Data Discovery

Under the Data Inventories Pilot Program, the ONDC is working with Australian Government agencies to help them discover their data and to develop a standardised list of data assets they hold - known as a data inventory.

The ONDC has completed work with 44 Australian Government agencies to develop their data inventories using a standard methodology.

Whilst the program has concluded, the ONDC has a team of data experts, metadata standards and guidance materials to assist agencies progress from whatever stage they are at with their data inventory.

For further information on Data Inventories, please contact us.

The Australian Government Data Catalogue enables users to discover data held by Australian Government agencies.

The Catalogue is accessible on Dataplace, a central point to find and request Australian Government data. The Catalogue draws on the data inventories of Australian Government agencies, including open and restricted data. Once users have discovered the data they wish to access, they will be directed to openly available data assets or to make a request to the custodian.

A core component of the Data and Digital Government strategy, the Catalogue promotes greater transparency and use of public sector data.

Free, open datasets are available at data.gov.au. Open data includes the datasets published by Australian, state and territory, and local government agencies, as well as publicly funded research data and datasets from private institutions that are in the public interest.

The ONDC has established a Community for Data Discovery that is hosted on the Data and Digital Professions platform. The Community of Practice is regularly updated with resources to support government agencies to develop, enhance and maintain comprehensive data asset registers and searchable data catalogues. It is accessible to public sector employees with a gov.au email address.

We encourage agencies that are interested in developing or enhancing their data inventories to join the Data Discovery Community of Practice.

Each month, the ONDC hosts Data Discovery Webinars where agencies share their learnings and expertise on building data inventories.

Registration details for the Data Discovery Webinars and other information sessions hosted by the ONDC can be found at the link below.

Page last updated: 8 July 2024