ASSDA - Australian Social Science Data Archive

About Us

The Australian Social Science Data Archive (ASSDA), located in the Australian Demographic and Social Research Institute (ADSRI) at The Australian National University (ANU), was set up in 1981 with a brief to collect and preserve computer-readable data relating to social, political and economic affairs and to make the data available for further analysis.

ASSDA collects data files from all parts of Australia, and from many different types of organisations, including universities, market research companies, and government organisations. Since its establishment, ASSDA has collected over 1050 datasets from Australian surveys and opinion polls. ASSDA also holds Australian population Census data and data from other countries within the Asia Pacific region. The uniqueness of ASSDA as a repository for machine-readable data makes it an attractive storage place for many important national surveys. Data stored in the archives can usually be made available for secondary analysis, depending on any access restrictions set by the depositor. The catalogue of ASSDA holdings is available through our NESSTAR facility.

In addition to its acquisition and distribution activities, the Australian Social Science Data Archive is aware of other data collection activities in Australia and will endeavour to locate and obtain relevant data for researchers upon request.

The Australian Social Science Data Archive is a member of the International Federation of Data Organisations (IFDO) through which it maintains contacts with data organisations abroad that are actively engaged in providing the social science community with computerised data and documentation. ASSDA receives newsletters and catalogues from IFDO member archives, and data and codebooks can be obtained from these archives on behalf of Australian researchers upon request.

Copies of all datasets acquired through ASSDA's own acquisition activities or in response to requests are maintained by the Archive and are available to other interested users. If an enquirer does not know what specific data to order, he/she can contact the Archive to obtain suggestions on data held by ASSDA or elsewhere. Enquiries should contain as much detail as possible regarding the field of interest.

Through an agreement made with ACSPRI, ASSDA is now able to offer ACSPRI members access to all ASSDA holdings without charge. All data discovery and dissemination activities are now managed using NESSTAR software.

ASSDA staff are also responsible for the fieldwork of several leading mail surveys including the Australian Election Study, the Australian Candidate Study, and the Australian Survey of Social Attitudes, which includes the Australian components of the World Values Survey and the International Social Survey Program. With ASSDA’s focus on high quality data and documentation and quick public release of data, these key surveys are put into the public domain in the fastest possible time.

The staff at ASSDA have technical expertise in a number of areas, including digital preservation, computer programming, research methods, statistical analysis, and the production of metadata. Staff are happy to answer any queries about what is involved in gaining access to, or depositing data at ASSDA.