What is your current work program?
I am currently working in the Data Discovery team at the Office of the National Data Commissioner (ONDC) leading end to end coordination of the Data Inventory Pilot Program projects. The Inventory pilot will be assisting 20% of Federal Government agencies to establish or enhance their existing Data Asset Inventories for inclusion in the future Australian Government Data Catalogue.
What are your current work activities?
I am working on the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications (DITRDC) project, which commenced at the start of February. In this project I am working with DITRDC staff reviewing their data asset register, aligning the outputs of the pilot to their Data Strategy and sharing data governance and management best practices. I will be starting two more agency projects in the coming weeks with the assistance of other data professionals in the team. More than 20 agencies have expressed interest in the program and I will be leading an information session with them soon, ahead of conducting individual deployment planning sessions.
What is your personal data background?
I have worked at the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) for the last 16 years and have recently started a secondment with the ONDC. At the ABS I started in the Household Economic Resource Surveys section, then expanded my knowledge working in the Education, National Accounts, Statistical Business Transformation Program and the Standards and Classification sections. My most recent ABS work was progressing the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations 2021 Australian update.
What have you learnt from your multi-agency collaborations?
I have worked in several multi agency projects from the establishment of the Early Childhood Education and Care collection, which was a mix of Federal and Jurisdictional agencies, to the ANZSCO and ONDC work, where the need for collaboration toward a common goal is a big driver. The skills are however the same when working across several teams or branches with one agency or several government agencies. Teams need open communication, a shared goal and an understanding that you should not let the need for perfection stall progress. I have also found great value in working with subject matter experts internationally. I also reflect on my past experience in the swimming pool industry, where I would ask the owners of completed pool projects what they would do differently and build those considerations into my next projects to deliver the best result possible.
Would you recommend secondments?
The short answer is Yes!
I have brought people on from other teams and agencies to support previous projects to get the best subject matter knowledge. I have also encouraged others to join my teams to progress their professional goals and upskill, to then take back to their own work. A short secondment such as the Data Profession offerings can be a good way to test the waters.
What opportunities are there at ONDC?
There is a lot of exciting work going on at the ONDC and in many fields, from Progressing the Data Availability and Transparency (DAT) Bill to the Data Discovery work across Government and also Dataplace, the whole-of-government platform that will provide coordinated access to request government data. If you wish to learn more about the work programs at ONDC you can email: information@datacommissioner.gov.au