policies and interventions.

The benefits to the community of this initiative are: 

• supporting the identification of trends and gaps in government service usage and delivery for vulnerable children and their families, including around education outcomes, rates of incarceration, mental illness, out-of-home-care, and employment;
• better tailoring of services to suit the needs of vulnerable children and their families;
• delivery of clear evidence on service, support and program effectiveness;
• provision of valuable information for research and planning of government supports and services;
• supporting the implementation of new policies and program development directed to improving outcomes for vulnerable children and their families.

Commencement date: October 2020
Project status: In progress

This project links Vocation Education and Training (VET) data to the MADIP environment, to allow for the analysis of the income, welfare and employment characteristics of students who are undertaking or have undertaken VET. The analysis of the data will be used to enhance the evidence base on the pathways people take pre and post VET.

There will be two linked datasets created as part of this project. The first to be conducted in 2020 using Total Vet Activity (TVA) data from 2015-18 and the second to be conducted in 2021 using 2019 TVA data and any additional years of MADIP data available on the spine at that time.

The analysis of this data will inform two recommendations from the Independent Review of the Vocation Education and Training Sector (2019): 

• 5.8 The National Skills Commission to develop performance indicators using existing and future data sources to measure the outcomes and effectiveness of government investment in the VET sector, and
• 6.5 The National Careers Institute to use a linked dataset incorporating Australian Taxation Office and Department of Human Services data on outcomes flowing from different qualification.

VET Activity data will also greatly benefit other education, employment and broader social projects aiming to capture student engagement, post-schooling pathways, as well as employment and social outcomes from engagement in the VET industry. These data will provide a national view of the Australian VET system for the reference years 2015 to 2019.

Commencement date: November 2020
Project status: In progress

This project aims to develop an outcomes framework that can be used to measure, monitor and track the impact that early childhood education (ECE) program participation has on the developmental outcomes of children in NSW. By understanding the link between ECE and experiences in the first 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.

The anticipated output of the project will be an analytical report and custom data extracts used by the NSW Department of Education used to inform education policy related to ECE and the developmental outcomes of children in NSW. 

The project will provide increased understanding of the impact of ECE on schooling outcomes and how services should be prioritised. It will also develop a clear business case for the value of ECE, and develop specific outcome measures that allow the tracking of NSW progress in providing high quality ECE.

Commencement date: 26 May 2020
Project status: In progress

With the agreement of the State and Territory Registrars, the ABS is undertaking a single quality study, linking Births Registration data to MADIP to explore the coverage of infants and children on the Person Linkage Spine. Underpinning MADIP is a Person Linkage Spine, created through a three-way linkage between the Medicare Consumer Directory, DOMINO Centrelink Administrative Data, and Personal Income Tax.

This study will enable the ABS to provide better quality information to MADIP users about the Person Linkage Spine coverage to improve analyses. The study may also provide some insights into patterns of registration that would be of benefit to the Registrars of Births, Deaths and Marriages.

Commencement date: November 2019
Project status: In progress

The Childhood Integrated Longitudinal Dataset (CHILD) Pilot Project provides a feasibility study with the key functions to assess the accuracy of estimating the Year Before Full-time Schooling (YBFS) cohort, and to provide insight into the future of the teacher’s workforce, through utilising integrated data assets.

The project will create an up-to-date administrative population base to assess the feasibility of informing early childhood and school education national reporting indicators.

Commencement date: February 2020
Project status: In progress

This project adds additional data items to the 2019 DIPA Policy Deliver plan “The First Five years: What makes a difference?”. Additional data comes from the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) and reports on the National Quality Standard (NQS) 2013-2017

The NQS includes 7 quality areas that are important outcomes for children. These data items along with the CCMS link to MADIP use administrative data covering enrolment and attendance of children aged 4-6, and their associated carers. The data will only be provided to authorised and will not be used for other purposes.

In line with the broader benefits outlined by “The First Five years” project, this addition will allow researchers to better understand influencing factors, circumstances and outcomes of disadvantaged children, to improve life trajectories.

