Presentation from Dr Wee-Ming Boon, National Health and Medical Research Council, to the AHMEN meeting on 19th June 2017, in Sydney, Australia.

1. Australasian Health and Medical Journal Editors’ Network
Australian National Data Service Meeting
19 June 2017
Dr Wee-Ming Boon, Senior Research Scientist
Research Policy & Translation
NHMRC

2. Presentation overview
• National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) overview
• Open Data: Whole of Government approach
• Open Data: NHMRC requirements
• Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research

3. NHMRC Overview
• NHMRC is a Commonwealth entity
• The NHMRC’s main responsibilities are:
o Fund high quality health and medical research and build research
capability
o Support the translation of health and medical research into better
health outcomes
o Promote the highest ethical standards in health and medical
research.

4. 2016-17 Federal Budget - $450.6 billion

5. 2016-17 Federal Budget – R&D $10.1 billion

6. NHMRC Funding
NHMRC expenditure on health and medical research is:
• ~$800 million per annum
• ~15% of all Australian health R&D
• ~10% of Commonwealth expenditure on all R&D

7. • 7 December 2015
• Grow the economy, transform
policy & improve service delivery
by:
o Optimising the use and reuse
of public data
o Collaborating with private and
research sectors
o Releasing non sensitive data
as open by default
• Public data: All data collected by
government entities.
Australian Govt. Public Data Policy Statement

8. Australian Government / Sector Initiatives
Department of Education and
Training working group
• Developing government strategy
for open access to publicly
funded publications and data.
• National Innovation and Science
Agenda to promote innovation
through publishing and sharing
public data.
• Boosting the Commercial
Returns from Research agenda
to open business and community
access to publicly funded
publications and data.

9. • National ICT Australia (NICTA) and
CSIRO’s digital research unit
merger: Data61 to connect
government datasets and release
them on open platforms.
• data.gov.au to find, access, and
reuse Government datasets.
• Australia’s First Open Government
National Action Plan 2016-18 draft.
• Productivity Commission Data
availability and use final report.
• F.A.I.R Statement
Australian Government / Sector Initiatives

10. Australian National Data
Service
• National Collaborative Research
Infrastructure Strategy funding.
• Research Data Australia
discovery portal that provides
access for research organisations,
government and cultural institutions.
Australian Data Archive
• Collection and preservation of
digital research data for
secondary analysis .
• Consistent with ARC data
management requirements.
Australian Government / Sector Initiatives

11. International research funders
• Data management or sharing plan:
National Science Foundation, National
Institutes of Health (USA), Research
Councils, Wellcome Trust (UK)
• Retaining research datasets:
Canadian Institutes of Health, Social
Sciences and Humanities Research
Council (Canada)
• Provide/specify which repository to
use: Economic and Social Research
Council, SRC, National Environment
Research Council , Medical Research
Council, Cancer Research, Wellcome
Trust (UK).

12. “NHMRC encourages data
sharing and providing access
to data and other research
outputs (metadata, analysis
code, study protocols, study
materials and other collected
data) arising from NHMRC
supported research.”
NHMRC: Statement on Data Sharing

13. NHMRC: Principles for accessing and using
publicly funded data for health research
• common set of priorities
• encourage communication
• understand each other’s roles
and responsibilities
• optimise data use to benefit all

14. Open Access Policies: Publications
• NHMRC: requires that any publication arising from NHMRC
supported research must be deposited into an open access
institutional repository and/or made available in another open
access format within a twelve (12) month period from the date of
publication.

15. Australian Code for the Responsible
Conduct of Research and Data
Management 2007

16. Responsibilities
Management of research data (section 2)
o Institutions: Ownership, data management & access
o Researchers: Data management, access and privacy/ethics
Dissemination of research (section 4)
o Institutions: publication, promotion and communication
o Researcher: dissemination and the level of coverage

17. Review of the Code
• Review is to ensure the Code remains practical and relevant in an
evolving research sector and landscape, both domestically and
internationally.
• A principles-based Code with accompanying Better Practice
Guides (BPG) is currently being considered. This approach:
• allows institutions flexibility in how to apply the principles and
responsibilities supporting them
• includes adopting an approach that is best suited to their size
and internal systems.
• designed to be effective across all disciplines.

18. Data management and the Code
• A new potentially principles-based Code will specify responsibilities for both
institutions and researchers in relation to the management of research data.
• A specific BPG on data management is currently under development in
consultation with the Australian National Data Service (ANDS).
• Input from appropriately experienced individuals within institutions will also be
sought.
• Guide institutions and individuals to manage their data for maximum benefit and
for long term use. maximise the potential value of data and materials for future
research.
• Public consultation on the BPG will occur later in the year.

19. wee-ming.boon@nhmrc.gov.au
03 8866 0449