DataPoints: Celebrating the DATA Scheme’s progress in 2024

2024 has been a year of delivery for the DATA Scheme. Here are the top Data Points:

• We registered our first data sharing agreements, helping the Commonwealth and State and Territory governments create the National Disability Data Asset.
• We’ve grown our trusted community of Scheme participants considerably, accrediting 21 additional Accredited Users and 5 additional Accredited Data Service Providers.
• 46 more organisations onboarded to Dataplace, and members are actively using it to streamline and track their data sharing.
• We launched the Australian Government Data Catalogue mid-year, which builds on the Dataplace platform to find and request Australian Government data.
• We held 31 webinars in 2024. Thank you for your participation this year. Have your say in our 2025 webinar content offering by filling out our quick survey to let us know the topics you are most interested in.

It has been rewarding to reflect on the growth and achievements in our data sharing community this year, and since the Scheme’s inception in 2022. I look forward to the developments 2025 will bring!

First release of the National Disability Data Asset

The first release of the National Disability Data Asset (NDDA) is here! This is the result of a series of collaborative data sharing agreements, including those under the DATA Scheme – bringing together de-identified data from a broad range of sources. The NDDA will help us better understand the experiences of people with disability and better support them, their carers, and the community. Read about it here.

As part of this release, you can now make targeted NDDA requests directly to the ABS through Dataplace. Requestors must be Accredited Users under the DATA Scheme.

In recent news, we have accredited two new data users – the Digital Transformation Agency and Queensland Treasury. The number of data sharing requests made through Dataplace continues to grow, with three new data requests being made in the past month.

If you haven’t already, a great way to end 2024 is by onboarding to Dataplace, starting an accreditation application and checking out the Australian Government Data Catalogue. This will ensure you are ready to start your data sharing journey in 2025!

Big ideas and bold conversations at the Australian Government Data Forum!

The Australian Government Data Forum wrapped up in November. Many thanks to the Australian Government Graduate Data Network for hosting this inspiring event, bringing together data professionals to discuss how data is shaping the future of Australia. The forum highlighted the transformative role of data in public policy, innovation, and delivering better outcomes for Australians. We look forward to next year’s forum! Congratulations also to the finalists and winners of this year's APS Data Awards.

New guidance is on the way

We recently concluded consultation on a new guidance note, ‘Allowed Access to Project Output’. This guidance clarifies when an Accredited User is permitted to grant access to project outputs shared or created under the DATA Scheme. Thank you to all Scheme participants and members of the broader community who took the time to review the draft and provide feedback, we appreciate your contributions. The final version of this guidance will be published shortly – keep an eye on our guidance page.

We are also running a public consultation for another guidance note, ‘Third Party Participation in the DATA Scheme’. The consultation will close at 12pm on 20 January 2025, you can provide feedback by emailing us at information@datacommissioner.gov.au. Check out the consultation.

National Data Advisory Council

The National Data Advisory Council met for the final time this year on Tuesday 19 November 2024. The Council heard an update on data sharing and noted the findings and supported actions from the DATA Scheme Working Group. The Council also discussed the upcoming statutory review of the DAT Act, as well as the potential of using AI in DATA Scheme projects. Read the meeting report.

Good use case of Dataplace

The University of Melbourne and the Department of Employment & Workplace Relations have used Dataplace end to end to establish a new data sharing project. The project aims to better understand early school leavers employment opportunities, with a goal of achieving better employment outcomes. Data will be integrated into Melbourne Institute’s existing platform, YouthView, which will provide useful insights about Australian regions to guide service providers delivering placement services. You can also read our Dataplace process overview to find out more about how you can use Dataplace to make requests for Commonwealth data and establish data sharing projects.

Stay up to date in the new year by subscribing to DataPoints and following our LinkedIn so you can be one of the first to see our upcoming ‘ONDC Wrapped’.

Thank you for your ongoing support of the DATA Scheme during the year. I wish you a safe and restful holiday season and look forward to supporting the next step of your data sharing journey in 2025.

Andrew

Acting National Data Commissioner