Findings from Growing Up in Australia are used to work out how to make things better for children and young people in the future.

Policy

Findings from Growing Up in Australia have already helped to make some really important changes in recent years, such as:

• The introduction of Australia's first Paid Parental Leave Scheme
• Changes to the Family Law system, including better protections for children at risk of child abuse and family violence
• The Previous funding arrangements - Department of Education, Australian Government, to ensure that every child has access to early-childhood education.

Media

Findings from Growing Up in Australia regularly appear on the TV and radio news, and in shows such as The Project.

The ABC made a landmark documentary called the Life at… series (Life at 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9), which was based on the findings from Growing Up in Australia. Information on the series is available on the ABC website.

The last instalment of the Life at… series continued the ordinary and extraordinary life journey of eight Australian children as they learned to deal with life's hurdles and challenges at the pivotal age of 9.

The two episodes for Life at 9 focussed on children's creativity and emerging independence.

Publications

In addition to media coverage, many researchers write journal articles and books, or give presentations about interesting things they have discovered using data from the study. Research reports and journal articles that use LSAC data can be found on FLoSse, which is the Department of Social Services’ longitudinal surveys electronic research database.