It will generate a comprehensive child-centred data asset for use by all Australian Government agencies. Broader benefits include improved delivery of government services to citizens, reduced cost of government services, and enhanced capability within agencies to use data for evidence-based policy or service delivery.

Commencement date: October 2019
Project status: In progress

This project, led by the Department of Education, will identify opportunities to lift the learning trajectories of students by exploring the influence and prevalence of out-of-school factors on academic progress.

This project will: 

• focus on trajectories of learning progress rather than point-in-time achievement
• support social policy development to improve overall student life course outcomes
• investigate the impact of personal, family and community factors on learning
• identify potential intervention points to improve student learning trajectories.

Insights from this project will help improve service delivery to communities and families by better identifying students in need of targeted support.

This project will enhance the capacity of social policy agencies to prioritise reforms and support development of effective and timely interventions to promote student learning. This can reduce downstream expenditure on poor health, welfare dependency, and remedial education.

This project will strengthen understanding of the risk factors that affect student learning trajectories, and promote collaborations between social policy agencies and states/territories to improve outcomes for students. In particular, it will give states and territories an insight into contextual factors that influence schooling outcomes, supporting partnerships between governments at all levels to understand and improve learning trajectories.

Commencement date: 20/04/2020
Project status: In progress

This project links publicly available data from the National Register on Vocational Education and Training with an extract of the ABS Business Register and the BAS Benchmarks Dataset. The dataset will be used to estimate the number of Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) that would be eligible for funding under the recently announced COVID-19 Stimulus packages. Only aggregate de-identified data will be released for this project.

This project supports the Australian Government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, by assisting analysis of the implementation and effectiveness of policy responses and outcomes for the RTO sector.

Commencement date: January 2020
Project status: Completed

The purpose of the project is to improve the National Health Survey (NHS) sample design by predicting the household size and number of children for every household on the ABS address register. These predictions were used to inform the selected household sample in line with usual ABS procedures that protects the privacy of the household.

This will increase the efficiency of the sample design, producing an expected improvement in quality in the estimates equivalent to an 8% sample boost with an emphasis on improved child estimates, without increasing the overall burden on Australian households to respond to the National Health Survey.

This project will deliver improved accuracy of estimates across the 2020-21 National Health Survey, in particular estimates relating to children, to better inform policy outcomes.

Commencement date: September 2019
Project status: In progress

This project, led by the Department of Health, aims to build knowledge and a better understanding of the association between physical health conditions and mental health conditions.

The project may improve policy interventions, and has the potential to inform further developments of social security payments and the provision of appropriate support services for people with mental and physical health conditions.

Commencement date: 24/09/2019
Project status: In progress

This is a feasibility study looking at the linkage of NDIS data with the MADIP.

The NDIS is a nationally-based disability care and support scheme being rolled out across Australia (full roll-out by July 2020) which has significantly changed the way disability support services are funded and delivered. As a result, the disability data and policy landscapes are evolving and there are significant challenges around the availability of robust and efficient data sources to give a complete picture of the circumstances of people living with disability.
Integration of NDIS data with the MADIP could provide significant value in helping to build a richer picture of Australians living with disability.

Integration will predominantly provide insight into Scheme participants and their characteristics, care pathways and outcomes, and how they compare with other groups in the population. Specific analysis planned for this study will focus on participants’ health and wellbeing and their housing and economic circumstances.

The feasibility study will enable the ABS to explore and understand the complexities around linkage of NDIS data with the MADIP (eg: governance, methodological, weighting, analytical and access).

Learnings and recommendations from this pilot will ensure the ABS is well set-up to guide and undertake any possible future linkage of NDIS data.

Commencement date: September 2019
Project status: In progress

This project, led by the Department of Education, seeks to better understand influencing factors, circumstances, and outcomes of disadvantaged children, to improve life trajectories.

This project aims to reveal new insights that may contribute to new policies or adjustments to policy settings that improve services to Australian children and families.

This project offers the opportunity to reduce the lifetime welfare and health costs to government through early childhood policy interventions that reduce the need for intervention later in life.

