Development and implementation of a national online application system for cross-jurisdictional linked data

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Services Research
• Data Science

Background:

• The Population Health Research Network (PHRN) is Australia's national infrastructure for linking health and human services data.
• Accessing linked data across multiple Australian states and territories involves complex approval processes due to the distributed nature of data collection and management.
• Existing processes hindered efficient cross-jurisdictional research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe Australia's strategy for facilitating researcher access to multi-jurisdictional linked data.
• To outline the development and implementation of a unified national application system for linked data access.
• To discuss the harmonization of business processes for cross-jurisdictional research projects.

Main Methods:

• Identification and agreement on a minimum dataset for a national application form.
• Development and implementation of a national online application system.
• Harmonization of business processes for cross-jurisdictional research initiatives.

Main Results:

• A unified national application form and online system have been developed.
• Harmonized business processes are being implemented to streamline cross-jurisdictional research.
• The system facilitates researcher access to linked administrative data across Australia.

Conclusions:

• Australia has established a national approach to simplify access to linked health and human services data.
• The online application system and harmonized processes aim to improve the efficiency of cross-jurisdictional research.
• Ongoing utilization and challenges of the data linkage system are being monitored.