Data Connect Australia is among the nation’s leading health and medical researchers, innovators, advocates and philanthropists to be recognised at Research Australia’s Health and Medical Research Awards, winning the Digital and Data Health Innovation Award.
Formerly known as the Population Health Research Network, Data Connect Australia is a national research infrastructure hosted by UWA with core funding support from the Federal Government’s National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy program.
Its focus is the operation and development of national research infrastructure to provide users with secure access to linked population data for important health and human services research.
The award recognises an individual or team whose innovation is considered to represent one of the most impactful new data innovations in the health and medical research sector within the past five years.
Data Connect Australia CEO Professor Rebecca Glauert said the award recognised the power of connected data to improve the health and wellbeing of Australians.
“Through sustained investment in national research infrastructure, Data Connect Australia has helped transform a fragmented data landscape into a world-leading data linkage capability that enables secure, privacy-preserving research at an unprecedented scale,” Professor Glauert said.
“As part of Australia’s National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS), we have demonstrated the value of long-term, nationally coordinated infrastructure that supports researchers, policymakers and health services to answer complex questions and address the challenges facing our communities.”
Professor Glauert said the achievement reflected the collaboration, innovation and commitment of data linkage units, data custodians, researchers, government partners and research institutions across the country.
“It demonstrates how trusted data infrastructure can drive better evidence, better policy and better outcomes for Australians,” she said.
“We are incredibly proud of what has been achieved together and excited about the opportunities ahead as we continue to strengthen Australia's data linkage infrastructure for the benefit of current and future generations.”