The Australian Centre for Disease Control (CDC): Consultation on how the Australian CDC plans to use data

Closes 30 Sep 2024

This service needs cookies enabled.

4. Questions - provide your response here

This page has six questions.  You can choose to answer as many of them as you like. 

You can also skip these questions, and upload a PDF file or voice submission on the next page. 

1. How important do you think it is that the proposed CDC has access to data to inform their decisions?

More information

The CDC plans to use data from a range of different sources to form a strong evidence base about Australia’s health. The CDC also plans to use data to spot trends and patterns.

This will help them to:

  • address health concerns quickly
  • prepare for health emergencies
  • take the needs of different groups of people into account
  • understand the effectiveness of treatments and solutions
  • prioritise actions according to health risks and challenges. 

See FAQs below for more information: 

  1. What kinds of data will the CDC use?
  2. What is health data?
  3. Why does the proposed CDC need to use health data?
  4. Will the CDC know information about individual people's health?
  5. What is linked data?
2. How comfortable do you feel about the proposed CDC using health data for their work?

More information

Governments around Australia already collect and use a lot of health data.

For example, the Department of Health and Aged care currently collects data about the health of our community. And the Australian Bureau of Statistics collects data about our population, like age, location and the number of people in work.

The CDC plans to use this kind of data. Some of the reasons the CDC might use health data include:

  • Monitoring diseases in the community
  • Providing advice to states and territories about how to protect the community against disease
  • Responding during a health emergency (e.g. the COVID-19 pandemic)
  • Providing information to the public about diseases
  • Targeting resources to vulnerable groups
  • Planning to address health concerns in the community

See FAQ below for more information:

  1. What does the proposed CDC plan to do?
  2. Why is the new CDC important to protecting our health?
  3. What kinds of data will the CDC use?
  4. What is health data?
  5. Why does the proposed CDC need to use health data?
  6. Will the CDC know information about individual people's health?
3. Do you have concerns about the way the proposed CDC may use data?

More information

The CDC will follow government security and management practices, including the 5-Safes Framework, to ensure that your data is kept safe.

See below FAQ for more information:

  1. What kinds of data will the CDC use?
  2. How will the CDC protect health data?
  3. What is the 5 Safes Framework?
4. What would you want to know about how the proposed CDC will be using your data?

More information

This consultation is an opportunity for a wide range of people in our community to have a say about the way CDC uses data. The CDC will listen to what people think and respond to people’s concerns by developing a plan that reflects the expectations of the community.

Some of the things you may like to know about include:

  • I want to know why my data is collected and how it is used
  • I want my data to be anonymous, removing my personal details like my name and address
  • I want to know how the government is protecting my data
  • I want to know who the government might share my data with

See FAQ below for more information:

  1. What kinds of data will the CDC use?
  2. What is health data?
  3. Why does the proposed CDC need to use health data?
  4. Will the CDC know information about individual people's health?
  5. What is linked data?
  6. How will the CDC protect health data?
  7. What is the 5 Safes Framework?
  8. What is the data lifecycle?
5. How would you like the proposed CDC to communicate how they use your data?

More information

If you answered the question above, could you suggest how the CDC should communicate how data is used? You could provide an example of an organisation that shares information on data use well. 

Everyone receives news from different places, including:

  • the TV
  • the radio
  • the newspaper
  • social media, like Facebook or Instagram
  • websites, like the Australian government website
  • emails and newsletters.
6. Is there anything else you would like to say about the planned data practices of the proposed CDC?