Dataplace

The Collaboration in Progress stage enables data custodians and data requestors to agree on terms and conditions for sharing data. This ensures the right controls and protections are in place for the data sharing agreement.

Once the data custodian completes an assessment of the data sharing request and determines the request may be viable, the status will change from Under Assessment to Collaboration in Progress. An email will be sent to the data requestor's contact officer and designated mailbox to notify them of this change.

Parties can access the request form and respond to additional questions based on the selected pathway during the Collaboration in Progress stage.

It is advisable for each party to assign an approving officer at the Collaboration in Progress stage to prepare to progress the data sharing agreement during the For Review and For Approval stages.

Accessing data sharing requests and agreements

Access to data sharing requests and agreements depends on the user's role in Dataplace and their involvement in a specific request or agreement.

Dataplace user roles	Can view own data sharing requests/ agreements	Can edit own data sharing requests at different stages	Can view data sharing requests/ agreements others are working on	Can edit data sharing requests others are working on
General user	Yes	Yes	No*	No*
Data coordinator	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Organisation administrator	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Approving officer	Yes	Yes	No**	No**

* if user is not added as a contributor

** if user is not added as a contributor or approving officer

Completing the Collaboration in progress stage

Dataplace supports multiple agreement types for developing and entering into data sharing agreements:

DATA Scheme DSA
Standard DSA
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
Other

Templates will be populated based on the chosen agreement type. The data custodian is responsible for confirming the pathway for the data sharing request under the Agreement tab. All pathways apply the data sharing principles (the Five Safes) to effectively manage data sharing. The agreement type can be changed at any time during the Collaboration in Progress stage depending on what is decided between the parties.

The 'Other' option is useful for alternative authorisations are leveraged such as a Public Interest Certificate, Public Information Disclosure or Letter of Exchange.

Selecting DATA Scheme data sharing agreement will open questions that are specific to the DATA Scheme, enabling parties to use Dataplace to develop an agreement that meet the requirements of the Data Availability and Transparency Act 2022 (DAT Act).

Agreement collaboration

The control panel (right-hand side) is used to manage the agreement development.

Dataplace generated template

Data custodians will be able to generate the data sharing agreement based on the chosen template. This allows all parties to electronically update. A draft of the data sharing agreement can be downloaded by selecting the ‘Actions’ icon (⋮) and selecting Download.
All parties must add an approving officer to the request at the Collaboration in Progress stage.

For DATA Scheme agreements, there is a head agreement with static clauses that comply with the Data Availability and Transparency Act 2022 (DAT Act) and a schedule which dynamically changes based on answers provided in the request form.

Custodian's own agreement upload

Parties may develop or adapt an agreement and have the agreement signed by all parties outside of Dataplace. The lead custodian must upload the signed data sharing agreement under the Documents tab prior to proceeding to the For Review stage.
To upload a signed agreement in Dataplace, navigate to the Documents tab and either click to select or drag and drop the file. After a few minutes, parties can view and download the document.

Completing the review stage

The For Review stage allows all parties to assess the data sharing agreement before approval, focusing on legal implications, security settings, and feasibility. The request form is locked and cannot be edited during this stage.

The lead custodian can advance the request by selecting the ‘Actions’ menu (⋮) and selecting For Review.
All parties will be notified of the status change in the data sharing request.
Once parties have reviewed, they can select Proceed. This will advise all parties that they are ready to progress to approve the agreement.

Parties may use the print function to print the agreement for review by parties outside of Dataplace.

Completing the approval stage

Once all parties have reviewed, each party’s designated approving officer may then select the Approve button in the control panel.
Alternatively, the lead custodian may choose to progress to Approved on behalf of all parties. For example, when a signed agreement has been uploaded and no additional approvals are required.

After the data sharing agreement is approved, the status will change to either Agreed – In Effect for general data sharing agreements or Pending Registration for DATA Scheme agreements.

For DATA Scheme agreements:
- The approving officer must also be an authorised individual under the Data Availability and Transparency Act 2022 (DAT Act).
- Pending registration indicates that the data sharing agreement has been formally submitted to the National Data Commissioner. No further action is required from the parties at this stage. The Office of the National Data Commissioner will complete the registration and notify all parties when data sharing is permitted (including where foreign individuals are involved under the Data Availability and Transparency (National Security Measures) Code 2022). During the Collaboration in Progress, For Review and For Approval stages, the lead custodian may decide that it is not feasible to share data and refuse the data sharing request.

Refusing a request

During the Collaboration in Progress, For Review and For Approval stages, the lead custodian may decide that it is not feasible to share data and refuse the data sharing request.
To refuse the data sharing request, the approving officer selects Refuse from the ‘Actions’ menu (⋮).
This will open Refuse data sharing request window which asks you to provide reasons as to why the data sharing request is refused.

The reasons for refusal will help the data requestor understand what the issues are and ensure the lead custodian fulfill requirements under the Data Availability and Transparency Act 2022, if applicable. When you have completed the reasons for refusal, selecting Complete will change the status of the data sharing request to Refused.

If the data sharing request was made by an accredited user under the DATA Scheme, this will be a refusal under the Data Availability and Transparency Act 2022.