The National Disability Data Asset went through a testing period called the Pilot. The Pilot phase ran for 18 months and finished at the end of 2021. The Pilot examined the best ways to share, link and access information. During this phase, the privacy of individuals was ensured by de-identifying information and keeping it secure. This means the government cannot find out who people are from this data or make contact with them.

The aim of the Pilot phase was to show how information could be linked. The test cases also helped show how we could design a disability data asset that linked information from every state and territory.

Pilot Findings

All findings on this webpage are from the National Disability Data Asset Pilot test cases.

Not every state participated in the Pilot. New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Queensland worked with the Australian Government on the Pilot. The test cases linked information from different government organisations. These links helped show us information about people which we could not see before. For example, five times more people with disability access homelessness services than people without disability. The test cases gave governments new ideas about how they could support people with disability.

Each test case had different aims and questions. They looked at different groups of people that live in different places. The findings do not apply to all Australians. The findings cannot be compared across test cases.

The findings from the Pilot test case are linked below.

What we learnt from the Pilot

What we learnt from the test cases

Overview of the five test cases

Early Childhood

(Led by New South Wales (NSW) using NSW government data. This test case included 2.33 million NSW children born between 2003 and 2019. The data used was from January 2003 to June 2020.)

This test case was about the impacts of early support programs for children aged 0 to 7 years. The support programs were for children with disability and developmental delays before they started school. The test case aimed to increase privacy and security of sharing information. The test case gave foundational information about how children and families used services. This could help with planning better supports for children with developmental delay and disability, and their families.

The findings from the Early Childhood test case are linked below.

Findings from this test case can also be found at the NSW Department of Education website. Findings on the website include the NSW Early Childhood Test Case Final Report and Appendix.

Justice System

(Jointly led by New South Wales (NSW) and the Australian Government Department of Social Services and using Australian Government and NSW data. This test case included 2.8 million people. The study was from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2018.)

This test case was about the encounters between people with disability and the justice system. It aimed to better understand the characteristics of people with disability who encounter the justice system. This was both as offenders and as victims. This case showed some of these encounters and the impact of services for the people involved. This could help with governments planning better services.

The findings from the Justice System test case are linked below.

Findings from this test case can also be found at the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics website linked below.

The victimisation of people with disability in NSW: Results from the National Disability Data Asset pilot

Trends in rates of victimisation and offending for people with disability in NSW

Offending by young people with disability: A NSW linkage study

People with disability and offending in NSW: Results from the National Disability Data Asset pilot

Education to Employment

(Led by South Australia (SA) and SA government data. This test case included South Australian students enrolled in Year 10 at government schools from 2005 to 2019.)

This test case was about pathways into employment or further education for young adults with disabilities. It looked at this through school education, senior secondary education, vocational education and training participation. This test case aimed to explore the barriers to employment as well as identify background and pathway factors that explain different outcomes. It also aimed to identify supports that help to close the gap between people with disabilities and the general population. This test case describes the pathways into employment or further education for young adults with disabilities.

The findings from the Education to Employment test case are linked below.

Mental illness and psychological distress

(Led by Victoria (VIC) and using VIC government data. This test case included 696,000 people using disability services in VIC from 2008 to 2018.)

This test case was about the impacts of services and support programs for:

  • people living with disability with mental illness and psychological distress
  • people living with psychosocial disabilities
  • their families

This test case aimed to give foundational information about what services and supports people with disability with mental health and psychological distress have used. This could help to inform better government policies, better services and program planning. This test case aimed to better understand the connection between the use of supports and outcomes.

The findings from the Mental illness and psychological distress test case are linked below.

Housing

(Led by the Australian Government Department of Social Services and using data from the Australian Government and governments of NSW, SA and QLD. This test case included 788,000 people accessing housing support from January 2010 to June 2020.)

This test case used data from the Australian Government and governments of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Queensland. It explored getting a complete measure of disability using information from linked datasets. It tested the suitability of the National Disability Data Asset as way to get information. It used data on housing and housing supports, to show the potential of linked datasets.

The findings from the Housing test case are linked below.

Join our mailing list to receive updates on the National Disability Data Asset.

Please read our privacy collection and consent notice prior to subscribing to our mailing list. To sign up please click the subscribe button. 

Subscribe (Opens in a new tab/window)