​Commonwealth data sharing legislation up for discussion | Australia | ZDNet

"The federal government is hoping to reform the Australian data system, in May announcing it would be investing AU$65 million on initiatives such as the country's new Consumer Data Right (CDR), which will allow individuals to "own" their data by granting them open access to their banking, energy, phone, and internet transactions, as well as the right to control who can have it and who can use it. In order to implement the changes, it needs to overhaul its legislation, with the government this week labelling its existing public service data use arrangements as complex and hindering the use of data. In the New Australian Government Data Sharing and Release Legislation Issues Paper for Consultation, the government attributes such barriers to a greater sharing of data within the public service to a "dense web of legislative requirements which lack consistency; a culture of risk aversion, leading to overly cautious legislative interpretation and approval process complexity; and a lack of a whole-of-government approach". The paper [PDF] has been published for consultation, with the aim of developing new Data Sharing and Release (DS&R) legislation to "realise the value of public sector data and modernise the Australian government data system"...."