Your responsibilities as an open data user

Users have responsibilities when accessing and using NSW Government open data.

Understanding data
Using data
Providing feedback

Understanding, using and interpreting data

You should read the information about the dataset to familiarise and understand:

How the data was collected or the origins of the data
How it could be used
Whether it can be compared with other, similar datasets
Whether it can be linked to other datasets
Its scope and any caveats or known or analytical limitations, etc.

The information is usually published on Data.NSW, and will often include:

Data dictionaries
Data quality statements
Data notes and more.

Consider all of the supporting information to ensure that you’re using the data appropriately and responsibly.

It should be noted that NSW Government shall not be held liable for improper or incorrect use of the data.

If the data is lacking or not fit for purpose or have further questions, email the authors or contacts listed for the dataset.

Using data in ways that are consistent with its licence conditions

Much of the data in Data.NSW will be open and accessible for everyone to use, modify or reuse for whatever purpose.

However, there are some cases where you may be restricted on what you can do with the open data.

Make sure you understand the licence conditions for any data that you’re using.

To help you understand the restrictions, we’ve provided the licence and the conditions below:

Licence	Licence conditions
Creative commons attribution (CC BY)	Credit must be given to the data provider/publisher or owner Allows others to copy, distribute and remix and build upon Allows for commercial use
Creative commons attribution Share-a-like (CC BY-SA)	Credit must be given to the data provider/publisher or owner Allows others to copy, distribute and remix Allows for commercial use Adaptations must be shared under the same terms
CC-by-4.0	Credit must be given to the data provider/publisher or owner, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made Allows others to copy, distribute and remix and build upon Allows for commercial use No additional restrictions are permitted
CC-BY-3.0	Credit must be given to the data provider/publisher or owner, provide a link to the license Indicate use and reasonable steps to identify that changes were made Allows others to copy, distribute and remix and build upon Allows for commercial use No additional restrictions are permitted
3rd party licence	Credit must be given to the data provider/publisher or owner Only noncommercial uses are permitted Unauthorised reproduction, distribution or publication is not permitted

If data has yet to have a licence specified, please contact the contact point listed to to explain how you wish to use the data and ask them to clarify the licensing for you.

Providing feedback to data providers or Data.NSW

As a data user you are encouraged to contact us:

to help identify which data to prioritise for release or improvement
if you become aware of a breach of licence conditions or safeguards for personal, health or other sensitive information
if any of the datasets are inaccurate, our-of-date or have become unavailable or inaccessible
to share the insights discovered from open data or how open data was used.

Last updated 18 Mar 2025