Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and Multicultural Affairs
OPEN DATA STRATEGY 2013 - 2017
Our vision
Aboriginal people, Torres Strait Islander people and people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds
contribute to and enjoy Queensland’s prosperity and lifestyle.
Introduction
The Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and Multicultural Affairs (DATSIMA) has a purpose to
provide whole-of-government leadership to improve the outcomes for Aboriginal people, Torres Strait Islander
people and people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
What enables this Department to achieve this purpose is access to data sources that is used to derive necessary
information and wisdom needed for decision making process (for example Census data). The vast majority of
DATSIMA’s business relies on data consumption from external sources and very limited own data creation and
management.
Strategic Overview
The overall objective of DATSIMA’s Open Data Strategy is to show how data improves DATSIMA’s business and
demonstrate transparency and openness through the release of information.
a) Short and long-term goals and objectives
As of December 2014, there are 25 datasets with 43 resources published. In addition to the departmental Open
Data strategy document which incorporates the Islanders Board of Industry and Service (IBIS) strategy, there is a
separate Family Responsibilities Commission (FRC) strategy document published.
DATSIMA is committed to publish further datasets as well as continually look for opportunities to identify and
release more data.
Our long term goals are to:
 Continually improve the current datasets e.g. move towards providing data application programming
interfaces (APIs);
 Identify new datasets for publishing; and
 Produce information about existing datasets which may be published in the future, e.g. data related to
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander’s Cultural Heritage.
Current at December 2014
b) The types of data held by DATSIMA
The following identifies data generated, maintained and owned by DATSIMA:
1) Merchant data for Woorabinda, Lockhart River, Kowanyama, Palm Island, Pormpuraaw and Doomadgee
Retail Stores;
2) Queensland multicultural action plan core outcomes;
3) Grants data related to Cape York Welfare Reform, Multicultural Affairs and Urban and Regional Strategy;
4) Departmental Corporate Services data including, but not limited to:
 Data related to 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;
 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 18591903 (data held and managed by Queensland State Archives);
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. This system 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 highly cultural sensitive and is
protected under the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2003 and Torres Strait Islanders Cultural Heritage Act
2003.
Please refer to Appendix for release timetable.
Current at December 2014
Following data belongs to DATSIMA, but is held by other agencies and statutory bodies:




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Grant funding paid to organisations, held by the Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability
Services (DCCSDS);
Information on DATSIMA’s property portfolio, held by the Department of Housing and Public Works;
Employee data held by Queensland Shared Services;
FRC data in relation to client management – more information available at www.frcq.org.au
IBIS merchant data - more information available at www.ibis-ti.org
c) Overarching data identification process
DATSIMA’s data has no known inter-agency links to datasets, other than its link to DCCSDS. DCCSDS provides a
large number of corporate services and manages Information Communication Technology (ICT) systems on
behalf of DATSIMA.
d) Release strategy
DATSIMA’s release strategy is focused on:
 Improving the delivery of identified datasets;
 Working with the ICT team based within DCCSDS to move information systems (that contain identified
datasets) to DATSIMA to enable data publication;
 Continual reassessment of the department’s position to make more data available in the future including
reviewing and assessing data requests from external sources.
Data identified for publication on the Government’s Open Data website will be approved by the dataset owner
and the DATSIMA Executive Leadership Team (ELT).
The following describes the Open Data Release process:
Dataset
identified
Dataset Owner
approval
Dataset format
standardised
DATSIMA ELT
approval
Dataset
Publication
e) Governance and compliance with standards including the protection of private and confidential data
 Open Data Strategy implementation is directed by the DATSIMA ELT and regular reporting on the progress is
submitted for review and decisions;
 The DATSIMA Strategic Plan 2014-2018 includes an objective relating to “Creating a capable, agile and
innovative organisation” which has direct link to department’s ongoing commitment to Open Data;
 An employee awareness campaign is run by the department with active assistance in identifying, formatting
and publishing of data;
 All future departmental business systems will include Open Data publishing requirements;
 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.
Current at December 2014
Data
It is expected that the identified datasets being released to the public will:

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Increase the openness and transparency of government and its processes;
Be used and analysed by researchers, information management companies or non-government
organisations;
Encourage competitive provision of services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and Multicultural
groups in Queensland.
Future program
The DATSIMA ELT will review proposals for future datasets and take appropriate action. The proposed future
programs include:
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Upgrading the Retail Stores datasets. The Retail Store datasets are derived from a Borland database, which
is set to be upgraded within next 12 months. DATSIMA 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 will be undergoing significant changes within next 6 months;
Monitoring stakeholder feedback sent via opendata@datsima.qld.gov.au
More detail on DATSIMA’s Open Data program can be found in the Appendix to this Strategy.
Current at December 2014
Appendix – Publications and Datasets
Publications
Publication name
01 Open Data
Strategy
DATSIMA
(publication)
02 Open Data
Strategy FRC
(publication)
Description of publication
Target date
of
publishing
Frequency
of update
End of
release
date (if
Open
licence?
(i.e. month &
year)
(e.g. daily,
monthly,
quarterly,
annually)
applicable)
(Yes or No)
Open data strategy for the
Department of Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander and Multicultural
Affairs, 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.
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
Published
annually
n/a
Yes
Description of data
Target date
of publishing
Frequency
of update
Open
licence?
