Data Discovery

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Data Discovery

Helping users find data

Data Inventories

Under the Data Inventories Pilot Program, the ONDC is working with Australian Government agencies to help them discover their data and to develop a standardised list of data assets they hold - known as a data inventory.

 The ONDC has completed work with 21 Australian Government agencies, and is currently working with 14 agencies to develop their data inventories using a standard methodology.

Chevron diagram outlining the approach for the Data Inventories Pilot Program.

Whilst the program is currently at capacity, the ONDC has a team of data experts, metadata standards and guidance materials to assist agencies progress from whatever stage they are at with their data inventory.

For further information on Data Inventories, please contact us.

‘You can’t use data if you don’t know it exists’

— Data Availability and Use, Productivity Commission Inquiry Report, 2017

Australian Government Data Catalogue

The ONDC is developing an Australian Government Data Catalogue. Once completed, the Catalogue will draw on the data inventories to help users find Australian Government data.

Finding Open Data

Free, open datasets are available at data.gov.au. Open data includes the datasets published by Australian, state and territory, and local government agencies, as well as publicly-funded research data and datasets from private institutions that are in the public interest.

Data Discovery Community of Practice

The ONDC has established a Community for Data Discovery that is hosted on the Data and Digital Professions platform. The Community of Practice is regularly updated with resources to support government agencies to develop, enhance and maintain comprehensive data asset registers and searchable data catalogues. It is accessible to public sector employees with a gov.au email address.

We encourage agencies that are interested in developing or enhancing their data inventories to join the Data Discovery Community of Practice.

Join the Data Discovery Community of Practice

Monthly Data Discovery Webinars

Each month, the ONDC hosts Data Discovery Webinars where agencies share their learnings and expertise on building data inventories.

The next meeting will be on 15 November at 10 am AEDT. Register here.

Page last updated: 31 October 2023