The Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) uses large, nationally representative samples of students at school to collect information about education, training, work, financial matters, health, social activities, and related issues. LSAY began in 1995 and to date, six cohorts have commenced the survey program.
The following data tools provide quick and easy access to summary LSAY data so users can readily explore results from the LSAY surveys.
LSAY QuickStats
This data visualisation tool presents information on education and employment pathways, as well as social indicators on living arrangements and satisfaction with life. The data can be filtered by demographic groups.
Learn more >
Frequency tables
Frequency tables provide the frequency counts for each data item in the LSAY datasets. Frequency tables are available for each cohort at every survey wave.
Learn more >
Pivot tables
Create customised tables in Excel from a range of variables, including sex, state, geographic location, school sector, country of birth or socioeconomic status.
Learn more >
Variable listing and metadata
Get to know the data items in the LSAY datasets using this Excel workbook.
Learn more >HOW TO ACCESS LSAY DATA
Data collected from the wave 11 (2025) interviews for the Y15 cohort are now available, marking the completion of LSAY's longitudinal survey collection.
Data are now available from the first to the final wave for all six cohorts: Y95, Y98, Y03, Y06, Y09 and Y15.
LSAY records for the Y15 cohort have also been linked to several data sources including ACARA My School, National Assessment Program — Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN), the National VET Provider Collection and the Higher Education Statistics Collection.
Access to the LSAY data is free via a formal request and registration process managed by the Australian Data Archive (ADA).
USER SUPPORT AND DOCUMENTATION
A range of resources are available to help understand and use the LSAY data, including user guides, the questionnaires and technical papers. For more information about these resources, visit the the User support and documentation page.
