Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships
OPEN DATA STRATEGYat as December 2015
Our vision
The department’s vision is for Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islander people to participate fully in Queensland’s vibrant economic, social and cultural life. Central to this vision is the key focus on increasing economic participation and improving the community participation of Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Island people living in rural, remote, regional and urban locations across Queensland.
Introduction
This Open Data Strategy demonstrates the Department’s commitment to Queensland Government’s Open Data Revolution’s objective “To release as much public data created and stored by the Queensland Government as possible and available free to anyone who wishes to use the data.
The strategy is a three year plan, reviewed annually. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships portfolio includes two statutory bodies: the Family Responsibilities Commission (FRC) and the Islander Board of Industry & Services (IBIS). The FRC develop and publish their own Open Data strategy, while IBIS is incorporated in the departmental strategy.
Strategic Overview
The overall objective of the department’s Open Data Strategy is to make available as many data resources held by the department to the publicto demonstrate transparency and openness. This is also consistent with thedepartmental Strategic Plan 2015-19 objective of “Creating a capable, agile and innovative organisation”.
The department itself is primarily a user, rather than a collector, of data. The vast majority of department’s business relies on consumption data from external sources and very limited own data creation and management.
a)Short and long-term goals and objectives:
Ourgoalsare to:
- Identify new datasets for publishing;
- Continually improve the provision of updates to current datasets by moving towards providing dataapplication programming interfaces (APIs);and
- Produceinformation about existing datasets which may be published in the future,e.g. data related to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander’s Cultural Heritage.
b)The types of data held by the department:
The following data is generated, maintained and owned by the department:
1)Merchant data for Woorabinda, Lockhart River, Kowanyama, Palm Island, Pormpuraaw and Doomadgee Retail Stores;
2)Queensland multicultural action plan core outcomes (up to February 2015);
3)Grants data related to Cape York Welfare Reform and other programs;
4)Departmental Corporate Services data including, but not limited to:
- Data related to late payments made under the Queensland Government’s Late Payment Policy Data
- Data related to overseas travel of departmental employees;
- Data related to consultancy spending undertaken by the Department;
- Departmental financial and human resource data;
- Data related to departmental key performance measurements;
5)Index of Colonial Secretary's correspondence relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people 1859-1903;
6)Cultural Heritage data including:
- Organisations list;
- Cultural Heritage Designated Landscape Areas list;
- Cultural Heritage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Parties list;
- Cultural Heritage Management Plans list;
7)Communities and Personal Histories (CPH)client request database—this database contains personal client details and information about their research inquiry. The CPH digital library includes a Document Management System(DMS) which contains pdf copies of closed and open archive documents (NB: personal details regarding applicants and individuals remain confidential);
8)Under Award Wages Process (UAW) and DMS reparations database—contains information about clients who applied for the UAW Process and the Reparations process, including personal contact information and notes on outcome of the claim (NB: personal details regarding applicants and individuals remain confidential);
9)Removals Database—contains information regarding the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Queensland, including names, reason for removal and place taken from and to, and dates (NB: personal details regarding applicants and individuals remain confidential); and
10)Integrated spatial database for managing information about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural heritage. Thissystem allows staff in the Cultural Heritage Coordination Unit to access geographical and historical information about more than 30,000 sites of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural heritage significance throughout the state. The information in the database is culturally sensitive and is protected under the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2003 and Torres Strait Islanders Cultural Heritage Act 2003.
Please refer to the Appendix for the release timetable.
c)Departmental data held by other agencies:
Following data belongs to the department, but is held by other agencies and statutory bodies:
- Grant funding paid to organisations, held by the Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services (DCCSDS);
- Employee data held by Queensland Shared Services;
The department publishes data in relation to the statutory bodies within the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnership’s portfolio, in particular FRC client management data. More information relating to the FRC is available at More information regarding IBIS is available at
d)Overarching data identification process
The identification of data for publication is undertaken through regular consultation with business areas and our principal Information and Communication Technology (ICT) service provider, the Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services (DCCSDS). Open data requirements are also considered as part of any new or upgraded system implementation.
e)Release strategy
Department’s release strategy is focused on:
- Improving the delivery of identified datasets;
- Working with the ICTprovidersto modernise the information systems used by the department to enablesimpler and more efficient data publication and updates;
- Continual reassessment of the department’s position to ensure more data is made available in the future;
- Reviewing and assessing data requests from external sources.
