Households no better off than in 2009

To find out what makes Australians tick, the researchers running the University of Melbourne's Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey have been tracking the lives of more 19,000 Australians in 17,000 households.

It's the most comprehensive long-term study of Australians, tracking them as they grow up, move house, get married, break up, move on, change jobs and change habits. These men and women, interviewed every year since 2001, contribute to the nation's rich and detailed portrait of the typical Australian.

More than 12,000 Australians from all walks of life were recruited in 2001 to share their most personal details every year - anonymously. In 2011, they added another wave of households to make sure the information captured by the survey reflected the changing nature of the Australian population.

So how do you fit in? The University of Melbourne have created a quiz that allows any Australian, not just those on "team HILDA", to see how their lives compare to the choices of other Australians.

Just enter your age range, level of education and gender into the interactive to find out how the men and women of your generation live, love, work, play, spend and even sleep. It will tell you how many of your cohort are likely to smoke or drink, have children, get divorced, get fired or move house.

None of the findings is a judgment on the wisdom of any of the life choices people make. The researchers are just looking for the patterns that emerge from all the answers. As Associate Professor Roger Wilkins, author of the annual HILDA report, has said, this survey is like a giant documentary about all of us.

"We give you a moving image. Over the years, we can see the life course people take."