Australian Women's Health Study Reaches 30-Year Milestone

The Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health (ALSWH) has reached its 30-year milestone. The long-term research project, tracking over 57,000 women, has produced data used in more than 1,200 scientific publications and informed national health policy. The study is now expanding its recruitment to include women from Asian migrant communities.

Study Overview and History

The ALSWH was founded on April 22, 1996, as a collaboration between The University of Queensland and the University of Newcastle. It is funded by the Australian Government's Department of Health, Disability and Ageing.

The study was established to address a scarcity of high-quality data on Australian women's health and to inform health policies.

The research tracks women across regional, remote, and metropolitan parts of Australia. Data has been collected from four generational cohorts born in 1921-26, 1946-51, 1973-78, and 1989-95. Over the past decade, the study expanded to include the children of the youngest cohort, creating an intergenerational dataset.

Administrative Structure and Leadership

The study operates across two universities:

• The University of Newcastle develops and distributes surveys to participants.
• The University of Queensland links survey data to administrative datasets, such as Medicare records, and distributes de-identified data to researchers globally.

Both institutions conduct analyses and disseminate findings.

Professor Gita Mishra, Centre Director of UQ's Australian Women and Girls' Research Centre, has been involved since the study's beginning and became the UQ director of ALSWH in 2014. Professor Deborah Loxton was appointed as the ALSWH Director at the University of Newcastle in 2022.

Key Research Findings and Impact

Data from the ALSWH has been used to investigate a wide range of health issues. Key findings and applications include:

A 2023 analysis of study data indicated that one in seven Australian women aged 40-44 had been diagnosed with endometriosis. This finding informed a 2019 report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Researchers have since developed a five-minute questionnaire using study data to address diagnostic and treatment delays.

Research has shown the long-term mental and physiological impacts of domestic violence. A 2025 data analysis revealed that having two or more chronic health conditions was more common in women who had experienced domestic violence, with the onset occurring more than eight years earlier than in other women.

Previous research from the study was used to inform the National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children 2022-2032.

A 2025 data analysis highlighted a need for effective preventative strategies for chronic disease. The data showed that while women diagnosed with chronic conditions experienced a slowdown in annual weight gain, their weight gain still exceeded that of women without any chronic condition.

Current Recruitment and Future Direction

The study is currently recruiting new participants from previously underrepresented groups. The recruitment effort is focused on women who have migrated from South, Southeast, and Northeast Asian countries, as well as women born in Australia with ancestry from these regions.

Professor Gita Mishra stated that the study's strength is its ability to provide data on emerging health issues and that it has followed women from their first period to menopause, allowing researchers to examine how early life events influence later health.

Professor Deborah Loxton credited the study's continued existence to its participants.