Health and Education

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.