The NSW Ministry of Health has conducted the Adult Population Health Survey since 1997. The main aims of the survey are to provide detailed information on the health of adults in NSW and to support planning, implementation and evaluation of health services and programs in NSW.
Interviews are carried out continuously between February and December each year using computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) and random digit dialling of landline numbers (from 1997) and mobile phone numbers (from 2012).
From 2017, the NSW Population Health Survey is administered under contract by The Social Research Centre Pty Ltd.
The target population for the survey is all state residents living in private households. The target sample is approximately 1,000 persons in each of the health administrative areas (total sample 8,000-16,000 depending on the number of administrative areas).
The survey instruments include question modules on health behaviours, health status, and other associated factors. The methods and all questions are approved for use by the NSW Population and Health Services Research Ethics Committee. The instrument is translated into 5 languages: Arabic, Chinese, Greek, Italian and Vietnamese.
Further information on specific aspects of the survey
