Our research

The Centre for Social Data Analytics undertakes interdisciplinary research that applies data science to complex social challenges. Our work brings together expertise in economics, data analytics, public policy, and the social sciences to generate evidence that informs better decisions and improves outcomes for people and communities.

Working with government agencies, researchers, and community partners, we explore how data can be used responsibly to better understand social issues, evaluate programmes, and support evidence-based policy.

Our research applies machine learning and advanced data analytics to better understand complex social issues and support evidence-informed decision-making.

Our key research areas include:

Children and Families: Our research explores how machine learning tools can be used to support better outcomes for children and families. We focus on the responsible development and evaluation of data-driven approaches that can inform decision-making in child and family services.
Housing and Homelessness: Our research explores how machine learning can be applied to better understand housing need and homelessness. We work with partners to develop and evaluate data-driven approaches that support fair, transparent, and evidence-informed housing policy and decision-making.
Applied Social Research: Partnering with organisations to answer complex policy and service delivery questions using robust analytical methods.

Project Spotlight

Allegheny Family Screening Tool (AFST)

An internationally recognised research collaboration exploring how predictive analytics can support child protection decision-making while maintaining transparency, ethics, and professional judgement.

Housing Prioritisation Research

Research into data-informed approaches to housing allocation, examining how evidence can support fairer and more effective responses to housing need.

MyDay Survey

A programme of research that uses time-use and experience sampling methods to better understand people's daily lives, work, wellbeing, and the factors that influence individual and organisational outcomes.

Publications

Our research is published in leading international journals and presented at conferences around the world, contributing to the growing evidence base for data-informed social policy and practice.

Explore our publications through our AUT researcher profiles