Public Sector (Data Sharing) Act 2016

The objects of this Act are—

to promote, in accordance with the trusted access principles and the data sharing safeguards, the management and use of public sector data as a public resource that supports good Government policy making, program management and service planning and delivery; and

to remove barriers that impede the sharing of public sector data between public sector agencies; and

to facilitate the expeditious sharing of public sector data between public sector agencies; and

to provide protections in connection with public sector data sharing under this Act by—

specifying the purposes for, and the circumstances in which, public sector data sharing is permitted or required; and

ensuring that public sector data held by public sector agencies shared under this Act continues to be protected from unauthorised use or disclosure; and

ensuring that data providers retain responsibility for the release of public sector data outside the public sector under the Freedom of Information Act 1991; and

requiring compliance with data sharing safeguards in connection with public sector data sharing; and

to provide for the Minister to enter into data sharing agreements with certain entities.