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A variation to a data sharing agreement may occur when changes to the terms or requirements of the agreement are required and must be signed by all parties. For example, a variation can extend the duration of the data sharing agreement, change the individuals allowed to access the shared data or change the shared data itself.
A variation must be consistent with the original agreement. If the variation changes the scope, purpose or structure of the original agreement in a material manner, it may be appropriate to start a new data sharing agreement.
The circumstances in which a data sharing agreement can be varied is usually discussed by parties when finalising the original agreement. The functionality to record a variation in Dataplace will only be visible when a data sharing agreement has been finalised.
To access a data sharing agreement and associated variations, select the Manage data requests page or select from the Services drop-down menu after you sign in to Dataplace.
To vary a data sharing agreement, it must have a status of Agreed – In Effect for general data sharing agreements or Pending Registration or Registered – In Effect for DATA Scheme data sharing agreements.
If a variation already exists for an agreement, a tag will be visible on the Manage data requests page.
Select the request ID and then the Variations tab on the right-hand control panel. Variations will be displayed in this tab.
To start a variation, your organisation must be the lead custodian on the original data sharing agreement. Select the Variations tab in the request form. A Start a variation button will be visible if there is no active variation activity.
If your organisation is not the lead custodian, you will see a message to contact the lead custodian to start the variation.
Select the Start a variation button and confirm in the pop-up window that you would like to start a variation.
A new variation is created by the system and is associated with the original data sharing agreement. The variation will initially have a status of Draft and will only be visible to the lead custodian until the variation is progressed. A notification that a new variation has been created will be sent to all parties.
While a variation form is available to make the required amendments, a signed variation will need to be uploaded to Dataplace during the Collaboration in Progress stage.
If the original agreement is under the DATA Scheme and there is a change to any of the foreign individuals accessing the data, it is essential that the named individuals section of the variation form include these changes. This will enable updated information about the foreign individuals in the data sharing project to be sent to the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) under the National Security Measures Code 2022 when the variation is completed.
Once the draft variation is completed, select the Complete button at the bottom of the screen and choose to progress the variation to either the Collaboration in Progress or the For Review stage.
The Collaboration in Progress stage is intended to enable all parties of the data sharing agreement to make edits to the variation before it progresses to For Review. During the Collaboration in Progress stage, parties can upload a signed variation to Dataplace.
Since the contact officers and approving officers added to the original data sharing agreement are not transferred to the variation, it is advised that each party assigns these roles to the variation as soon as possible to ensure they receive relevant email notifications about the variation. Contributors can also be added, with the individual who starts the variation automatically added as a Contributor.
Any individual who is added to a variation who did not have a role or permission to view the original data sharing agreement will be automatically provided with visibility of the original agreement.
The For Review stage allows all parties to assess the variation before it is approved by the approving officer. The variation form is locked and cannot be edited during the For Review stage.
If contributors, contact officers and approving officers have not been assigned, ensure they are added at this stage because the roles cannot be edited in the For Approval stage.
Parties can select Proceed if they are ready to approve the variation. Otherwise, they can select Amend if the variation requires an amendment. The lead custodian will be notified so they can return the variation to Collaboration in Progress.
The variation will automatically progress to For Approval when the last party selects Proceed. Alternatively, the lead custodian may select For Approval from the 'Actions' menu (⋮) on behalf of all parties to progress to the For Approval stage.
Each party’s assigned approving officers should select the Approve button in the right-hand control panel.
Alternatively, the approving officer for the lead custodian can select Approve from the ‘Actions’ menu (⋮) to finalise the variation on behalf of all parties.
After the variation is approved, the status will change to Agreed – In Effect for general data sharing agreements or Pending Registration for DATA Scheme agreements.
Variations under the DATA Scheme will be registered by the National Data Commissioner. If applicable, information relating to foreign individuals and a copy of the variation will be provided to ASIO. The original agreement remains in effect until the variation is registered and 14 days following notification to ASIO has passed.
If a lead custodian decides that a variation in the Draft stage is no longer necessary, they can delete it by selecting Delete in the ‘Actions’ menu (⋮). Once deleted, the draft variation will no longer be visible to any of the parties in the data sharing agreement.
Parties to the data sharing agreement may also decide during the Collaboration in Progress, For Review or For Approval stages that a variation to the data sharing agreement is no longer needed. The lead custodian can select Withdraw in the ‘Actions’ menu (⋮) at any time. Once withdrawn, no further edits can be made to the variation and it will be visible in the Variations tab of the original data sharing agreement as Withdrawn.
A pop-up box will be displayed for you to provide a reason for withdrawal of the variation before selecting OK.