The Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey

Introduction

The Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey was announced in the 1999-2000 Budget by the Federal Government with the first collection of data occurring in 2001. Further funding was provided in the 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2007-08 Budgets. The HILDA survey was made an ongoing project in the 2007-08 Budget and the survey has to date contracted a total of sixteen annual waves of data collection.

Objectives

The primary objective of the HILDA Survey is to support research questions falling within three broad areas:
 

  1. income dynamics - with a particular focus on how households respond to policy changes aimed at improving financial incentives, and interactions between changes in family status and poverty
  2. labour market dynamics - with a focus on low-to-middle income households, female participation, and work to retirement transitions and
  3. family dynamics - focusing on family formation, well-being and separation, along with post-separation arrangements for children and links between income support and family formation and dissolution.

Content

HILDA covers a range of topics including, but not limited to, such things as: life satisfaction, health outcomes, fertility, neighbourhood characteristics, time usage and work-family balance.

The HILDA Survey has a longitudinal design, most questions are repeated each year. Nevertheless, within each survey wave, scope exists for asking questions on topics that will not be covered every year. The main additional topics to date are as follows:

  • Wave 2 – Household wealth;
  • Wave 3 – Retirement and plans for retirement;
  • Wave 4 – Private health insurance, and youth.
  • Wave 5 – Fertility and Partnering, Personality, Household Expenditure, Intentions and Plans.
  • Wave 6 – Household wealth
  • Wave 7 – Retirement and plans for retirement, Diet, Smoking History and Literacy and numeracy 
  • Wave 8 – Fertility and Partnering
  • Wave 9 – Immigration settlement, Private health insurance, Health and diet
  • Wave 10 – Household wealth, Intentions and plans, non co-residential relationships
  • Wave 11 – Fertility and Partnering (data from Wave 11 available in December 2012),

Detailed information on survey content is available in the HILDA online user manual.

Parties involved

The HILDA Survey is funded by the Australian Government and managed by the HILDA Survey Section, Research & Analysis Branch, Department of Families and Housing, Community Services, Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA).

The design, development and conduct of the HILDA survey has been contracted to the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research at the University of Melbourne. The principal investigator for the survey is Professor Mark Wooden from the Melbourne Institute. The fieldwork for waves 1-8 was sub-contracted to the Nielsen Company. Roy Morgan Research has been sub-contracted to undertake the fieldwork for Waves 9-16.

Timeline

So far, the first 10 years, or waves, of survey data have been collected and collated, with Wave 1 data being collected between August and December 2001, and released in October 2002.

Wave 11 data is currently being prepared for release which will occur in December 2012 and the collection of Wave 12 data will begin in August 2012 with anticipated release in December 2013. Subsequent waves follow this pattern.

More details on the survey

In depth information about the HILDA survey is available from the dedicated website: The University of Melbourne. This information includes:

  • HILDA Annual Reports
  • project timing
  • survey instruments
  • discussion and technical papers on survey design, data quality, weighting and imputation
  • a comprehensive bibliography of research papers that use HILDA data.

There are also contact details and an email discussion/information group (HILDA-L) which you can join.

Getting access to HILDA data

The HILDA data is available to approved researchers. Researchers interested in applying for the data

who’s organisations have been approved an Organisational Deed of Licence will contact their organisations Data Manager for the Deed of Confidentiality. Or for individual researchers  who’s organisation has not entered into an Organisational Licensing arrangement, will complete a Individual Deeds of Licence.

For more information on applying for the data please email longitudinalsurveys@fahcsia.gov.au

Applying for a Organisational Deed of Licence

Before applying organisations should refer to the Manual for Access and Use of FaHCSIA Longitudinal Survey Datasets it contains a full explanation of organisational licensing arrangements and the responsibilities of Data Managers and users of FaHCSIA datasets. 

A brief summary of organisational licensing arrangements:

  • A delegate from the organisation signs a Deed of Licence on behalf of the organisation.  Researchers from an approved organisation who require access to the data will complete a Deed of Confidentiality (see Getting access to HILDA data).
  • The delegate must nominate a data manager who will be responsible for managing access to the dataset by users in the organisation and liaising with FaHCSIA, the Melbourne Institute (HILDA) and the Australian Institute of Family Studies (LSAC).
  • A payment of $330.00 is charged for each release of data. This fee is charged when the first application for each release from each survey from the organisation is approved by FaHCSIA.
  • Once the fee is paid to the relevant survey manager, any number of users from the organisation who complete a Deed of Confidentiality and have been authorised by FaHCSIA can access that release without charge.
  • A release includes all previous waves of the data, for example the HILDA General Release 10 dataset contains waves 1­–10.
  • All data users are obliged to meet security requirements.  These are outlined in the Manual for Access and Use of FaHCSIA Longitudinal Survey Datasets, Appendix E. 
  • Organisations are not permitted to use the data for commercial purposes

Cross-National Equivalent File (CNEF)

The Cross-National Equivalent File contains equivalently defined variables for the following panel studies:

  • Panel Study of Income Dynamics
  • German Socio-Economic Panel
  • British Household Panel Study
  • Canadian Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics
  • Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey (HILDA)
  • Swiss Household Panel
  • Korea Labor Income Panel Study
  • Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey – Higher School of Economics

The data is designed to allow cross-national researchers not experienced in panel data analysis to access a simplified version of these panels, while providing experienced panel data users with guidelines for formulating equivalent variables across countries. Most importantly, the equivalent file provides a set of constructed variables (for example pre- and post-government income and international household equivalence weights) that are not directly available on the original surveys.

Ordering the HILDA-CNEF

Access to the HILDA-CNEF data is by completing an Individual Deed of Licence even for those who are eligible for access to other datasets under an Organisational Deed of Licence. To apply for the HILDA-CNEF complete the application form and forward to longitudinalsurveys@fahcsia.gov.au . FaHCSIA will email the researcher to let them know whether permission for access to the dataset has been granted. FaHCSIA will also inform the CNEF team at Cornell University. It is the responsibility of the researcher to contact the CNEF team at Cornell University (CNEF@cornell.edu.au) to organise payment prior to being sent the CNEF datasets.

Cornell University provides users with a set of CDs containing all of the CNEF datasets. Each of the datasets in the CNEF may only be accessed with a password.

FaHCSIA has been informed that the cost for obtaining the set of CDs with all of the CNEF datasets is $125US but advises users to check this.

Users are permitted to use the HILDA-CNEF Dataset on CD ROM / DVD off organisational premises but must comply with the security requirements in their Deed.

Cornell University provides users with a set of CDs containing all of the CNEF datasets. Each of the datasets in the CNEF may only be accessed with a password.

FaHCSIA has been informed that the cost for obtaining the set of CDs with all of the CNEF datasets is $125US but advises users to check this.

Users are permitted to use the HILDA-CNEF Dataset on CD ROM / DVD off organisational premises but must comply with the security requirements in their Deed.

Content Updated: 5 September 2012