Data issues paper
Overview
The data issues paper provides a summary of data-related issues that have been identified in the Ten to Men data. It has been designed to assist users of the data as they undertake research and analysis. It should be read in conjunction with the Ten to Men Data user guide.
The data issues paper provides information to data users on:
- observed inconsistencies and issues that they should be aware of when analysing and interpreting the Ten to Men data
- recommendations and guidance in the management of identified data quality issues in the Ten to Men data.
The data issues paper has been divided into 3 sections:
- a history of the Ten to Men datasets
- changes to the structure of the Ten to Men datasets
- description of identified data quality issues.
Further sections will be added as any data-related issues emerge.
Data issue paper updates
| Date | Version | Update | Suggested citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| September 2019 | 1.0 | Initial version | Howell, L., Bandara, D., Mohal, J., Andalon, M., Silbert, M., Garrard, B., Swami, N., & Daraganova, G. (2019). Ten to Men: The Australian Longitudinal Study on Male Health - Data Issues Paper, Version 1.0, September 2019. Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies. |
| September 2021 | 2.0 | Updated for Wave 3 | Howell, L., Silbert, M., & Bandara, D. (2021). Ten to Men: The Australian Longitudinal Study on Male Health - Data Issues Paper, Version 2.0, September 2021. Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies. |
| March 2022 | 2.1 | Addition of Section 3.10 Current Occupation | Howell, L., Silbert, M., & Bandara, D. (2022). Ten to Men: The Australian Longitudinal Study on Male Health - Data Issues Paper, Version 2.1, March 2022. Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies. |
| September 2023 | 3.0 | Updated for Wave 4 | Volpe, F. Suares, M., Silbert, M., & Martin, S. (2023). Ten to Men: The Australian Longitudinal Study on Male Health - Data Issues Paper, Version 3.0, September 2023. Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies. |
| December 2024 | 3.1 | Addition of Section 3.12 Ancestry, 3.20 Consideration for total ever smoked, ever vaped, and ever drank alcohol, and 3.21 Back-coding of free text answers and a spotlight on Health Conditions questions | Volpe, F., Biddiscombe., Silbert, M., & Martin, S. (2024). Ten to Men: The Australian Longitudinal Study on Male Health – Data Issues Paper, Version 3.1, December 2024. Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies. |
| August 2025 | 4.0 | Updated for Sample top up | Volpe, F., Biddiscombe, K., Silbert, M., & Martin, S. (2025). Ten to Men: The Australian Longitudinal Study on Male Health – Data Issues Paper, Version 4.0, August 2025. Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies |
| October 2025 | 5.0 | Updated for Wave 5 | Volpe, F., Biddiscombe, K., Silbert, M., & Martin, S. (2025). Ten to Men: The Australian Longitudinal Study on Male Health – Data Issues Paper, Version 5.0, October 2025. Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies. |
Ten to Men data
Periodically a new release of the Ten to Men datasets will be generated as additional information becomes available after each data collection wave. The releases are numbered in sequential order and a new Digital Object Identifier (DOI) is minted.
There have been 8 releases of data:
- Release 1.0 was issued by the University of Melbourne and contained data from Wave 1 only.
- Release 2.0 was also issued by the University of Melbourne. It contained data from both Wave 1 and Wave 2, as well as a respondent dataset.
- Release 2.1 was issued by the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) and comprised of updated Wave 1 and Wave 2 datasets. Relevant data from the respondent dataset was included in these datasets and it is no longer available as a separate dataset.
- Release 3.0 was issued by AIFS and contained data from Wave 1, Wave 2 and Wave 3.
- Release 4.0 was also issued by AIFS, and contained data from Wave 1, Wave 2, Wave 3 and Wave 4.
- Release 4.0.1 was issued by AIFS and contained some minor corrections and updates to data from Wave 1, Wave 2, Wave 3 and Wave 4.
- Release 4.1 was issued by AIFS and contained data from the Sample Top Up.
- Release 5.0 was issued by AIFS, and contained data from Wave 1, Wave 2, Wave 3, Wave 4, Wave 5, and the Sample Top-Up.
A history of the dataset releases and suggested citations can be found in Appendix A.
Glossary
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
| ABS | Australian Bureau of Statistics |
| ANZSCO | Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations |
| ASCCEG | Australian Standard Classification of Cultural and Ethnic Groups |
| ASCED | Australian Standard Classification of Education |
| ASCL | Australian Standard Classification of Languages |
| AIFS | Australian Institute of Family Studies |
| ASGS | Australian Statistical Geographic Standards |
| BMI | Body Mass Index |
| DC | Data Collection |
| DOI | Digital Object Identifier |
| General Release | This dataset includes data from which the more sensitive information has been removed. Confidentilisation has also been considered for all variables and applied if required |
| LD | Linked Data |
| NFD | Not further defined |
| Respondent Dataset | A dataset containing key indicator data, such as the unique study identifier, age, household identifier and geographical information. |
| Restricted Release | This dataset includes information at a more detailed level than the General Release datasets. Items include language, occupation, and country of birth at the 4-digit levels. |
| SA1 | Statistical Area 1 |
| SA2 | Statistical Area 2 |
| SACC | Standard Australian Classification of Countries |
| SEIFA | Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas |
| SRC | Social Research Centre |
| TTM | Ten to Men Study |
| Update | An update occurs when significant changes are made to an existing release. For example, the update to Release 2.0 resulted in it being reissued as Release 2.1. |
| Wave dataset | A dataset containing the responses to the corresponding questionnaire of a given wave. |
Acknowledgements
Ten to Men: The Australian Longitudinal Study on Male Health is the first large-scale, nationally representative, longitudinal study to focus exclusively on investigating and improving the health and wellbeing of males in Australia. It is also the largest longitudinal study of male health in the world.
Ten to Men was commissioned and is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing (formerly the Department of Health) Health to inform the National Male Health Policy. The study was initially conducted by the University of Melbourne who released datasets, including data documentation, for Wave 1 and Wave 2. Roy Morgan Research undertook the data collection and initial data processing for these 2 waves.
After a competitive tender process in 2017, the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) was awarded with the responsibility to conduct Waves 3 and 4. Since then, AIFS has updated the Wave 1 and Wave 2 datasets, including data documentation.
In 2020, the study team re-evaluated and revised the survey content and methodology to enable contactless interviewing for Wave 3. The online survey went live at the end of July 2020, with data collection concluding in February 2021.
Minimal changes, both in terms of the survey content and the data collection method, occurred between Wave 3 and Wave 4. The Wave 4 online survey data collection period was from August 2022 to December 2022.
Due to attrition of the original sample, a top-up of the sample was undertaken, with empanelment occurring at Wave 5.
Wave 5 of Ten to Men was conducted from August 2024 to March 2025. In addition to participants from the original cohort recruited in 2013/2014, the Sample Top-Up, recruited between 2022 and 2024, was included in a wave for the first time.
The Social Research Centre (SRC) was contracted to undertake the fieldwork component for Waves 3 and 4, the Sample Top Up and Wave 5 of the study.
Volpe, F., Biddiscombe, K., Silbert, M., & Martin, S. (2025). Ten to Men: The Australian Longitudinal Study on Male Health – Data Issues Paper, Version 5.0, October 2025. Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies.
21 October 2025