Current consultation
Using data better in Victoria
The Victorian Government collects a lot of data when serving the needs of Victorians. This includes data about education and health, to data about our communities, business, employment, infrastructure, and the environment.
In sharing and using data, protecting your privacy and data security is paramount. That’s why we’re developing regulations to further ensure that government shares and uses information in line with community expectations, including to set out what types of data government should not share, even internally within government.
About the proposed regulations
The Victorian Data Sharing Act 2017 (Act) sets out how data can be responsibly shared across government and includes strong protections to maintain privacy and data security. For example, currently data related to national security, the identities of confidential sources and investigative methods cannot be shared under the Act.
New regulations are currently proposed that further protect sharing and use of data within government for policy making, service planning and design. The regulations allow government to set out:
What we’d like to hear from you
As we develop the regulations, we want to understand your views on how we use your data while we strive for a safer, healthier and more successful Victoria.
How your feedback will be used
The purpose of this consultation is to seek views on data sharing and protection and identify perceptions of Victorian Government’s ability to protect and share data appropriately.
Information gathered will help inform:
A summary report will be published on the Engage Victoria website.
Questions
The Victorian Government proposes that the following types of data will not be shared under the Act. This includes data that negatively impacts:
- individual safety and identity, including confidential sources and witness protection
- law enforcement, including use of surveillance devices and other investigative methods
- national and international security, including counter-terrorism issues
- integrity and oversight, including protected disclosures and complaints to Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission
Previous consultation
Using data better in Victoria
Consultation closed on 31 August 2017.
The Victorian Government collects a lot of data when serving the needs of Victorians. This includes data about education and health, to data about our communities, business, employment, infrastructure, and the environment. There is an opportunity to better use this data to improve policy making and services.
Increasingly, governments across Australia, including Victoria, see the value and potential in making better use of the data it collects. This view is supported by the Productivity Commission Inquiry into Data Availability and Use, which found Australia is losing out on the potential opportunities of using data better.
The Victorian Government is responding to the challenge of using data better by:
- setting up the Victorian Centre for Data Insights (VCDI) to improve the way we share and use data within government
- developing new laws that clearly set out how data can be responsibly shared across government, with strong protections to maintain privacy and data security.
The VCDI will lead projects which show the value of sharing data across government to make better decisions. This follows initiatives in New South Wales and South Australia, who have already established similar data centres and laws.
Once the new laws are finalised, we will share the details with you.
What we’d like to hear from you
As we set up the VCDI and the laws to support what we do, we want to understand:
- the key things we should focus on when setting up this new data sharing framework
- how we can build your trust when using your data
- your priority areas for using data to improve services.