Public consultation opens on a proposal for a sweeping set of reforms to the government’s data collection and sharing policies.
The Office of the National Data Commissioner (ONDC) is spearheading a campaign to modernise Australia’s ‘fractured’ public data sharing ecosystem.
The ONDC has outlined a proposed set of reforms to government use and sharing of public information in a discussion paper released yesterday.
Material published by the ONDC suggests that the proposed reforms are a response to a 2016 productivity commission report that found the government could not deliver the digital services expected of it without better data, hampered by inconsistent practices to data sharing among jurisdictions.
The three core proposals put forward in the package of reforms for the data sharing framework are: the establishment of an independent national data commissioner; creation of a national data advisory council and new data sharing and release legislation.
The discussion paper walks through the policy positions supporting the proposed reforms, privacy considerations, the roles of the reformed commissioner’s role and advisory board, transparency mechanisms and regulatory approach.
However, consent has been removed from the proposed Data Sharing and Release legislation, as ZDNet reports.
‘Instead, we are placing the responsibility on Data Custodians and Accredited Users to safely and respectfully share personal information where reasonably required for a legitimate objective,’ the paper says.
The six-week period for submissions is open from yesterday until October 15, so get across the paper and make your voice heard.
Stay up to date by getting stories like this delivered to your mailbox.
Sign up to receive our free weekly Spatial Source newsletter.
