DATA Scheme Submitting a Request

The DATA Scheme is another pathway to request data, including sensitive and very sensitive data. Your initial request should be done under the DATA Scheme. However, the Data Custodian may decide to deliver or provide data under a different pathway. They will notify you of this when they respond to your request.
Submitting a request under the DATA Scheme request enables you to monitor your requests, receive a response and have actions taken within set timeframes, and enable you to appeal a decision, if the data custodian does not agree to share the data.
The Data Custodian may choose to provide the data outside the scheme, if so it will be recorded in Dataplace when they respond.
DATA Scheme requests involve specific time frames around the various steps in the process. These are outlined below.
You can request any Commonwealth data, but it will be up to the data custodian to determine if it can be shared for the purpose requested.
Data can not be shared if it relates to;
- national security and law enforcement
- contravention or infringement of certain rights, agreements, and common law duties or privileges
- where sharing is barred by Regulations
- data that is evidence in courts and tribunals
- where sharing is inconsistent with international law obligations.
Further details of data barred under the Scheme.
No. The DATA Scheme is only for Commonwealth government data.
Government agency can only share data collected by state governments if they have permission to on-share the data i.e. Birth records are collected by the State government (births, deaths, and marriages). A Commonwealth agency may compile and aggregate that data, but can only share it if they have permissions from the individual State/s to on-share the data.
Request the data you’re looking for by typing in the name of the Commonwealth agency - you can search for them in Dataplace.
The Scheme is new for both ONDC and universities. We’re working closely with the ONDC to raise/resolve issues for operationalising it within a university context.
If you’re not sure which government is the custodian of the data, the government directory may help you determine which portfolio it sits in. If this doesn’t help, select an agency that seems likely and describe what data you’re looking for. They may transfer the request to another agency if they know. If they are not the data custodian, you will find out quickly.
Monash has some formal agreements with the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the Department of Social Services to facilitate access to large datasets. These include datasets include ABS CURFs, Census TableBuilder, Household Income and Labour Dynamics and in Australia Survey (HILDA), Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC), Footprints in Time - The Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children (LSIC) and Building a New Life in Australia (BNLA).
Information on how to gain access can be found here.

Monash Research Infrastructure

Monash Research Infrastructure

DATA Scheme Submitting a Request