Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY)

Synopsis

The Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) track young people as they move from school into further study, work, and other destinations. LSAY uses large, nationally representative samples of students at school to collect information about education and training, work, financial matters, health, social activities and related issues. Survey participants (collectively known as a ‘cohort’) enter the study at age 15 years (or as was the case in the earlier cohorts, when they were in Year 9) and are contacted once a year until they are 25 years old. The program provides a rich source of information about young people and their pathways, helping researchers and policymakers make informed decisions about youth policies.

Summary

Study name	Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth
Study abbreviation	LSAY
Current principal investigator/s	Australian Government Department of Education
Current project manager	National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER)
Cohort representative (study contact)	Ronnie Semo
Postal address	PO Box 8288, Station Arcade, Adelaide, SA, 5000
Phone	+618 8230 8400
Email	lsay@ncver.edu.au
Primary Institution	National Centre for Vocational Education Research
Collaborating Institution/s	Wallis Market and Social Research
Major funding sources	Australian Government Department of Education
Study website	www.lsay.edu.au
Key reference	Information on each cohort can be found in the user support and documentation, including user guides, questionnaires and frequency tables, variable listing and metadata, derived variables, and technical and discussion papers. https://www.lsay.edu.au/publications/user-support-and-documentation Y95 – User guide Y98 – User guide Y03 – User guide Y06 – User guide Y09 – User guide Y15 – User guide
Are data available outside study team?	Yes – see www.lsay.edu.au/data/access for how to access data
Study focus	Youth pathways.
Sampling frame	Y95, Y98 – Year 9 students were selected to form the cohorts of the LSAY program. The sample was constructed by randomly selecting two Year 9 classes from a national sample of 300 schools intended to represent state and sector. Y03, Y06, Y09, Y15 – Students aged 15 years were selected to participate in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The PISA sample is designed to be representative of students across Australia, using state/territory, school sector and region (metropolitan or non-metropolitan) as strata. Students from small states are over-sampled to allow for PISA results to be reported for each jurisdiction. PISA participants are contacted in subsequent years to become part of the LSAY program.
Year commenced	Groups of survey participants are collectively known as a ‘cohort’. LSAY began in 1995 with the Y95 cohort, followed by additional cohorts in 1998 (Y98), 2003 (Y03), 2006 (Y06) and 2009 (Y09). The most recent cohort began in 2015 (Y15). Since 2003, the initial survey wave has been integrated with the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).
Commencement sample	Y95 – 13,613; Y98 – 14,117; Y03 – 10,370; Y06 – 14,170; Y09 – 14,251; Y15 – 14,530
Intergenerational?	NA
Imaging	NA
Linkage	Participants from the LSAY Y15 cohort have been asked for their consent to link their LSAY records to a number of educational data sets, with LSAY records now linked to the following: ACARA My School data National Assessment Program — Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) Senior secondary administrative data National VET Provider Collection Higher Education Statistics Collection. Access to the linked data is restricted and available via a formal request and registration process as outlined on the How to access LSAY data page. More information is available from the ‘Data linkage’ section of the Y15 user guide and includes detailed information about the linkage methodologies used for each data source, consent rates for each linkage, and references to additional resources.
Biosamples?	NA
Ethics approvals or requirements?	Y15 – Ethics approval through Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS)

Waves

Y95 Waves

Wave	Year	Age (mean, range)	Eligible sample
1	1995	14.5	13613
2	1996	15.4	9837
3	1997	16.4	10307
4	1998	17.4	9738
5	1999	18.4	8783
6	2000	19.4	7889
7	2001	20.4	6876
8	2002	21.4	6095
9	2003	22.4	5354
10	2004	23.4	4660
11	2005	24.4	4233
12	2006	25.4	3914

Y98 Waves

Wave	Year	Age (mean, range)	Eligible sample
1	1998	14.5	14117
2	1999	15.5	9289
3	2000	16.5	9548
4	2001	17.5	8777
5	2002	18.5	7762
6	2003	19.5	6905
7	2004	20.5	5979
8	2005	21.5	5356
9	2006	22.5	4729
10	2007	23.5	4210
11	2008	24.5	3859
12	2009	25.5	3596

Y03 Waves

Wave	Year	Age (mean, range)	Eligible sample
1	2003	15.7	10370
2	2004	16.7	9378
3	2005	17.7	8691
4	2006	18.7	7721
5	2007	19.7	6658
6	2008	20.7	6074
7	2009	21.7	5475
8	2010	22.7	4903
9	2011	23.7	4429
10	2012	24.7	3945
11	2013	25.7	3741

Y06 Waves

Wave	Year	Age (mean, range)	Eligible sample
1	2006	15.7	14170
2	2007	16.7	9353
3	2008	17.7	8380
4	2009	18.7	7299
5	2010	19.7	6316
6	2011	20.7	5420
7	2012	21.7	4670
8	2013	22.7	4223
9	2014	23.7	3839
10	2015	24.7	3563
11	2016	25.7	3343

Y09 Waves

Wave	Year	Age (mean, range)	Eligible sample
1	2009	15.7	14251
2	2010	16.7	8759
3	2011	17.7	7626
4	2012	18.7	6541
5	2013	19.7	5787
6	2014	20.7	5082
7	2015	21.7	4529
8	2016	22.7	4037
9	2017	23.7	3518
10	2018	24.7	3234
11	2019	25.7	2933

Y15 Waves

Wave	Year	Age (mean, range)	Eligible sample
1	2015	15.7	14530
2	2016	16.7	4704
3	2017	17.7	4603
4	2018	18.7	4825
5	2019	19.7	3721
6	2020	20.7	3759
7	2021	21.7	3705