Commencement date: 24/09/2019
Project status: In progress

The purpose of this project is to assist in understanding the sociodemographic characteristics of persons screened for or diagnosed with cancer, for which limited information is currently available. It will be particularly important for specific population groups (such as culturally and linguistically diverse groups).

Information on demographic and socioeconomic factors is often insufficiently captured in administrative data sources, such as cancer registries. The combination of MADIP and Cancer data will provide insight into how demographic and socioeconomic factors, such as education, employment status, ethnicity and income can influence cancer screening behaviours, incidence, treatment, mortality and survival. This linkage will allow these data gaps to be filled and a greater understanding of the importance of these factors in all stages of the cancer journey to be gained.

This research can help improve Australia’s understanding and support of people who require Cancer health services and assist with the design of better programs of support and prevention. By informing innovative approaches to cancer prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and care, the project aims to improve outcomes for people living with cancer.

Commencement date: 08/01/2019
Project status: In progress

Conducted under the Multi-Agency Data Integration Project (MADIP) for the National School Resourcing Board, this project enables a finer level, timelier, and more accurate understanding of the measures used to allocate funding to non-government schools. The data will be used to create a direct income measure to determine the capacity of a non-government school community to contribute financially to their school.

The new arrangements for using a direct income measure to determine the capacity of a school community to contribute to their school will be phased in from 2020. More background is available on the Department of Education and Training website.

This project is a key component in the future development of improved models for allocating funding to the non-government sector in the most effective and efficient manner.

Commencement date: 27/08/2018
Project status: In progress

This project combines higher education data with the Multi-Agency Data Integration Project (MADIP) to enable analysis of health and social factors affecting peoples’ transitions from tertiary education to work.

In particular, this project seeks to understand the significant social and health risk factors that prevent Australians from completing their studies or effectively transitioning from tertiary education (Vocational Education and Training and universities) into employment, and how these factors go on to affect lifetime employment and other social outcomes.

The benefits of this project include:

• Evidence to support more targeted social, health, and welfare support policies leading to long term cost savings for the government, improved student loan repayment rates, and better long-term outcomes for disadvantaged Australians.
• Improved ability for agencies to use data for evidence-based policy or service delivery through integration of education data and MADIP, as well as cross-portfolio collaboration.

Commencement date: 26/07/2018
Project status: In progress

This project will analyse education to employment pathways for young people aged 15 to 24 years in NSW over the period 1996-2016. The analysis will identify the factors, drivers, and characteristics associated with completion of school, post-school education (vocational education and training and higher education), and attainment of work.

In addition to providing valuable insights to inform prospective students about different pathways of study, the project’s findings will provide evidence to inform government policies and programs that help young people transition through the education system and into meaningful employment.

Commencement date: 01/07/2017
Project status: In progress

This project explores the characteristics of vulnerable families and children, and the factors influencing those children's outcomes to support research into risk/protective factors.

The project helps to inform policy and practice and investment of resources by government in childhood development.

Commencement date: 22/02/2017
Project status: In progress

This is the first study in Australia to look in detail at the coordination and continuity of care experienced by patients in the health system. It is fully funded by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

Many patients experience fragmented health care that negatively impacts on their outcomes and also can lead to increases in health system costs. The study will help support local reporting on patient experiences of coordination and continuity of health care and define areas for improvement.

13/08/2019 - Case Study: Coordination of Health Care

18/12/2018 - Coordination of Health Care Study: Use of Health Services and Medicines, Australia, 2015-16 (cat. no. 4343.0.55.001)
This publication focuses on use of and experiences with MBS subsidised services and PBS subsidised medicines in 2015-16 by people aged 45 years and over who had at least one general practitioner visit between November 2014 and November 2015.

20/09/2017 - Survey of Health Care, Australia, 2016 (cat. no. 4343.0)
This publication focuses on understanding experiences with coordination and continuity of care by people aged 45 years and over who had at least one general practitioner visit between November 2014 and November 2015.