Any data that is identified for publication on the Government’s Open Data portal will be approvedby the data owner andthe department’s Executive Leadership Team (ELT).
The following describes an overview of the Open Data Release process:
f)Governance and compliance with standards including the protection of private and confidential data
- Open Data Strategy implementation is directed by the department’sELT and regular reporting on the progress is submitted for review and decisions;
- An employee awareness campaign is run by the department with active assistance in identifying, formatting and publishing of data;
- As part of the release strategy all datasets identified for release are checked for compliance with appropriate standards including the protection of private, culturally sensitive, commercial-in-confidence and confidential data.
Data
The number of published datasets as at November 2015 is 28. This includes five datasets from the FRC. It is expected that the identified datasets being released to the public will:
- Increase the openness and transparency of government and its processes;
- Be used and analysed by researchers, information management companiesand non-government organisations;
- Encourage competitive provision of services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in Queensland.
Future program
The department’sELT will review proposals for future datasets and take appropriate action. The proposed future programs include:
- Upgrading the Retail Stores datasets. The Retail Store datasets are derived from a Borland database, which is set to be upgraded during 2016. Department will continually review its ability to provide improvements in delivery of these datasets;
- Delivery of additional datasets relating to Community and Personal Histories system that had recently undergone changes;
- Inclusion of new datasets from the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural heritage business system which has recently undergone a significant change;
- Monitoring stakeholder feedback sent via
More details on the Open Data program can be found in the Appendix to this document.
Appendix –Publicationsand Datasets
Publications
Publication name / Description of publication / Target date of publishing(i.e. month & year) / Frequency of update
(e.g. daily, monthly, quarterly, annually) / End of release date (if applicable) / Open licence?
(Yes or No)
01 / Open Data Strategy DATSIP (publication) / Open data strategy for the Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships, listing data collected by the department, timetables for its release and standards for data management.
This strategy document also includes Islanders Board Of Industry & Service (IBIS) data release strategy. / Published / annually / n/a / Yes
02 / Open Data Strategy FRC (publication) / Open data strategy for the Family Responsibilities Commission (FRC) listing data collected by this statutory body, timetables for its release and standards for data management. / Published / annually / n/a / Yes
Datasets - published
Datasetname / Description of data / Target date of publishing(i.e. month & year) / Frequency of update
(e.g. daily, monthly, quarterly, annually) / End of release date (if applicable) / Open licence?
(Yes or No)
01 / Black Tracker files index / This dataset contains an index to the Queensland police Black Tracker correspondence held at Queensland State Archives. Black Trackers were Aboriginal men who were employed by the Police department to act as trackers. / Published / once / June 2014 / Yes
02 / Community and Personal Histories requests statistics / This dataset contains information on processed Community and Personal Histories requests which is used to support to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Queenslanders to help them find their connections to family and traditional country
NB: personal details regarding applicants and individuals will remain confidential and will not be published. / Published / annually / n/a / Yes
03 / Consultancy spending / Consultancy spending undertaken by the Department / Published / annually / n/a / Yes
04 / Correspondence relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people - Deebing Creek / This dataset relates to indexes created for correspondence items dated from 1894 to 1915. / Published / once / June 2014 / Yes
05 / Cultural Heritage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander parties list / Currently stored in excel format and contains party contact details and registration status. / Published / annually / n/a / Yes
06 / Cultural Heritage designated landscape areas list / Currently stored in excel format and in part also published on department’s internet site.
Information consists of detailed listings of Aboriginal cultural heritage organisations by region and geospatial information related to the site recorded on the Cultural Heritage Register. / Published / annually / n/a / Yes
07 / Cultural Heritage management plans list / Information on applicants, proposed projects, geospatial information on culturally significant areas and related Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples information
NB: personal details regarding applicants and individuals will remain confidential and will not be published. / Published / quarterly / n/a / Yes
08 / Cultural Heritage organisation list / Currently stored in excel format and in part also published on department’s internet site.
