Sex in Australia: reflections and recommendations for future research.
OBJECTIVE
To review the content, method and process of the Australian Study of Health and Relationships (ASHR).


RESULTS
ASHR achieved a large sample, a high response rate and documented the sexual life histories and current sexual health-related knowledge, attitudes and practices of the Australian population aged 16-59. Its cross-sectional nature limited our ability to partition observed variation between age and time despite clear evidence of both age-related and cohort-related changes in sexual practice. Similarly, its reliance on a sample of individuals reporting on their sexual experiences rather than a sample of sexual relationships or encounters and their participants limits our ability to understand the dynamics of those relationships and encounters. Finally, our understanding of sexuality in Australia could have been improved through qualitative studies with a subsample of ASHR participants.


CONCLUSIONS
ASHR represents a significant contribution to our understanding of sexual health-related knowledge, attitudes and practices in Australia.
Smith
Anthony M A
AM
Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria. anthony.smith@latrobe.edu.au
Rissel
Chris E
CE
Richters
Juliet
J
Grulich
Andrew E
AE
de Visser
Richard O
RO
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001315:Australia; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012107:Research Design; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*