AUSTRALIAN DATA AND DIGITAL COUNCIL COMMUNIQUÉ
26 JUNE 2020
Today, the Australian Data and Digital Council Ministers met (by teleconference) to discuss data and digital matters and shared challenges arising from the coronavirus pandemic.
The following Ministers attended the meeting:
- The Hon Stuart Robert MP (Commonwealth)
- The Hon Victor Dominello MP (New South Wales)
- The Hon Danny Pearson MP (Victoria)
- The Hon Mick de Brenni MP (Queensland)
- The Hon Dave Kelly MLA (Western Australia)
- The Hon David Pisoni MP (South Australia)
- The Hon Michael Ferguson MP (Tasmania)
- Mr Mick Gentleman MLA (Australian Capital Territory)
Governments collectively continue to support COVID-19 response and recovery efforts and share data and digital activities underway to support Australians.
The South Australian Government is working to automatically update business’ COVID-Safe plans as restrictions change over the next period to relieve administrative burden on businesses, and ‘Working for Victoria’ has developed an online platform that allows applicants to quickly identify and apply for work opportunities for Victorians.
COVIDSafe app
Ministers noted more Australians are downloading the COVIDSafe app, with current downloads exceeding 6.4 million, helping to speed up contact tracing.
Building community trust
Ministers discussed the importance of ensuring the public’s trust in data and digital initiatives. To help all governments keep the needs of Australians front of mind and earn the public’s trust when designing and delivering projects, a set of four principles and eight commitments have now been agreed by all members out of session.
The four principles focus on respect, security, transparency and accountability.
The ADDC Trust principles are available at www.pmc.gov.au/ADDC
Working together to support decision making on Australia’s COVID-19 recovery
Effective use of data will be critical to Australia’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Ministers discussed the importance of working together to access accurate and timely data to better understand the impacts of the pandemic and how to best target support for Australians.
Ministers were updated on cross-jurisdictional work to identify and share priority data needed to help COVID-19 response and recovery. Ministers noted the first statistics on the JobKeeper and JobSeeker payments and telehealth mental health services have been agreed for sharing across jurisdictions. This will enable a common operating picture across jurisdictions, to improve governments’ ability to effectively respond to both the economic and health challenges of the pandemic. Ministers agreed that identifying and sharing data to support job creation was the number one priority. Careful considerations continue to be given to relevant protections, including to the privacy of all Australians.
Framework provides cohesive approach to digital identity
Ministers agreed a nationally consistent framework to align the digital identity ecosystem is necessary to enable interoperability and re-use of identity systems across jurisdictions. It will also provide better, more seamless experiences for customers and help reduce privacy and fraud risks.
Ministers agreed to work towards a consistent approach for digital identity across Australia, including taking appropriate steps towards alignment on the Trusted Digital Identity Framework.
Information on the Australian Data and Digital Council, including previous meeting communiqués, can be found at www.pmc.gov.au/ADDC
The Australian Data and Digital Council is currently under review following National Cabinet’s agreement to the formation of the National Federation Reform Council and the cessation of the COAG model on 29 May 2020. Further details can be found in the Prime Minister’s press conference and statement.
