National Health Data Hub

Linked, multi-jurisdictional data to support policy development, service delivery and community benefits

Commonwealth and State and Territory government health agencies often operate in silos, collecting data that reflects a fragmented view of the community's health, and the delivery of services, limiting our understanding of the complex needs of populations and the interaction between services in delivering care to patients.

The National Health Data Hub (NHDH) is a major national de-identified linked data system that draws together core government administrative health and aged care datasets, from both Commonwealth and jurisdiction sources, enabling a more comprehensive analysis of the community’s health needs and the delivery of services. No other collection routinely brings together the core data that the NHDH does or delivers such a vast range of insights for health and aged care policy and research. 

The NHDH can be used to facilitate data-driven and evidence-based policy and decision making, service delivery and community benefits and analyses for health and statistics research purposes. For example:  

• Policy development: Helping to inform strategies and best practices to improve post-hospitalisation medication use for patients.  
• Service delivery: Understanding the transition from hospital into the community, and use of recommended medications. 
• Community benefits: Using linked data to provide better evidence to support policies and services aimed at improving outcomes for people living with certain conditions, and their carers.

Achievements

The NHDH is now an integral data resource in the Australian health data landscape and contributes widely to an array of government programs. It unlocks valuable insights for researchers, leading to advancements in medical research and innovation, as well as targeted public health interventions and resource allocations and enhanced understanding of health trends. 

Engagement

(Led by) Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), (Partnered by) national and state and territory government health agencies

Department leading the project

NSW Health