Symposium Introduction

'More than the sum of its parts'

Second National Symposium on Data Linkage Research

Co-sponsored by NCRIS Public Health Research Network (PHRN) and
SA NT Data Linkage Consortium

Hosted by the Public Health Information Development Unit (PHIDU), University of Adelaide

20-21 October 2008
National Wine Centre of Australia
Corner of Hackney and Botanic Roads, Adelaide, South Australia

Inspired by the benefits for policy, planning and services from Western Australian and Canadian data linkage research, and the recent investment in national data linkage infrastructure (NCRIS), the Symposium will discuss a range of issues and themes that will influence Australia’s data linkage capability over the next two decades and how these might shape future development of data linkage research.

This Symposium brings together a range of international and national experts from academia, human services’ agencies and government, to analyse the following and other key questions - What will data linkage research in Australia offer policy-makers, planners and service providers in the twenty-first century? What is the current state-of-play of data linkage nationally? Where should we be heading in the future? What ethical and privacy issues are critical to its good governance?

Aims of the Symposium

To share information about the beneficial outcomes of data linkage – the practicalities and possibilities;
To highlight the research capabilities that data linkage (of both administrative and operational/clinical databases) offers in Australia and overseas;
To encourage discussion and debate about current and future data linkage activities in Australia;
To discuss the role of NCRIS PHRN to develop, coordinate and monitor research projects utilising linked data;
To discuss ‘best practice’ approaches and technologies in data linkage that foster the use of linked data for research but incorporate measures to ensure the optimal protection of individual privacy and restrict non-authorised use of linked data sets.

Keynote Speakers

Professor Noralou Roos, Director, Manitoba Centre for Health Policy and Evaluation, Canada (presentation one, presentation two)

Professor Louisa Jorm, Foundation Professor of Population Health, University of Western Sydney and Research Director, Sax Institute (presentation, closing comments)

Dr Merran Smith, Director, Information Partnerships, WA Health (presentation)
Ms Nicole Pratt, University of Adelaide (presentation)

Ms Liz Furler, Executive Director, Policy, Planning and Performance, SA Department for Education and Children's Services (presentation)

Ms Andrea Grosvenor, Manager, NCRIS, Research Infrastructure Branch, Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research (presentation)

Ms Carolyn Adams, Senior Legal Officer, Australian Law Reform Commission (presentation)

A final program outline may be downloaded here.

Presentations

Linkage of Indigenous data

SC Howell [Qld Health] Indigenous identification in administrative data collections & implications for reporting health status

S McKeown [ABS] Indigenous mortality quality study

M Gourley [AIHW] An enhanced mortality database for monitoring Indigenous life expectancy

Linkage for service development and improvement

T Churches [NSW Health] Issues in estimating incidence from linked hospital admissions data

G Bodilsen [AIHM] Strategies for linking records from the National Hospital Morbidity Database

P Anderson [AIHW] Using record linkage to examine movement from hospital to residential aged care

P Allbon [AIHW] Use of data linkage to develop new measures of access to elective surgery in Australia

Improving population outcomes: health data linkage

D Roder [National Breast and Ovarian Cancer Centre] Using cancer registries and linkage to improve outcomes from breast and ovarian cancer

D Goldsbury [Cancer Council NSW] Validity of linked routinely collected data for describing and monitoring cancer care

MW Short [AIHW] Data linkage to the National Death Index and National Cancer Database

E Stavrou [Cancer Institute NSW] Surgery outcomes for pancreatic cancer

Tools & data linkage methods

L Roos [Manitoba Centre for Health Policy] The nuts and bolts of making a complex data repository work

S Lujic [UWS] Completeness and quality of recording country of birth in NSW administrative datasets

Criminal and juvenile justice data linkage/ Tools

A Ferrante [UWA] Data linkage research in the criminal justice sector

D Indig [UNSW] Linking data for integrated systems analysis: pathways for people with disabilities in the criminal justice system

M Bohensky [Monash U] Development of a critical appraisal tool for studies using data linkage

Improving population outcomes: linkage of children and young people’s data

J Gaudie [TICHR] Potential predictors of teenage pregnancy and teenage motherhood: a 15 year follow-up study

K Lim [NSW Health] Population attributable risks for low birthweight in NSW

E Comino [UNSW] Infant and maternal birth outcomes: a case study in data linkage collected from the Gudaga study

D Black [UNSW] Birth registration rates in NSW

Improving population outcomes: health and mortality

K Einarsdóttir [UWA] Mortality and disease progression in WA seniors with obstructive airways disease

B Yang [NSW Health] Incidence, co-morbidity and mortality of alcoholic liver cirrhosis in NSW adults from 2000-2006

Y Zhang [UniSA] Co-morbidity and utilisation of health care for veterans with diabetes

F Mitrou [TICHR] Using data linkage to investigate predictors of self-harm in WA teenagers and young adults

Q Mai [UWA] Primary health care services for people with mental illness – a lost opportunity

Tools & data linkage methods

L Roos [Manitoba Centre for Health Policy] From health research to social research: privacy, methods, approaches

S Zapart [UNSW] Maternal, infant and family services in Sydney South West

T Guiver [ABS] Sampling based clerical review methods in probabilistic data linking

G Bishop [ABS] Determining the quality of longitudinally linked Census data

P Anderson [AIHW] Using record linkage to identify pathways in aged care