Linked data
Child educational records
Survey data from MatCH are complemented by linked child educational records, to provide objective measures of children’s development.
If you wish to use these datasets, see Applying for data.
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|---|---|---|
| Collection | Collected every 3 years - children entering full-time schooling | Collected annually (except 2020) - students in school years 3, 5, 7 and 9 |
| Type | National recordset | State recordsets (harmonised into a single set for ALSWH users) |
| MatCH Records received (year) | 2018 | 2019 - 2020 |
| MatCH Record coverage | Census years: 2009 2012 2015 | 2011 - 2018* / 2019^ *ACT, QLD ^ Other states |
| Number of MatCH children with records | 943 | 2,516 |
| Next linkage update due | Mid-2023 (Census years 2018 & 2021) | Late-2023 (records to 2022) |
Acknowledgement of sources
We are extremely grateful to the mothers who consented to linkage of their children’s records, and to the responsible Data Custodians and data linkage staff for access to these collections. Specifically, we acknowledge:
- The Australian Early Development Census (AEDC). The AEDC is funded by the Australian Government Department of Education, Skills and Employment. The findings and views reported are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Department or the Australian Government.
- NAPLAN data was provided by the ACT Education Directorate, the NSW Education Standards Authority, the NT Department of Education, the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority, the SA Department for Education, the Tasmanian Department of Education, the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority, and the WA School Curriculum and Standards Authority. These authorities were not associated with, and do not endorse the analysis, comments or findings published by the MatCH Study.
- The Data Linkage Unit at the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) performed the linkage to AEDC and NSW NAPLAN data collections.
- From 2023, these records will be sourced through the Australian Institute of Family Studies.
Participant privacy
Participant privacy is a priority in MatCH and strict regulations govern data use. Educational records are only made available to the Study for those children whose mothers explicitly consented to this. Record matching and de-identification was performed by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Data Linkage Unit, or by the responsible educational authority, without access to MatCH survey data. Participants’ names, children’s names, and/or contact details were not included with the data we received back. The researchers and project staff who work with these data also sign confidentiality statements. This process is approved by the responsible Human Research Ethics Committees (The University of Newcastle, Protocol H-2014-0246; The University of Queensland Human Research Ethics Committee, Protocol 2014001213; the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Human Research Ethics Committee, Protocol EO2017/1/342).
Other linked data
As a substudy, MatCH also uses linked maternal data collected under ALSWH. More information can be found on the ALSWH linked data pages, and Participant Privacy Policy.
With regard to linked environmental data, we acknowledge Associate Professor Luke Knibbs (School of Public Health, The University of Queensland) for assigning the air pollution exposure estimates to geocoded residential addresses of ASLWH participants (including MatCH mothers) from 1996 to 2017.