DataPoints - National Data Commissioner Update September 2024
More key data assets added to the Australian Government Data Catalogue
In September, we saw the inclusion of the highly anticipated Medicare Benefits Schedule and Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme data assets from the Commonwealth’s Department of Health and Aged Care in the Australian Government Data Catalogue. We are starting to see the benefit of publishing high value metadata records like these, with entities discovering the data in the Catalogue and making a request through Dataplace, in a single seamless service.
Data users are invited to explore the Catalogue to find and request data. Australian Government agencies are encouraged to continue contributing data assets to the Catalogue. For support finding or contributing to the Catalogue, contact us.
More data sharing
Requests for data through Dataplace continue to grow. We also saw 2 additional data sharing agreements in September. These add further data to the National Disability Data Asset, such as South Australia’s hospitals data.
The number of Accredited Data Users grew to 28, with the newest accreditations being the ACT Chief Minister, Treasury and Economic Development Directorate and the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads. If you want to access Australian government data through the DATA Scheme, then begin the process of getting your agency accredited today. Start by getting signed up to Dataplace, and from there you can access our accreditation resources to help with your application.
Want to learn more about the DATA Scheme and build your organisation’s data capability?
Check out our webinar offerings on 16 October:
- Introduction to the DATA Scheme – 10:00am AEDT – Register here.
Want to learn more about the DATA Scheme? Join us for an overview of the DATA Scheme, including your obligations if you are a Commonwealth entity and how you can request data under the Scheme.
- How to become an Accredited Data User – 11:30am AEDT – Register here.
Join us for an overview of how organisations may become accredited users for the purposes of the DATA Scheme.
- Making data sharing requests – 1:30pm AEDT – Register here.
Join us for a walk-through on requesting data through Dataplace.
Good reads for the data community
In September, I had the pleasure of speaking at the OAIC’s International Access to Information Day 2024. The 2023 Data and Digital Government Strategy’s commitment is for agencies to make non-sensitive data open by default. The objectives of the DATA Scheme complement this commitment, enabling Australian governments to share more data for public benefit. While the DATA Scheme does not require data custodians to share public sector data, data custodians should take account of the objects of the Data Availability and Transparency Act 2022 when considering a data request, and respond to such requests in a reasonable period. My speech is available here.
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) recently released their Notifiable Data Breaches Report for January to June 2024. In this period, the OAIC received 527 data breach notifications – the highest number of notifications since the July to December 2020 period. The report highlighted the increase in breaches due to malicious or criminal attacks. Its findings reinforce the importance of data holders having appropriate and up-to-date processes for mitigating, identifying, and reporting data breaches - see here for ONDC’s guidance. Check out OAIC’s report here.
Get your tickets for the APS Data Awards and the Australian Government Data Forum, 13-14 November 2024
Congratulations to the APS Data Awards finalists for 2024. The winners will be announced at the APS Data Awards Gala Dinner on 13 November 2024, Hotel Realm, Canberra. Find out more about the event and purchase a ticket here.
The 2024 Australian Government Data Forum, themed “Data Horizons: Government for the Future” will be held the next day on 14 November 2024 also at the Hotel Realm in Canberra. The Forum is a great opportunity for data professionals to learn from leaders in the public and private sectors, such as Senator the Hon Katy Gallagher, ANU Vice Chancellor Prof. Genevieve Bell, and the Australian Statistician Dr David Gruen (and many others). View the full agenda and purchase your tickets here.
If you have feedback or something to share in future editions of DataPoints, please get in touch. We are always interested to hear your stories, including how you have used data to deliver public benefit. Also, make sure to follow us on LinkedIn!
Gayle