Social Research Centre

What Social Research Centre does

Social Research Centre (legal entity: The Social Research Centre Pty. Ltd) is an Australian professional services firm headquartered in Melbourne that delivers social research and evaluation services to government agencies, academic researchers, policymakers, and business leaders. Founded in 2012 and operating for over 20 years, the company is fully owned by the Australian National University (ANU) while operating autonomously under a dedicated management team and an independent board of directors. The firm is positioned as 'Australia's trusted evidence partner' providing world-class, ethical, and culturally-sound social research and evaluation.

The company's core product is the Life in Australia™ online panel, described as Australia's most methodologically rigorous and representative online panel with over 10,000 randomly recruited members. This panel is complemented by in-house research services spanning quantitative and qualitative methodologies, delivered by multidisciplinary teams of researchers, evaluators, statisticians, data scientists, and subject matter experts. The research portfolio is organized into eight thematic areas: Attitudes+Values, Identity+Belonging, Equity+Justice, Health+Wellbeing, Workforce+Economy, Education+Knowledge, Policy+Politics, and Environment+Sustainability. Notable programs include the ANU Poll, the GENERATION Survey (tracking approximately 300 schools), and the Australian Comparative Study of Survey Methods.

The business model is professional services-based, with revenue derived from project-based engagements negotiated directly with institutional clients. Go-to-market is sales-led through direct institutional engagement with government and academic buyers, supplemented by content marketing via the Trends+Insights publication. Pricing is not publicly disclosed, and engagements are typically project-based contracts. The company serves primary customer segments of government policymakers and academic researchers (both at the vertical level), with business leaders as a secondary segment. Geographic scope is national (Australia only), with no global footprint claimed. The company maintains a multilingual website supporting 17 languages to broaden participant representation.

Name

Social Research Centre

Legal name

The Social Research Centre Pty. Ltd

Website

https://srcentre.com.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Social Research Centre is an ANU-owned Melbourne-based firm delivering social research and evaluation services to Australian government, academic, and business clients, anchored by the Life in Australia™ panel of 10,000+ members and eight thematic research areas.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Social Research and Evaluation Services

NAICS

Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (541720), Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (541910)

akta.pro primary industry

Survey, Panel & Fieldwork Services (BPAHALAJ)

akta.pro secondary industry

Industry & Sector Research (Syndicated/Custom) (BPAHALAE)

Keywords

• Social research services
• Survey research
• Policy evaluation
• Online research panel
• Research methodology

Headquarters

HQ city

Melbourne

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Social Research Services: Delivers social research and evaluation services to Australian researchers, policymakers, academics and business leaders. Services include quantitative and qualitative methodologies, survey administration, data analysis, and policy consultation.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Social Research Centre delivers world-class, ethical and culturally-sound social research and evaluation services to Australian researchers, policymakers, academics and business leaders. Its central asset is the Life in Australia™ online panel, a methodologically rigorous and representative panel with over 10,000 randomly recruited members, used as the data collection backbone for quantitative and qualitative research projects spanning policy, workforce, health, education, identity, equity and sustainability topics.

Product overview

Social Research Centre delivers world-class, ethical and culturally-sound social research and evaluation services as Australia's trusted evidence partner. The core product offering centers on Life in Australia™, a nationally representative online panel with over 10,000 members, complemented by quantitative and qualitative research services delivered by in-house teams of researchers, statisticians, and data scientists. The portfolio spans eight distinct research areas covering Attitudes+Values, Identity+Belonging, Equity+Justice, Health+Wellbeing, Workforce+Economy, Education+Knowledge, Policy+Politics, and Environment+Sustainability. Additionally, the company offers a Trends+Insights publication showcasing recent research findings, and partners with Australian National University (ANU) for research innovation initiatives including the Australian Comparative Study of Survey Methods.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Life in Australia™: The country's most methodologically rigorous and representative online panel with over 10,000 randomly recruited members

Products and services

• Life in Australia™ Australia's most methodologically rigorous and representative online panel with over 10,000 randomly recruited members, representing the voices and views of the nation for social research purposes and serving as the data collection backbone for research and evaluation projects.
• Social Research and Evaluation Services Professional social research and evaluation services delivered to Australian researchers, policymakers, academics and business leaders, combining in-house expertise in quantitative and qualitative methodologies with teams of researchers, evaluators, statisticians, data scientists and subject matter experts.
• Trends + Insights
• Conversations in Australia™

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Australian National University (ANU)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSocial Research Centre is fully owned by the Australian National University (ANU). As a commercial entity, the company operates autonomously, led by a dedicated management team and governed by a Board of independent directors. The relationship with the university connects the Centre with ANU researchers and ANU's world-class research environment. The Centre conducts joint research projects including the ANU Poll and GENERATION Survey.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Roy Morgan Research: Australia's largest domestic market and social research firm. Directly comparable as a long-established Australian provider of survey-based research, polling and syndicated studies to government, media and corporate buyers.
• Pureprofile: ASX-listed Australian online research and audience panel provider. Directly comparable panel-based business model targeting market research and social research buyers, with similar panel-scale economics.
• McNair yellowSquares: Australian-owned market and social research firm with deep experience in government, NFP and academic research. Highly comparable on customer base, methodology mix and project-based B2B model.
• Essential Research: Australian polling and social research firm focused on public opinion and political research for media, government and academic clients. Comparable on panel-based public opinion and policy research in Australia.

Broad incumbents

• Ipsos (Australia): Global market and social research leader with substantial Australian operations. Overlaps with SRC in social research, public opinion polling, and government policy evaluation, but operates as part of a much wider global portfolio.
• Kantar (Australia): Global research and insights group serving Australian government and enterprise clients with social, media and policy research. Comparable on methodology and buyer overlap, though broader in scope than SRC's social-science focus.
• YouGov: Global online panel and public opinion research firm with an active Australia presence. Competes head-to-head on nationally representative panel research and policy-related public opinion tracking.
• Nielsen (Australia): Global measurement and data analytics firm serving Australian media, retail and policy clients. Comparable in serving government and institutional buyers with rigorous, methodology-driven research.

Others

• The Research Society: Australian peak industry body for market, social and opinion research. Adjacent ecosystem participant that credentializes the same buyer and practitioner community SRC serves.
• Australian Bureau of Statistics: National statistical agency conducting large-scale social and economic surveys. Not a competitor (operates on a public-good mandate), but is the reference institution for survey methodology and a key collaborator in social research in Australia.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/SRCentreAUS
• LinkedInau.linkedin.com/company/the-social-research-centre
• Xx.com/SRCentreAUS

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Social Research Centre