(i.e. month &
year)
(e.g. daily,
monthly,
quarterly,
annually)
End of
release
date (if
Published
once
June
2014
Yes
Published
annually
n/a
Yes
Published
annually
n/a
Yes
Datasets - published
Dataset name
01 Black Tracker files
index
02 Community and
Personal Histories
requests statistics
03 Consultancy
spending
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.
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.
Consultancy spending undertaken by
the Department
(Yes or No)
applicable)
Current at December 2014
Dataset name
04 Correspondence
relating to
Aboriginal and
Torres Strait
Islander people Deebing Creek
05 Cultural Heritage
Aboriginal and
Torres Strait
Islander parties
list
06 Cultural Heritage
designated
landscape areas
list
07 Cultural Heritage
management
plans list
08 Cultural Heritage
organisation list
09 DATSIMA—
Queensland
Government
Investment Portal
(QGIP)
10 Departmental
financial
performance
Description of data
Target date
of publishing
Frequency
of update
End of
release
date (if
Open
licence?
(i.e. month &
year)
(e.g. daily,
monthly,
quarterly,
annually)
This dataset relates to indexes
created for correspondence items
dated from 1894 to 1915.
Published
once
June
2014
Yes
Currently stored in excel format and
contains party contact details and
registration status.
Published
annually
n/a
Yes
Currently stored in excel format and
in part also published on DATSIMA
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.
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.
Currently stored in excel format and
in part also published on DATSIMA
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.
Records of investments in front line
service delivery including
expenditure records, available
funding and data for local
government areas
This dataset relates to department's
financial performance published in
the Annual Report.
Published
annually
n/a
Yes
Published
quarterly
n/a
Yes
Published
annually
n/a
Yes
Published
annually
n/a
Yes
Published
annually
n/a
Yes
(Yes or No)
applicable)
Current at December 2014
Dataset name
11 Hourly
productivity
report for stores
in selected
Aboriginal and
Torres Strait
Islander
communities
12 Index of Colonial
Secretary’s
correspondence
13 Index of census
returns of
Aboriginal and
Torres Strait
Island people
1915
14 Key performance
measurements
15 Late payments
16 Overseas travel
17 People and
corporate
governance
18 Product sales
report
19 Queensland
Multicultural
Action Plan Core
Outcome
20 Service delivery
statements
Description of data
Target date
of publishing
Frequency
of update
End of
release
date (if
Open
licence?
(i.e. month &
year)
(e.g. daily,
monthly,
quarterly,
annually)
applicable)
Store sales data and trends for
Woorabinda, Lockhart River,
Kowanyama, Palm Island,
Pormpuraaw and Doomadgee
communities.
Published
quarterly
n/a
Yes
The records of the Colonial
Secretary’s Office (in the form of
correspondence received) relating to
Aboriginal affairs expenditure.
This dataset contains an index of
census returns of Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Island people compiled
around 1915.
Published
once
January
2013
Yes
Published
once
June
2014
Yes
This dataset relates to department's
key performance measurements as
published in the Annual Report.
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.
Details of overseas travel
undertaken by officers of the
Department
This dataset relates to information
on workforce diversity as published
in the Annual Report.
Sales Data by Product group for all
IBIS Stores
Published
annually
n/a
Yes
Published
quarterly
n/a
Yes
Published
annually
n/a
Yes
Published
annually
n/a
Yes
Published
annually
n/a
Yes
Report on the performance of the
Department of Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander Affairs on the
Queensland Multicultural Action
Plan 2011-2014 Core Outcomes.
This dataset relates to departmental
budgetary service delivery
performance statements as
Published
annually
n/a
Yes
Published
annually
n/a
Yes
(Yes or No)
Current at December 2014
Dataset name
21 FRC - application
to amend or end
agreement or
order
22 FRC - Community
conference
outcomes
23 FRC - Community
conferences
24 FRC - Referrals
25 FRC - Show cause
hearings
Description of data
published in the Annual Report.
Details of applications to amend or
end agreements or orders received
by the Family Responsibilities
Commission.
Outcomes of conferences for each
community.
Information related to community
conferences held by the Family
Responsibilities Commission.
Data related to referrals resulting
from community conferences.
Information related to attendance of
show cause hearings.
Target date
of publishing
Frequency
of update
End of
release
date (if
Open
licence?
(i.e. month &
year)
(e.g. daily,
monthly,
quarterly,
annually)
applicable)
Published
annually
n/a
Yes
Published
annually
n/a
Yes
Published
annually
n/a
Yes
Published
annually
n/a
Yes
Published
annually
n/a
Yes
(Yes or No)
Current at December 2014
Datasets – to be published
Dataset name
Description of dataset
Target date
of
publishing
02 Removals
database
03 Community and
Personal Histories
requests statistics
(new)
04 Aboriginal and
Torres Strait
Cultural Heritage
sites database
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
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.
The currently published dataset
contains 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.
Geographical and historical
information about more than 30,000
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.
End of
release
date (if
Open
licence?
(e.g. daily,
monthly,
quarterly,
annually)
applicable)
February
2015
TBA
TBA
TBA
February
2015
TBA
TBA
TBA
February
2015
annually
n/a
Yes
June 2015
TBA
TBA
TBA
(i.e. month &
year)
01 Under Award
Wages process
Frequency
of update
(Yes or No)
Current at December 2014