Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth has hailed the National Disability Data Asset as a world first. Photo: ALP.
Touted as a world first, a government-owned asset designed to help measure how policies and programs are delivering better outcomes for people with disability is up and running.
With the release of first data from the National Disability Data Asset (NDDA), the Federal Government says Australia will now have a clearer research picture of people with disability.
A collaboration between Commonwealth, state and territory governments, it has linked de-identified data to ensure people with disability are its core focus.
For the first time, the NDDA will deliver a single source of information to governments combining data on people with disability from all jurisdictions.
Once fully established, the NDDA will be one of the largest linked data assets in Australia, incorporating population-level information about all Australians to understand the services and supports accessed by people with disability.
An innovation of Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021-2031, it is designed to play a key role in helping to measure how policies and programs are delivering better outcomes over time.
The release of the first data focussed on the health system and comprises 18 data sets, including from the Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers. This ensures the NDDA contains the most up-to-date data on Australians with disability, their key demographics and experiences of disability.
Data from the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) about how people with disability access health services and how Medicare services interact with other government supports is also included.
The MBS data will link with expanded National Disability Insurance Scheme information enabling new insights into how people with disability are interacting with these government services.
It allows researchers and policy developers to look at how systems can be made to work better.
In releasing the data, Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth said the NDDA would play an important role in understanding the experiences of people with disability and informing future policy and programs that better met their needs.
“Until now we have not had access to truly connected Commonwealth, state and territory information about how people with disability live, and how the services and support they receive impacts their outcomes,” Ms Rishworth said.
“This first release will start to give us important insights into interactions people with disability have with the health system and their access to disability services to help drive better programs and policies.
“This data will enable governments to work with people with disability and researchers to identify how we can effectively target policy and programs to improve outcomes for people with disability across all aspects of their lives.”
In the longer-term, as additional data is incorporated into the NDDA, the asset should become a comprehensive resource to support better understanding of how people with disability interact with government programs and services and where the biggest issues and gaps lie.
Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury Andrew Leigh said by providing a more complete picture of the life experiences of people with disability, and more information about programs and services, the NDDA had the power to change policy and improve lives for people with disability, their families and carers.
“The National Disability Data Asset is a game changer for evidence-based policymaking,” he said.
“By connecting data across systems, we can better understand the challenges faced by people with disability and create policies that make a real difference in their lives.
“This initiative highlights the power of data to drive smarter, fairer and more effective government programs.”
The NDDA is inclusively co-governed by people with disability and governments through the National Disability Data Asset Council, ensuring use of the asset is transparent and accountable.
The NDDA Council is supported by a range of panels that include people with disability.
One of the key innovations of this first data launch is a set of disability ‘indicators’ to help researchers in their analysis.
Disability indicators show, for example, how many people have disability and what disability they have. They help researchers to consistently include and describe people with disability in the disability data asset.
Three more data releases are planned for 2025, expanding the range of information available to other areas such as housing, education, transport and justice.
The NDDA is expected to be fully operational in 2026.
Original Article published by Chris Johnson on Riotact.