Commencement date: 11/03/2016
Project status: Completed

This integrated dataset was created to better understand the interactions between:

• Children's development in their first year of full-time schooling (physical health and well-being, social competence, emotional maturity, language and cognitive skills, and communication and general knowledge)
• Preschool enrolment and attendance
• The assessed quality of education and care service providers.

The project also provides an evidence base for interventions in the early childhood education system targeted at helping reduce the vulnerability of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.

This project was the first step in establishing a national dataset for early childhood education to explore complex questions particularly relating to the effectiveness of government policy and resourcing of programs.

This dataset assists evidence based decision making and policy interventions to improve early childhood education and development outcomes.

Commencement date: 14/08/2014
Project status: Completed

This project was initiated on behalf of the National Mental Health Commission to inform the National Review of Mental Health Services and Programmes.

The project brought together Census data with information from administrative data on people accessing subsidised mental health-related services and prescription medication.

Analysis of the integrated data could answer questions about the relationship between mental health-related services and/or medication use and key socio-economic information such as education, employment, and housing.

This project will help:

• Support analysis of the effectiveness and efficiency of mental health services in Australia
• Support improvements in the provisions of mental health services which, in turn, benefits all Australians through

08/09/2017 - Mortality of People Using Mental Health Services and Prescription Medications, Analysis of 2011 data (cat. no. 4329.0.00.006)
This publication presents information on mortality of persons using mental health-related services and prescription medications in 2011.

03/06/2016 - Cultural and Linguistic Characteristics of People Using Mental Health Services and Prescription Medications, 2011 (cat. no. 4329.0.00.001)
This publication provides an overview of selected cultural and linguistic characteristics of people using subsidised mental health services and prescription medications.

13/05/2016 - Housing Circumstances of People Using Mental Health Services and Prescription Medications, 2011 (cat. no. 4329.0.00.002)
This publication provides an overview of selected housing circumstances of people using subsidised mental health-related services and prescription medications.

24/03/2016 - Patterns of Use of Mental Health Services and Prescription Medications, 2011 (cat. no. 4329.0.0.003)
This publication further explores patterns of use of subsidised mental health-related services and prescription medications, including combinations of types of treatments.

28/10/2014 - Characteristics of people using mental health services and prescription medication, 2011 (cat. no. 4329.0)
This publication provides an overview of social and economic characteristics of people using subsidised mental health-related services and subsidised prescription medication including the type of services or medication these people are accessing.

Commencement date: 05/10/2013
Project status: Completed

This project assessed the feasibility of bringing together a range of datasets to examine the impact of personal, family, social, and economic characteristics on school achievement and child development over time.

This project has resulted in a better understanding of the factors that impact school achievement and child development, providing information for evidence-based decision making aimed at improving educational outcomes.

15/12/2014 - Educational Outcomes, Experimental Estimates, Queensland, 2011 (cat. no. 4261.3)
This publication presents information on the socioeconomic context of school achievement in Queensland.

30/07/2014 - Outcomes from Vocational Education and Training in Schools, experimental estimates, Australia, 2006-2011 (cat. no. 4260.0)
This publication presents information on the characteristics of students engaged in vocational education and training in school, and their outcomes such as further study and participation in the labour market.

28/07/2014 - Educational Outcomes, Experimental Estimates, Tasmania, 2006-2013 (cat. no. 4261.6)
This publication presents information on the socioeconomic context of school achievement in Tasmania.

Commencement date: 14/06/2013
Project status: Completed

This study tested the feasibility of bringing together state and territory government school enrolment data with Census data to enable analysis of the characteristics of students and their families. The study also explored the viability of data integration as a tool for improving and extending the range of education data currently available, and explored data about transitions throughout and beyond school.

This data can reveal significant insights for researchers into the educational pathways and outcomes of Australia’s students to provide a basis for informing policy development and research in education. The study also constructed the infrastructure for conducting future data integration projects between education data and the Census.

