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Reforms to the federal Data Availability and Transparency Act could help drive innovation and trust, Australia’s peak technology body has said.
The Australian Computer Society has called upon the federal government to enact reforms to the Data Availability and Transparency Act (DAT Act), citing the need to boost innovation across the information economy and build trust among Australians.
“Australia’s vast troves of government data are a national asset,” Graeme Port, Chair of the ACS Data Sharing Committee, said in a statement.
The ACS’s suggestions were part of a submission to the current statutory review of the DAT Act and its Data Availability and Transparency (DATA) Scheme, which also called for internationally recognised data sensitivity classifications and testing methodologies to be applied to the act.
The ACS also urged the government to promote safe data-sharing between Commonwealth entities and the private sector. Controlled linking of datasets in this way, the ACS said, could lead to “new forms of economic and social value”.
Improving individual oversight of personal data was another key suggestion of the ACS’s submission. According to the ACS, the current scheme lacks the necessary granular controls that would allow someone to monitor and manage their data.
“To fully realise their value, we need a system that allows not just public sector and academic users to benefit, but also entrepreneurs, non-profits, and community groups – with strong oversight and public trust at its core,” Port said.
Submissions for the review closed on 30 May, with a full report to be delivered to the government in the second half of 2025.
David Hollingworth has been writing about technology for over 20 years, and has worked for a range of print and online titles in his career. He is enjoying getting to grips with cyber security, especially when it lets him talk about Lego.
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