IJPDS International Journal of Population Data Science

A new Metadata Platform in Australia provides a centralised resource helping researchers explore what data collections are available for data linkage research. Designed by the Population Health Research Network (PHRN), this platform streamlines data collection discovery and assessment through an online data catalogue and accompanying metadata.

The Metadata Platform was developed to address the challenges researchers faced in identifying data collections available for linkage and accessing metadata — information that defines and describes the content, quality and condition of data. In Australia, researchers typically request the linkage of data collections owned and managed by different data custodians, often across jurisdictions. As a result, metadata is held across multiple websites and documents, making it time-consuming and complex to find and access.  Lead author Dr. Kate Miller explains, “We needed a centralised platform that brings metadata for routinely linked data collections into one place, maximising visibility and encouraging metadata standardisation.”

Over several weeks, the PHRN team worked closely with researchers, data custodians, and data service providers to refine the platform, ensuring it met end-user needs and aligned with international best practices and FAIR data principles. Following extensive user feedback, the Metadata Platform was launched in 2023. During testing, researchers expressed strong support for the centralised resource, with one stating, “Having a tool like this as a researcher is very useful—having one place to find all the data.”

With the introduction of the Metadata Platform, a standardised template for linked data collection metadata was developed. This standardisation ensures uniformity and consistency across data collections, allowing for quick evaluation of suitability and easy comparison between data collections. It also provided an opportunity for data custodians to enrich their existing metadata by addressing gaps and improving metadata completeness.

Researchers can now rely on clear, structured, and comparable metadata when assessing data collections for their projects. One researcher noted, “this is exactly what we’ve been looking for—it even has the (data) formats...”

The article, published in the International Journal of Population Data Science (IJPDS), explains how user experience drove the platform’s key features. Today, researchers can efficiently search routinely linked data collections using keywords, browse by theme, or filter based on specific characteristics. Supplementary information is available for each data collection including variable lists, data dictionaries, data quality statements and related publications.

According to Dr. Miller, a key goal was to deliver a platform that enables researchers to more effectively discover what data collections are available for linkage and determine how useful a data collection might be for their specific research. “Now the Metadata Platform is live, we’re focused on ensuring the metadata remains up to date, as well as looking at other ways to refine its functionality and expand its coverage of data collections”.

 

Click here to read the full article

Dr Kate Miller, Senior Specialist, Science and Partnerships, Population Health Research Network

Miller, K. M., Flack, F., Smith, M., Bennett, V. and Marshall, C. E. (2025) “Discovering linked data collections through a new national metadata platform”, International Journal of Population Data Science, 10(1). doi: 10.23889/ijpds.v10i1.2461.