21/03/2014 - Research Paper: Assessing the quality of Different Data Linking Methodologies Across Time, using Northern Territory Government School Enrolment Data, March 2014 (cat. no. 1351.0.55.046)
This feasibility study assesses the suitability and quality of four different deterministic linkage methods, all of which link data without requiring full name and address.

21/03/2014 - Research Paper: Assessing the quality of Different Data Linking Methodologies Across Time, using Tasmanian Government School Enrolment Data, March 2014 (cat. no. 1351.0.55.047)
This feasibility study provided additional evidence on the quality and accuracy of using the Statistical Linkage Key 581 as a linkage method for education and training data integration projects.

21/03/2014 - Research Paper – Investigating Algorithms to Report on Indigenous Status Where Status Differs for Student Records Across Years, March 2014 (cat. no. 1351.0.55.048)
This feasibility study investigates the consistency of the reporting of Indigenous status across time, and where Indigenous status changes over time, investigating the most appropriate decision rules or ‘algorithm’ to determine Indigenous status for use in analysis and reporting.

13/12/2013 - Assessing the Quality of Linking School Enrolment Records to 2011 Census Data: Deterministic Linkage Methods (cat. no. 1351.0.55.045)
This paper compares the quality of several linkage methods used for the ABS CDE Education Quality Study.

30/04/2013 - Assessing the Quality of Linking School Enrolment Records to 2011 Census Data (cat. no. 1351.0.55.041)
This paper details the methodology used in the linkage process, the outcome of the project, and the quality of the resultant datasets.

Commencement date: 04/04/2013
Project status: In progress

This project will look at participation in Vocational Education and Training (VET) programs in schools to see if it leads to positive outcomes for students over time. It will examine:

• Employment and further study pathways VET in Schools students engage in post-school,
• The contribution VET makes to the national pool of STEM skills, and
• How well VET in Schools programs equip students with the skills required for participation in a variety of different employment and education pathways.

This project will provide richer information about the socio-economic and demographic backgrounds, education pathways, and outcomes of participants in VET in Schools. The data shows whether students went onto further study, the highest qualification they attained, whether they are currently employed or studying and the level of income attained. It helps policy makers use evidence to learn about the outcomes achieved from programs and policies.

Commencement date: November 2021
Project Status: In progress

The Post-School Destinations proof of concept data linkage project will investigate whether linked administrative data can be used to improve the quality and reliability of data used by governments, as well as support research that identifies the factors affecting a student’s educational journey.

The project will aim to investigate the following research questions:

• What are the post-school destinations and outcomes (including outcomes such as Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET) for students at the national and state/territory level?
• What are the post-school destinations and outcomes for students from disadvantaged backgrounds?
• To what extent are students who have personal and/or family financial pressures at risk of poorer outcomes (measured by SES quartiles)?

The project will analyse cohorts of students who undertook Year 7 and Year 9 NAPLAN assessments between 2009 and 2017 (inclusive). Participating State Governments supply student information enrolment, attainment and NAPLAN results.  Demographic information from MADIP will be used to research post-school outcomes for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Planning for the project commenced in mid-2020, with data acquired in mid-2021 and linked in late 2021-early 2022.

As outlined in the Alice Springs (Mparntwe) Education Declaration, “education plays a vital role in promoting the development and wellbeing of young Australians and in ensuring Australia’s ongoing economic prosperity and social cohesion.” To achieve this goal, the Australian government in conjunction with states and territories have a commitment to improving educational outcomes for students and creating lifelong learners.

The resulting dataset will aid governments in understanding the relationship between student performance and attainment, and post school outcomes, including participation in tertiary education and employment.

Business Longitudinal Analysis Data Environment (BLADE)
Linked Employer-Employee Database (LEED)
(see: Data assets)

Commencement date: November 2021
Project status: In progress

The Australian Government Coronavirus Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Guarantee Scheme and SME Recovery Loan Schemes supported loans to SMEs by providing government guarantees to participating lenders to enhance their ability to extend credit. This project: 

• analyses the characteristics of the businesses that received the loans and
• investigates the effect the loans made on business outcomes.

