Data Resource Profile: Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey

Key Features
The Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey is an indefinite life household panel survey that was established with the purpose of providing a data resource for use by researchers and policy makers to improve understanding of change over the life course and the factors driving change.

The study commenced in 2001 with a representative sample of 13 969 respondents from 7682 households. The responding sample is automatically extended each year as children turn 15 years old and as new households are formed. The sample was topped up with an additional 2153 households in Wave 11. Data Release 21 contains 321 692 observations from 33 965 respondents.

Topic coverage is broad, but with a focus on income and wealth, employment, family and health. The health component includes the annual administration of the Short-Form 36-item (SF-36) Health Survey, the regular collection of data on long-term health conditions and health-related behaviours, and a 4-yearly module that assesses serious health conditions, utilization of healthcare services, diet and sleep.

The large-scale representative longitudinal data, with a family and household focus and rich data on income, employment and socio-economic circumstances, provide a unique resource for health researchers.

Access to the unit-record data is granted via a licence provided by the Australian Government.