FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Who is this survey being undertaken by?
The VicHealth Indicators Survey 2011 is being conducted for the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (VicHealth) in conjunction with the University Of Melbourne VicHealth Centre for Promotion of Mental Health and Social Wellbeing. The Social Research Centre has been engaged to assist in conducting the telephone interviews. Interviewers at the Social Research Centre are highly trained and very experienced in conducting large population surveys.

Who is involved in the survey?
This survey is being conducted by Associate Professor John Fitzgerald from the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Melbourne and Dr Lisa Thomson from the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation, and Professor Ian Bishop from the Cooperative Research Centre for Spatial Information.

Who has approved the survey?
The survey has been approved by the University of Melbourne Human Research Ethics Committee. We have also pilot tested the survey with a sample of the Victorian population on two occasions, with approximately 50 people each time, to make sure the questions are clear and easy to answer.

What is the survey about?
The VicHealth Indicators Survey is an ongoing source of information on the health of Victorians aged 18 years and over. Valuable information is collected about the health, lifestyles and well-being of Victorians.

Why were the questions chosen?
Questions have been chosen because they provide information about the areas VicHealth works in- such as tobacco, physical activity, nutrition, alcohol, discrimination, and community wellbeing. This information will help VicHealth measure the effectiveness our programs and projects, and to ensure future programs and policies meet the community’s needs.

Most of the questions in the survey have been used in other large population surveys, and will allow us to compare our results with previous research. Several questions come from the “Community Indicators Victoria” survey, run by the University Of Melbourne VicHealth Centre for Promotion of Mental Health and Social Wellbeing, and asking these questions will allow us to measure changes to community attitudes over time.

How will the information be used?
The information collected in this study will be used by VicHealth and other government health planners to assist with developing and evaluating health promotion services and programs across different regions of Victoria.  It will also be used by researchers to look at relationships between health and behaviours and attitudes.  Strict access to any information is maintained at all times.

Why should you participate in the survey?
It is vital that our sample represents all sectors of the Victorian population to gather an accurate picture of the attitudes, behaviors and health needs of your community. Feedback on these issues helps VicHealth put measures in place to plan for health system improvements. Your assistance will help VicHealth plan better health services in your community.

How did we get your telephone number?
In order to ensure that the sample represents all sectors of the Victorian population, telephone numbers have been generated at random and therefore include both listed and unlisted numbers. The process used to randomly generate numbers was to select all eligible 6 digit prefixes in Victoria and then randomly append the remaining digits to generate a phone number.

I’m on the Do Not Call Register. Why was I contacted about the survey?
Market and social researchers are permitted to call or fax numbers on the Do Not Call Register to conduct opinion polling and standard questionnaire based research. This ensures these organisations can continue to provide valuable services to the community. For more information see https://www.donotcall.gov.au/

How did we get your address?
Once a telephone number has been generated at random, it is matched to the address listed in the White Pages.

How long will the survey take to complete?
The survey will take approximately 10-15 minutes to complete. We will be conducting the survey until early August so arrangements can be made for you to participate at any time that is convenient for you.

Is the survey compulsory?
The survey is entirely voluntary.  Participation is important for VicHealth to get accurate feedback on health status of Victorians.  If you do not wish to participate, please call the Social Research Centre on (freecall) 1800 255 668 and we will remove your details from our list of potential respondents.
 
Why do we need to speak to the person with the most recent birthday?
In order to ensure a representative sample, we need to randomly select a person aged 18 years or over in each household.

How do we ensure your privacy is protected?
Any information you provide will be completely confidential.  Your name is never linked or used with your answers. Your address will only be used so we can join your answers with others in your neighbourhood.  Responses are used for area level program development and evaluation as well as research purposes and are treated in strict confidence. We are bound by the Provisions of the Commonwealth Privacy Act, as amended in December 2001.

What you can do if you would like further information about the survey?
For information about who is conducting the study please call the Social Research Centre on 1800 255 668.

For any concerns or complaints about how the study is being conducted please call the Executive Officer, Human Research Ethics c/o The University of Melbourne on 03 8344 2073, quoting Ethics Application #1034347.

For information on the purpose of this research and why it is being conducted please call Dr Tessa Hillgrove from VicHealth on 03 9667 1345.