SME Guarantee Scheme and SME Recovery Loan Schemes information reported to the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority (APRA) by lenders will be integrated with the Business Longitudinal Data Analysis Environment (BLADE). No personal information will be used.

The results of this project will be used to by Treasury to monitor the roll-out and assess the effectiveness of these loan schemes. This project will also provide a proof of concept for collecting APRA loan level data at the ABN level and integration with BLADE for informing policies and programs.

Commencement date: October 2021
Project status: In progress

This project uses Wage Price Index data linked to the Business Longitudinal Analysis Data Environment (BLADE) Core to help understand the evolution of wages and general labour market trends. The project focuses on both structural and cyclical drivers. Specific topics being investigated include: 

• drivers of wages growth historically and in the aftermath of COVID-19 and associated policy responses;
• drivers of wages levels and consequences for earned income inequality; and
• the impact of policies on employment and wages, such as fiscal and monetary policy, wage-setting and industrial relations policies, and tax and superannuation policies.

This project will provide the Treasury and the Reserve Bank of Australia with information that can be used to inform briefing materials, policy analysis and policy advice.

Commencement date: November 2020
Project status: In progress

This project investigates the relationship between long term wage agreements and the economic performance of firms following a large negative demand shock.

This is done by comparing the performance of firms that entered a long term wage agreement just prior to the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) to two control groups; firstly, firms that entered long term wage agreements after the GFC, and secondly, firms that did not enter into long term wage agreements.

By comparing these groups, we expect to quantify the impact on long-term wage agreements on firm level outcomes when faced with large negative demand shocks.

This project will better inform policy makers of the costs and benefits associated with the creation of enterprise bargaining agreements relative to other forms of wage setting in the Australian labour market. It also has the potential to shed light upon the determinants of employment in the Australian economy and how employment is linked to wages.

Commencement date: November 2020
Project status: In progress

This project will investigate how trademark use impacts export behaviour and performance of Australian businesses. Its findings will inform export promotion policies and programs.

In order to investigate the relationship between trademark use and business export behaviour and performance, the project will use a linked IP–ATO data asset that already exists.

Results of the project will be presented and shared with Austrade, the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, the Department of Jobs and Small Business, the Productivity Commission, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and the Treasury.

Several Commonwealth departments and agencies will derive policy and program benefits from this project. Its findings are expected to make export promotion assistance more targeted, and hence make it more effective and efficient.

In addition, the evidence from this project can lead to efficiency-improving changes in procedures for granting and administering trademarks, generating service delivery benefits.

Commencement date: April 2020
Project status: In progress

The Weekly Payroll Jobs and Wages in Australia estimates are derived from data reported by businesses through the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) Single Touch Payroll (STP) system, providing timely and frequent labour market information. The estimates provide the weekly change in the number of jobs, change in wages and change in average weekly wage by job and how that has evolved since Australia registered its 100th confirmed case of coronavirus in the week ending 14 March 2020.

The Weekly Payroll Jobs and Wages estimates produced from this project are part of a suite of new products the ABS are releasing to provide up-to-date information on the impact of the COVID-19 coronavirus on people and businesses in Australia. The estimates provide up-to-date information on the impact of COVID-19 on jobs and wages.

Weekly Payroll Jobs and Wages in Australia (cat. no. 6160.0.55.001)
Experimental weekly estimates on the impact of COVID-19 on employee jobs and wages, sourced from Single Touch Payroll data.

Impacts of COVID-19 - Weekly Payroll Jobs in Australia, Interactive Map
An interactive time slider map examining the percentage change in payroll jobs since the week ending 14 March 2020, by Statistical Area Level 4 (SA4).

15/07/2020 – Privacy Impact Assessment Summary - Weekly Payroll Jobs and Wages in Australia

Commencement date: July 2020
Project status: In progress

This project, led by the Department of the Treasury, will create a high frequency labour market tracker data asset to allow for real-time tracking of developments in the labour market to inform Treasury’s forecasts, and on-going monitoring of economic conditions more generally. It will provide information on labour market transitions at a very high-frequency, which will be crucial in understanding the strength of the labour market, and therefore in informing policies.

