Dataset Link: Click Here

Version: 2.0

Update Date: 21 July 2021

DOI: 10.4225/87/T5BNZ7

The Australian Survey of Social Attitudes (AuSSA) is Australia’s main source of data for the scientific study of the social attitudes, beliefs and opinions of Australians, how they change over time, and how they compare with other societies. The survey is used to help researchers better understand how Australians think and feel about their lives. It produces important information about the changing views and attitudes of Australians as we move through the 21st century. Similar surveys are run in other countries, so data from the AuSSA also allows us to compare Australia with countries all over the world. The aims of the survey are to discover: the range of Australians’ views on topics that are important to all of us, how these views differ for people in different circumstances, how they have changed over the past quarter century, and how they compare with people in other countries.
AuSSA is also the Australian component of the International Social Survey Project (ISSP). The ISSP is a cross-national collaboration on surveys covering important topics. Each year, survey researchers in some 40 countries each do a national survey using the same questions. The ISSP focuses on a special topic each year, repeating that topic from time to time. The topic for 2015 is “Work Orientations”. This is the fourth time this has been the topic of the survey, having previously been the theme for the survey in 1989, 1997 and 2005.
The AuSSA 2015 questionnaire was split into two booklets. Booklet A and Booklet B. Both booklets contained identical ISSP module and Personal Background sections, but some contributor sections had alternate questions. Within each wave, Booklet A was randomly assigned to half of the respondents, Booklet B to the remaining half. Waves 1 and 2 were conducted simultaneously in time (August) due to delays in Ethics approval, while Waves 3 and 4 were conducted on schedule in November 2015 and February 2016 respectively.
Topics covered were work orientation, Health and work, Work, Support and Emotional Wellbeing, Early childhood, Ageing, Environment, Aboriginal policy, Insurance, Personal background.
The following variables are embargoed until Jan 1, 2018 – A51, All in Sections B,C,D,F,G,H, I27, I28, I29, I36, I37. The following variables are embargoed until Jan 1, 2019 – All in Section E.