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 AuSSA survey also allows us to compare Australia with countries all over the world.
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. Here are some examples of surveys in other countries that are the equivalent to AuSSA:
- General Social Survey (GSS), United States of America
- German General Social Survey (ALLBUS), Germany
- British Social Attitudes, Great Britain
Topics
The ISSP focuses on a special topic each year, repeating that topic from time to time. The topic for 2023 is “National Identity and Citizenship“. This is a merger of two existing topics (National Identity, last run in 2013 and Citizenship, last run in 2014), allowing for a new topic, Digital Societies, to run in 2024
Prior to 2023 – the topics were:
- 2011 and prior – see the AuSSA Dataverse at the Australian Data Archive
- 2012 – Family and Changing Gender Roles
- 2013 – National Identity
- 2014 – Citizenship
- 2015 – Work Orientations
- 2016 – Role of Government
- 2017 – Social Networks and Social Resources
- 2018 – Religion
- 2019 – Social Inequality
- 2020 – Environment
- 2021 – Health and Healthcare
- 2022 – Family and Changing Gender Roles
In 2023 – the topic is “National Identity and Citizenship“. In 2024 the topic will be “Digital Societies (new topic)“.
For more information:
To discuss opportunities to contribute to AuSSA, please contact us at:
Tel. 1800 122 251 (free call)
Email: surveys@acspri.org.au