Public Sector (Data Sharing) Act 2016

In this Act—

data means any facts, statistics, instructions, concepts or other information in a form that is capable of being communicated, analysed or processed (whether by an individual or by a computer or other automated means);

data analytics work means the examination and analysis of data for the purpose of drawing conclusions about that data (including, for example, conclusions about the efficacy of Government policies, program management or service planning and delivery by public sector agencies);

data provider means the public sector agency that controls public sector data that is provided to a data recipient under Part 3 or Part 4;

data recipient means the public sector agency to which public sector data is provided under Part 3 or Part 4;

de-identified—personal information is de-identified if the information is no longer about an identifiable individual or an individual who is reasonably identifiable;

exempt public sector data means—

public sector data held by a prescribed public sector agency; and

any other public sector data, or public sector data of a kind, prescribed by the regulations;

individual means a natural person (including a deceased person);

ODA—see section 6;

personal information means information or an opinion, including information or an opinion forming part of a database, whether true or not, and whether recorded in a material form or not, about an individual whose identity is apparent, or can reasonably be ascertained, from the information or opinion;

public sector agency has the same meaning as in the Public Sector Act 2009 but—

excludes a person or body prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this definition; and

includes any other person or body prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this definition;

public sector data means any data that a public sector agency controls;

trusted access principles—see section 7.

The regulations may provide that section 16(1) does not apply in relation to a person or body prescribed for the purposes of paragraph (b) of the definition of public sector agency in subsection (1).

If part of an existing public sector agency is designated as ODA under section 6, ODA is taken to be a public sector agency in its own right for the purposes of this Act.