Connected Beginnings development of approach to data sharing in communities with overlap of programs

The Connected Beginnings Program is committed to empowering communities with the confidence, power, and efficiency to know what's working and to solve complex social problems together. This is being achieved by ensuring communities have access to, and the capability to use, locally relevant data and information to set and monitor the implementation of efforts to embed Priority Reform Four, achieve their priorities and drive their own development. The program acknowledges Maiam nayri Wingara principles of Indigenous Data Sovereignty (IDS) and respects that the realisation of IDS will be different for each partnering community. To reduce the burden of data collection at the site level, the Commonwealth has undertaken data sharing arrangements across agencies and state and territory governments. The data collected is contextual and disaggregated at community level and incorporated into a set of interactive digital data dashboards that allows communities to track the numbers that are important to them and use this data to inform priorities and local decision-making. Data is relevant to the program goals around children thriving by the age of five and empowers sustainable self-determination and effective self-governance. The Department of Education is also working with colleagues across the Department of Social Services, the Department of Health and Aged Care, and the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet to ensure a coordinated approach to data sharing in communities where there is an overlap of respective programs. This work will commence in early 2023 with bringing together communities to plan how this work can best achieve their data needs.