Growing Up in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) is Australia's first nationally representative longitudinal study of child development. The purpose of the study is to provide data that enable a comprehensive understanding of development and life-course trajectories within Australia's current social, economic and cultural environment. The longitudinal nature of the study enables researchers to examine the dynamics of change through the life course as children develop, and to go beyond the static pictures provided by cross-sectional statistics. The study thereby gives policy-makers and researchers access to quality data about children's development in the contemporary Australian environment.

The study was initiated and is funded by the Australian Government Department of Social Services, and is conducted in partnership with the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) and the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). A consortium of leading researchers and experts from universities and research agencies provide advice to the study.

This is the fifth volume in the LSAC Annual Statistical Report series, which uses data from the fifth wave of the study for the first time. The purpose of these reports is to provide a snapshot of some of the data from the study and to address policy-relevant questions about aspects of Australian children's lives and development. The report makes use of the longitudinal nature of LSAC data to describe the dynamics of change as children develop, and how their families and lives change as they grow older.