Information consists of detailed listings of Aboriginal cultural heritage organisations by region and geospatial information related to the site recorded on the Cultural Heritage Register. / Published / annually / n/a / Yes
09 / DATSIP—Queensland Government Investment Portal (QGIP) / Records of investments in front line service delivery including expenditure records, available funding and data for local government areas / Published / annually / n/a / Yes
10 / Departmental financial performance / This dataset relates to department's financial performance published in the Annual Report. / Published / annually / n/a / Yes
11 / Hourly productivity report for stores in selected Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities / Store sales data and trends for Woorabinda, Lockhart River, Kowanyama, Palm Island, Pormpuraaw and Doomadgee communities. / Published / quarterly / n/a / Yes
12 / Index of Colonial Secretary’s correspondence / The records of the Colonial Secretary’s Office (in the form of correspondence received) relating to Aboriginal affairs expenditure. / Published / once / January 2013 / Yes
13 / Index of census returns of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people 1915 / This dataset contains an index of census returns of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people compiled around 1915. / Published / once / June 2014 / Yes
14 / Key performance measurements / This dataset relates to department's key performance measurements as published in the Annual Report. / Published / annually / n/a / Yes
15 / Late payments / Quarterly report on late payments made under the Late Payment Policy where government will pay interest to small business for all bills on contracts up to $1 million paid greater than 30 calendar days on a correctly rendered undisputed tax invoice. / Published / quarterly / n/a / Yes
16 / Overseas travel / Details of overseas travel undertaken by officers of the Department / Published / annually / n/a / Yes
17 / People and corporate governance / This dataset relates to information on workforce diversity as published in the Annual Report. / Published / annually / n/a / Yes
18 / Product sales report / Sales Data by Product group for all IBIS Stores / Published / annually / n/a / Yes
19 / Queensland Multicultural Action Plan Core Outcome / Report on the performance of the Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs on the Queensland Multicultural Action Plan 2011-2014 Core Outcomes. / Published / annually / n/a / Yes
20 / Service delivery statements / This dataset relates to departmental budgetary service delivery performance statements as published in the Annual Report. / Published / annually / n/a / Yes
21 / FRC - application to amend or end agreement or order / Details of applications to amend or end agreements or orders received by the Family Responsibilities Commission. / Published / annually / n/a / Yes
22 / FRC - Community conference outcomes / Outcomes of conferences for each community. / Published / annually / n/a / Yes
23 / FRC - Community conferences / Information related to community conferences held by the Family Responsibilities Commission. / Published / annually / n/a / Yes
24 / FRC - Referrals / Data related to referrals resulting from community conferences. / Published / annually / n/a / Yes
25 / FRC - Show cause hearings / Information related to attendance of show cause hearings. / Published / annually / n/a / Yes
26 / DATSIP – ICT dashboard / The list of information and communication technology (ICT)-enabled initiatives within the Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships (DATSIP) and their reported status. / Published / every 2 months / n/a / Yes
27 / Queensland Language Service Policy (QLSP) / Information relating to the proportion of the department's clients that required language support, and interpreter engagement and expenditure. / Published / annually / n/a / Yes
28 / Remuneration Information for Government Body - DATSIP / Detailed remuneration information relating to the department’s government bodies. / Published / annually / n/a / Yes
Datasets – to be published
Dataset name / Description of dataset / Target date of publishing(i.e. month & year) / Frequency of update
(e.g. daily, monthly, quarterly, annually) / End of release date (if applicable) / Open licence?
(Yes or No)
01 / Under Award Wages process / Information contains client details who applied for the UAW Process and the Reparations process – contains mix of personal contact information and notes on outcome of the claim.
NB: personal details regarding applicants and individuals will remain confidential and will not be published / July 2016 / TBA / TBA / TBA
02 / Removals database / Information regarding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people removed in Queensland – includes their name, reason for removal and place taken from and to and dates.
NB: personal details regarding applicants and individuals will remain confidential and will not be published. / July 2016 / TBA / TBA / TBA
03 / Community and Personal Histories requests statistics (new) / The currently published datasetcontains limited information on processed Community and Personal Histories (CPH) requests. Recently the CPH database has undergone enhancements and a dataset with much wider content will be available.
NB: personal details regarding applicants and individuals will remain confidential and will not be published. / End of 2016 / TBA / TBA / TBA
04 / Aboriginal and Torres Strait Cultural Heritage sites database / Geographical and historical information about more than 40,000 sites of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural heritage. Much of this information has been exempted for publication due to cultural sensitivity. However, some aggregated information on the datasets (e.g. numbers of sites, types of sites, regional information etc.) will be examined for publication.
It is envisaged a number of datasets and resources will be available for publishing. / June 2016 / TBA / TBA / TBA
05 / Reparations database / April
2016 / Annually / 2018 / TBA
Last updated December 2015