Outcomes of Stakeholder Consultations to Identify the LSAY Analytical Program for 2011-13. Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth

In November and early December 2010, the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) conducted consultations to identify research topics using the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY). LSAY tracks young people from the age of 15 to 25 as they move from school into further study, work and other destinations. It uses large, nationally representative samples of young people to collect information about education and training, work, and social outcomes. From the consultations emerged a consensus that the three research priorities which have shaped the research effort in the last couple of years have retained their currency. Those with an interest in youth transitions remain primarily concerned with: (1) better understanding the factors influencing education outcomes; (2) how to facilitate good transitions into the labour market; and (3) how the role of wellbeing affects young people's transitions. Those consulted also expressed a clear view on the importance of ensuring that this rich dataset is well used by researchers, policy-makers and others involved in youth transitions. They were also interested in seeing how the LSAY data can help inform broader attempts to devise measures of complex phenomena such as social capital and wellbeing. The results of the consultations are presented in this paper and will help to determine the research topics best suited to the LSAY data. These will be used to shape the 2011-13 LSAY analytical program of research that NCVER conducts on behalf of the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. (Contains 1 footnote.)