The National Data Commissioner's speech at International Access to Information Day 2024

On 25 September, National Data Commissioner Gayle Milnes spoke at the 2024 International Access to Information Day, hosted by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.

Let me also acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands on which we meet and pay my respects to their elders and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples here today. A few weeks ago I had an amazing week in the Tjoritja National Park, west of Alice Springs. I walked parts of the Larapinta trail and had plenty of time to reflect on the enormous debt of gratitude we owe Indigenous Australians – in this case the Arrernte  people – for their custodianship of the land over thousands of years.

Thank you to Liz and your team for the invitation to speak today on access to information. It’s such an important topic and one that is closely aligned with my role as the National Data Commissioner and the work of my office.

Data – a valuable national resource

Australian Government agencies are the custodians of a valuable national resource – data. Data about the welfare of Australians, about the natural environment, about the economy. There are large integrated data assets like the Person Level Integrated Data Asset and the Business Longitudinal Analysis Data Environment, administered by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the National Health Data Hub, administered by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, and DOMINO, Data Over Multiple Instances capturing all Centrelink administered payments such as Family benefits, rent assistance, child care subsidy, Age pension, Austudy and Newstart allowance, administered by the Department of Social Services. These visuals give you a sense of the richness of the integrated data assets and their components.

“In the world today, data is probably the thing that matters most … it can predict [events] … tell us what we need to next … expose inefficiencies and disadvantage … reveal the truth ...”

-Forbes

Government officials and others use data to warn us about natural disasters, to tackle violence against women and children, to help farmers know what crops to plant and when to plant and harvest them, to inform the rollout and effectiveness of vaccines, to run the national electricity market, to administer the payments system, and to make decisions on interest rate settings.

Increasing the availability and use of public data

Reflecting on the important role of data, the Australian Government’s 2023 data and digital strategy restated its commitment to requiring all government entities to make non-sensitive data open by default.

The scheme for sharing Australian Government data – we call it the DATA Scheme because it is established by the Data Availability and Transparency Act 2022 – builds on the Government’s open data commitment. The Scheme is all about increasing the availability and use of data collected by Australian Government agencies to deliver public benefit – better government policies, programs and services, world leading research and development.

So how does the DATA Scheme work? The Scheme authorises Australian Government agencies to share data they hold. It provides a legal pathway for them to share data where they do not already have one.

While the Act does not require data custodians to share public sector data, data custodians should take account of the objects of the Act when considering a data request. The first object of the Act is to serve the public interest by promoting better availability of public sector data.

Data custodians are required to consider a data sharing request in a reasonable period. A reasonable period is determined on a case by case basis. We encourage data custodians to acknowledge the request within a week; ask for further information about the request or to rescope it in within two weeks; and make a decision within a month. If a custodian decides to refuse a request, it must provide the requester with reasons in writing within 28 days of a decision being made.

Australian Government agencies must apply the Scheme’s best practices or safeguards when they share data they hold. This means they can only share data with accredited or trusted users, they must have a data sharing agreement in place which applies the data sharing principles – the right project, people, setting, data and output – and cover off on privacy and ethics considerations.

The role of the National Data Commissioner, supported by my office, is to oversee the Scheme, to regulate it. This involves accrediting entities – checking they have the data governance and management arrangements, the ICT and other security settings and the people capability to handle public data safely. We also make sure custodians are considering requests and doing that in a timely way, and that Scheme participants are applying the best practices. We can take enforcement action if Scheme participants are not playing by the rules. Another of our regulatory functions is to handle complaints from Scheme participants and others. The National Data Commissioner is required to keep public registers of Scheme participants and data sharing agreements and publish an annual report about the Scheme. The regulatory function is key to maintaining and building public trust in data sharing.

The Commissioner’s other functions are to provide advice and guidance to the Minister and Scheme participants about its operation. We educate Australian Government agencies and others about best practice data handling and sharing. We also provide the tools for you to share data safely.

In early July, we launched the beta version of the Australian Government Data Catalogue. Researchers and others can use the Catalogue to find data assets held by Australian Government agencies. It contains about 60,000 data assets. The majority are publicly available through data.gov.au and Geoscience Australia’s product catalogue, with an additional 230 restricted data assets contributed by 12 other Australian Government agencies. We are encouraging and supporting Australian Government agencies to have a complete and up to date inventory of their data assets in place. It’s what they need to best protect and utilise their data. It’s also what is needed so they can contribute more of their data assets to the Catalogue. As they complete their data inventories, we ask Australian Government agencies to flag their data assets if they contain information about Indigenous Australians. In this way, we can meet the commitment we have made in the Framework for Governance of Indigenous Data to make it easier for Indigenous Australians to find data they are interested in.

The Catalogue is integrated with Dataplace, available at www.dataplace.gov.au. After completing a search, the user is directed to where the data asset is available publicly or to make a pre-populated request for the data through Dataplace. Dataplace is the digital platform we have built that brings together those wanting access to data with the data custodians. Some describe it as a dating app for data. Others describe it as the PDMS for data. It is both. For those Australian Government agencies, who do not have a digital system for managing your data sharing, I encourage you to take a look at Dataplace and start using it. It will give you line of sight on what data you share, who you share it with, and the purposes for which you share it. You can also be assured that you have shared the data using the DATA Scheme’s best practices.

So how are we going?

Two years in and we have laid the foundations for the DATA Scheme.

We have built the tools for safe data sharing - Dataplace and the Australian Government Data Catalogue.

There are now 32 accredited entities – 28 data users and 12 data service providers – creating a core, trusted data sharing community comprising many data active Australian Government agencies, most states and territories and 7 universities.

Most importantly, data requests are being made and data is being shared. We have registered four data sharing agreements that help create the National Disability Data Asset so governments and others can better support people with disability, their carers and the community. We will continue to prioritise support for building the National Disability Data Asset and providing access to it, targeting other new use cases and providing a concierge service for organisations to make their first and repeat data requests.

We are learning a lot, adapting and improving our tools and approach as we go. We held our first annual forum for DATA Scheme participants in June to get feedback on our performance and learn more about their priorities. Their top priority was making it easier to share data. For example, through better integration and linkage of Dataplace with agency specific systems, and greater recognition by Australian Government agencies of accreditation status.

In the spirit of International Access to Information Day, let me close with a few calls to action.

If you do not yet have in a place a complete and up to date inventory of the data assets your agencies holds, make it a priority to get one and link it to the Australian Government Data Catalogue.

If you are not yet on-boarded to Dataplace, get on-board.

If you are not yet accredited as a data user, start your application.

If you are yet to make a data sharing request using Dataplace, make one.

We’re here to help.

My final request is that you share with us how you are using data to deliver value for our citizens – better government policies, programs and services, as well as research outcomes. Your stories are important to help Australians understand how we are using their data to deliver better outcomes for them and build their trust and confidence in us.

I’ll also mention that we have the APS Data Awards dinner and the Australian Government Data Forum coming up on 13 and 14 November. Get your tickets and join us to support and celebrate data innovation and excellence in the APS!