The Australian Census Longitudinal Dataset (ACLD), produced by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), is a nationally representative longitudinal dataset increasingly used to study Australian social and economic transitions. The ACLD is a showcase for the growing importance of data linkage for making the best use of available data. The ACLD will become an even more powerful resource when it extends to its third cohort with the addition of the 2016 Census of Population and Housing. The ABS has also begun linking key government administrative datasets to the ACLD and this has broadened the range of outcomes that may be studied in the ACLD. This session outlines the latest developments for the ACLD as well as some of the methodological challenges involved in maintaining a nationally representative sample using data linkage. In this session we will discuss the improvements being planned for the ACLD 2006-2016, and welcome discussion on analytical opportunities and use of the dataset.