Data Availability and Transparency Act 2022 explained

Short Title:	Data Availability and Transparency 2022
Legislature:	Parliament of Australia
Long Title:	An Act to authorise the sharing of public sector data, and for related purposes
Citation:	No 11 of 2022 https://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdb/au/legis/cth/num_act/daata2022312/
Territorial Extent:	Australia
Date Final Passage:	30 March 2022
Date Assented:	31 March 2022
Date Commenced:	1 April 2022
Enacted By:	Australian House of Representatives
Bill:	Data Availability and Transparency Act 2020
Introduced By:	Stuart Robert
Date Of Expiry:	1 April 2027
1St Reading:	9 December 2020
2Nd Reading:	30 March 2022
3Rd Reading:	30 March 2022
Date Passed:	30 March 2022
Enacted By2:	Senate
Bill2:	Data Availability and Transparency Act 2022
1St Reading2:	30 March 2022
2Nd Reading2:	30 March 2022
3Rd Reading2:	30 March 2022
Date Passed2:	30 March 2022
Keywords:	data sharing
Status:	in force

The Data Availability and Transparency Act 2022 (Cth) (DAT Act) is an Act of the Australian Parliament that authorises and regulates access to data held by the Australian Government.

The Australian Parliament passed the Act into law in March 2022.^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]} The Act came into effect on 1 April 2022.^[6]

The Act creates a public-sector data sharing scheme that permits Australian Government (Commonwealth) bodies to share their data with other Commonwealth bodies, Australian state or territory government bodies, or Australian universities; these entities must be accredited, before they can obtain and use the data.^[7]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Hendry . Justin . 2022-03-31 . Public sector data sharing laws pass parliament with Labor changes . 2023-05-30 . iTnews.
2. News: Burton . Tom . 2022-04-01 . End to multiple forms as 'tell us once' becomes possible . . 2023-06-15.
3. News: Hendry . Justin . 2023-03-17 . Give private sector access to govt data: Productivity Commission . InnovationAus . 2023-06-16.
4. Book: Cho, George . Information Technology Law in Australia . Kluwer Law International . 2023 . 9789403522968.
5. News: Hendry . Justin . 2022-07-28 . Data sharing regime "open for business" as accreditation begins . . 2023-06-16.
6. Keelara, R. and P. Haywood (2023), "Building the data and digital foundations of health systems", in Ready for the Next Crisis? Investing in Health System Resilience, OECD Publishing, Paris, . page 386
7. Katie Logos, Russell Brewer, Colette Langos, Bryce Westlake, Establishing a framework for the ethical and legal use of web scrapers by cybercrime and cybersecurity researchers: learnings from a systematic review of Australian research, International Journal of Law and Information Technology, Volume 31, Issue 3, Autumn 2023, Pages 186–212, https://doi.org/10.1093/ijlit/eaad023

   The Act requires that any sharing of data under the scheme must:

   • be for one or more of the permitted data sharing purposes;
   • be consistent with data sharing principles; and
   • within a data sharing agreement.

   The Act specifically precludes sharing of data under the scheme for law enforcement-related purposes or national security purposes. If the shared data includes personal information, privacy protections also apply.

   The Act permits sharing of data under the scheme for three purposes only:

   • delivery of government services;
   • informing government policy and programs; and
   • research and development.

   The Act establishes a National Data Commissioner to be the regulator of this data sharing scheme.

   External links

   • Office of the National Data Commissioner

   References

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