All 50 public use, Confidentialised Unit Record Files (CURFs) of the Australian Bureau of Statistics are available, free of charge, to staff and students of Australian universities party to an agreement signed by the ABS and the Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee (AVCC). The agreement, which aims to support academic research and teaching in Australian universities, represents a significant development for Australian social science research, as it facilitates academic access to (unidentifiable) unit record data from a range of the Bureau's labour and social household surveys.

The ABS now provides a comprehensive list of CURFs from the period 1975 to present. Staff and students at The Australian National University wishing to apply for access to any of these files should contact at the SSDA. Staff and students from other universities, and those looking for general information about CURFs and the ABS/AVCC CURF Agreement should visit the ABS website for more information.

The ABS offers other services to universities such as AusStats, a subscription service which provides access to a comprehensive range of ABS material. It is available on-line via the World Wide Web, and is part of the ABS web site where both free and charged data are integrated.