DataPoints: May 2025 edition

Our trusted data sharing community continues to grow with the University of Tasmania accredited as a data user - the first accredited entity from Tasmania. And so does the number of requests for data under the Scheme.

We are here eager to support you to make requests for data – please get in touch. You can also search the Australian Government Data Catalogue to find the data you need.

Improvements to the Australian Government Data Catalogue and Dataplace

The latest release of the Catalogue incorporates further enhancements to the search functionality and approximately 150 new records, including information about the Bureau of Meteorology's data assets. Australian Government agencies are encouraged to contribute their data assets to the Catalogue, making sure their records have the appropriate Keywords tagged to facilitate data discovery.

Improvements to Dataplace make it easier for you to request data and manage your data sharing activities. For example, parties can now make variations to their data sharing agreements.  Check out the release notes here.

There are now 120 organisations onboarded to Dataplace - NSW Family and Community Services being the latest. Get in touch with us about onboarding to Dataplace, adopting for use in your ogranisation and ways we can make Dataplace work better for you.

We are hosting 2 webinars in May:

• Updates on the Australian Government Data Catalogue and Dataplace – Tuesday 20 May at 10:30am AEST. A demonstration of the new features on Dataplace and the Australian Government Data Catalogue. Register here.
• Data breaches under the DATA Scheme – Thursday 8 May at 10:30am AEST. An overview on how to handle data safely under the Scheme and the essentials of what, when and how to report a data breach to the National Data Commissioner. Register here.

Good reads for the data community

The Data Maturity Assessment Report 2024 has been published by the Department of Finance in April. Findings showed that Australian Government agencies are still developing data maturity across 7 focus areas. In particular, further uplift is required in quality, reference, and metadata – check out our metadata guidance. Agencies looking to improve their data maturity can benefit from other resources developed by the ONDC.

Good uses of public data

The Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey provides longitudinal data on the lives of Australians. It collects valuable information about economic and personal wellbeing, labour dynamics and family life. It has already been used in an extensive number of research projects to improve our understanding of the issues facing individuals and households. HILDA data for 2001-2023 is available through the Australian Data Archive. Learn more 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