The Challenge
The Coordinated Access for Data, Researchers and Environments (CADRE) project established a shared and distributed sensitive data access management platform for the social sciences and related disciplines.
The Response
The CADRE project established a shared and distributed sensitive data access management platform for the social sciences and related disciplines. The platform was developed by implementing the Five Safes Framework in Australian research institutions and collaborating with government and private sector agencies.
This framework is being adapted for use by the Australian Government’s Office of the National Data Commissioner, which is developing new legislative and data governance frameworks designed to reduce barriers to access to data held by governments while maintaining public trust that sensitive data is only released and used appropriately.
A central and critical element of this will be the Five Safes Framework, which will provide a basis for the release of government data.
The project involved the following elements:
- Shared Conceptual Framework – A shared conceptual framework for efficiently and reliably connecting the elements of the 5 Safes – People, Projects, Data, Settings and Outputs, with agreed identifiers and template accreditation protocols for each element.
- Information Exchange Protocols – Protocols for exchanging identifier and accreditation information between data users, providers and trusted access facilities
- Access Management Platform – An integrated access management platform for data access requests.
- Pilot Platform Integrations – Pilot integrations of the CADRE platform in four secure access settings: the ERICA secure access environment; the SWAN system; the Data CO-OPS environment and the Australian Urban Research Infrastructure Network (AURIN).
- Training and Development – A training and development program for CADRE users to raise awareness of and capacity to use the CADRE platform for future research.
Target Outcomes
Visit CADRE.
The CADRE platform enables data owners and users to address the core concerns around governance, creation, management and sharing of sensitive data for research. As a result, Australia’s research sector will have improved access to the data needed to develop solutions to a wide range of public problems.
To learn more about CADRE, watch:
- An overview of the platform and view the slides
- How to request access to data
- How to set up resources
The CADRE Five Safes Framework was published in 2021, covering the conceptual underpinnings and the guardrails for sensitive data access management and the range of information associated with the Five Safes principles that can be operationalised in a decision-support system.
More outputs of CADRE:
- McLeod, Julie; O’Connor, Katherine; Davis, Nicole (2024). Archiving & sharing qualitative data: Implications for data management platforms. La Trobe. Report. https://doi.org/10.60836/pqbc-jw49
This report explores the implications of the CADRE platform for qualitative data, an area that receives far less attention in data sharing research, frameworks and infrastructure development but also offers significant potential for reuse and methodological experimentation.
Who Will Benefit
The humanities, arts and social sciences (HASS) research community, research organisations, infrastructure providers and governments will benefit from the project’s core features:
- shared understanding – An agreed method for implementing the Five Safes Framework, so that the requirements for accessing Australia’s sensitive data are clear.
- research transformation – An infrastructure that will allow researchers to request the data that they need to answer important questions so that Australia can truly realise the benefits of increased access to government data.
The Partners
Our partners are:
- Australian Data Archive
- ARDC
- Australian Access Federation (AAF)
- AURIN
- AARNet
- Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW)
- Australian Institute of Family Studies
- Swinburne University of Technology
- Australian National University
- The University of Queensland
- UNSW
- The University of Melbourne
- Research Graph Foundation.
Key Resources
- Visit the CADRE website
- Watch introductory videos to CADRE
- Watch a video on Five Safes
- Watch a video on what sensitive data is
- View the online learning modules.
Watch an introduction to CADRE