Around 5 000 young Aussies aged 20 years on average will be contacted when the annual survey for the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) commences this week.
This will be their sixth survey and they are the sixth group to take part in the LSAY study program, which follows young people from their mid-teens to their mid-twenties as they move from school into further study and training, work, and into adulthood.
“LSAY has provided a rich source of information about young people and their pathways for over 20 years,” said Simon Walker, Managing Director of the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER), which has managed the survey since 2007.
“As one of the few longitudinal surveys in the world with multiple cohorts, LSAY has generated a wealth of interesting, insightful, and sometimes surprising findings.
“The information LSAY participants share with us assists researchers and governments to make informed decisions about policies affecting young Australians, both now and into the future.”
This year’s survey includes questions on how COVID-19 has affected their lives, alongside other topics such as future aspirations, further education, employment and job seeking, health, living arrangements, caring for others, financial stress, and their satisfaction with various aspects of life.
LSAY participants are recruited when they are 15 years old from Australian schools that take part in the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and are contacted once a year until they are 25.
A range of infographics developed from recent LSAY data are available, demonstrating comparisons with various elements of data the survey collects.
The final data for the fifth group of LSAY participants, who commenced taking their surveys in 2009, were released last month, marking another huge milestone in LSAY’s 25 year history.
The publication 25 years of LSAY: Research from the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth was also released in April, highlighting a selection of research using LSAY data to showcase the value of this long running program.
Media enquiries: Deanne Loan M: +61 8 8230 8496 E: communications@ncver.edu.au
About NCVER: we are the main provider of research, statistics and data on Australia’s VET sector. Our services help promote better understanding of VET and assist policy-makers, practitioners, industry, training providers, and students to make informed decisions.
LSAY is managed by NCVER and conducted by Wallis Market & Social Research on behalf of the Australian Government Department of Education Skills and Employment.