As the economy recovers from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, it will be crucial to understand developments in the labour market. This project will extract value from high frequency datasets on the labour force and government support measures 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 enable highly responsive policy development and assessment, by allowing an examination of how the labour market is tracking relative to what is expected.

16/09/2020 – Privacy Impact Assessment Summary – Jobs Related Data Integration Project (August 2020) 

Commencement date: April 2020
Project status: In progress

COVID-19, and associated health restrictions, had a substantial effect on firms. Led by the Department of the Treasury, this project examines the potential effect of the virus, and associated policies, based on firm’s past financial positions and trends.

This project aims to understand the potential effect of the virus, and associated policies, on firms in terms of their profitability and liquidity, based on firm’s past financial positions and trends. This can help to support policy-making related to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Commencement date: 30 June 2020
Project status: In progress

This experimental project will integrate data from various Indigenous business directories, in order to evaluate the impact of Indigenous Preferential Procurement Policies (IPPPs) on Indigenous businesses and communities. Key research questions are focussed on the characteristics Indigenous businesses, how they vary geographically and by business type.

This project supports the Closing the Gap initiative by enabling evaluation of the impact of IPPPs. Due to data gaps, there has been little examination about how effective IPPPs are at helping indigenous business and improving outcomes for Indigenous people. Benefits from the first phase of this project include:

• The most comprehensive study of the nature and location of Indigenous businesses. This will help governments identify and design IPPPs that are more likely to help Indigenous businesses.
• A description of data sources and data integration processes (including evaluation of strengths and weaknesses, and possible improvements), which help data custodians improve their data holdings in order to better support research.

Commencement date: 14/08/2020
Project status: In progress

This project will update the integration of data from the Business Longitudinal Analysis Data Environment (BLADE) and South Australian (SA) Government datasets with data from 2000-01 through to 2018-19. 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. The project is being coordinated by the SA Department of Premier and Cabinet, but involves agencies across SA Government with a range of policy questions.
 

More informed economic development policy and program evaluation will enhance well-being for South Australians through effective government programs.

Commencement date: 10/02/2020
Project status: In progress

This project will undertake the first systematic assessment of innovation-driven entrepreneurs and ecosystems supporting Australian entrepreneurial dynamism.

The project will assess both the quantity and quality of Australian entrepreneurship across time and place, the contribution of Australian start-ups in shaping economic metrics, such as job creation and output (revenue), and the role of local and State initiatives in supporting the growth of these start-ups.

This research will assist with the development of innovation and entrepreneurship strategies / policies and aid their evaluation. It will provide important insights into the efficacy and impact of innovation and entrepreneurship programs, and has the potential to influence federal, state and local government strategies relating to innovation, entrepreneurship and job creation.

Commencement date: July 2019
Project status: In progress

The project, led by the Department of Environment and Energy, seeks to understand business energy decisions by investigating micro-level energy productivity, and the extent to which there is an energy productivity gap. This information will allow for more targeted policy development to address energy market failures, in turn providing greater value for money from government expenditure.

This project will lead to enhanced capability across government to target and design policies that assist firms to improve their energy productivity.

The project will enhance the analytical capability of BLADE for future use cases by the inclusion of longitudinal data on energy use and emissions for ABS business register entities. This means it will be possible to investigate the impact of energy policies on firm energy use behaviour.

New policies to improve energy efficiency and reduce costs for businesses will also be developed on the foundation of understanding of the nuances of energy productivity within industries. This has important implications for emissions reductions targets, and ensuring that firms are able to compete both domestically and internationally.

Commencement date: July 2019
Project status: In progress

While the existence of spillovers is a key rationale for the Australian Government to subsidise R&D activity in the business sector, there is insufficient data and analysis of the existence and level of R&D spillovers in private and public sectors. Using econometric techniques and firm level data, this research project will produce aggregate and detailed estimates of R&D spillovers by field of research in Australia.