Public Health Act application and the Data Services Branch

An application for data release under the Public Health Act 2005 (PHA) must be approved by each data custodian relevant to your project and the Director General (or Delegate) of Queensland Health. The Data Services Branch (DSB) is one of many Data Custodians in Queensland Health and your application may need to be signed by more than one Data Custodian to gain approval.

The PHA Application Form and a list of data custodians are available from the Health Service Evaluation, Research and Translation Branch (HSERT). If you have questions regarding ethics and/or research governance issues please contact HSERT directly for advice.

What is the approval process (if requesting DSB data)?

1. Email the draft PHA form in Word format to DLQ@health.qld.gov.au. See the DSB PHA Companion document when completing your PHA.
2. Staff in DSB will review your PHA and contact you if your PHA requires clarification.
3. The PHA will be reviewed by the Data Custodian in DSB and comments from the custodian or requests for more information will be forwarded back to you.
4. Once your PHA is signed by the DSB Data Custodian, a copy of the signed PHA will be emailed to you.
5. If you require data from multiple data sets that have different Data Custodians, you will need to get the PHA signed by all the relevant Data Custodians.
6. You will need to email a copy of the signed PHA (with all relevant data custodian signatures) and your current ethics approval (approval letter from HREC) to HSERT at PHA@health.qld.gov.au.
7. HSERT will submit your application to the Director General/Delegate for approval and, if approved, organise a letter approving the release of data for your project.
8. Email a copy of that letter and your ethics approval to DLQ@health.qld.gov.au. If you have not already done so, DSB will ask you to sign a DSB Conditions of Disclosure form for each member of the research team. DSB can then release the data to you. (Note: DSB can only provide or link data as it is described in the PHA. Once the PHA is approved, if you require any changes to the data items or time frame you have requested, you need to submit an updated PHA/amendment and have the updated PHA approved.)

The video Applying for linked health data for research purposes from the Data Services Branch, Queensland Department of Health: A data custodian perspective or the related slides may provide further information about requesting data from DSB.

The following documents are required before data can be released from the Data Services Branch via a PHA application

• A completed PHA application
• A current ethics approval
• A letter of approval issued by the Health Service Evaluation, Research and Translation Branch (HSERT)
• A signed DSB Conditions of Disclosure form for each member of your research team

DSB PHA Companion Document

The PHA companion document has been created to assist researchers when completing their Public Health Act (PHA) application involving DSB data and/or DSB data linkage services.