Data is a valuable national asset that, when leveraged effectively, can bring transformative benefits to its users and to individuals and the economy more broadly. The Australian government proved this in its response to the initial COVID-19 outbreak, when it leveraged private and public data to respond to the health and economic effects of the virus. The private sector also has a long history of using data to benefit its clients through better and more tailored services and offerings.

Enshrining the effective, safe, ethical and secure use of data as an important foundational tool for businesses, individuals, the non-government and government sectors in an Australian data strategy will help to support the government’s vision to become a modern data-driven society by 2030.

The Australian data strategy signposts the Australian government’s data intent and efforts over the period to 2025. It focuses on three key themes:

1. maximising the value of data – describes why data is important, its economic and social value, its use in responding to priority issues, and the benefit that can be gained through using and safely sharing data. Data can create new value when shared between different levels of government, and the private and non-government sectors.
2. trust and protection – describes the settings that can be adopted in the private and public sectors to keep data safe and secure, and the frameworks available to protect Australians’ data and ensure its ethical use through the entire data lifecycle.
3. enabling data use – sets out approaches and requirements to leverage the value of data, such as capabilities, legislation, management and integration of data, and engaging internationally.

This document considers both public sector data, which is managed by the government, and data in the broader economy, where the Australian government both enables data users and regulates its use and sharing to provide greater certainty in how people deal with their data.

The strategy is supported by a living action plan, which sets out tangible measures the government is implementing to improve data settings across the economy. The action plan will be regularly reviewed to ensure it evolves to meet the changing priorities of Australians; and continuously raises the bar to meet our goal of being a leading digital economy and society by 2030.