Research requests in the Data Services Branch
To access identifiable or potentially identifiable data from Data Services Branch (DSB) for research purposes, your application must be approved either under the Public Health Act 2005 (PHA) or with the authority of individual patients (informed consent). Ethics approval will also be required before you receive final approval to access the data.
Ethics
Approval from a Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) is required to access identifiable data for research purposes.
The Health Service Evaluation, Research and Translation Branch (HSERT) is the contact for researchers seeking advice and direction on ethical and governance issues associated with the conduct of research using Queensland Health data.
PHA application
To apply under the Public Health Act 2005 (PHA) to access data from the DSB for research purposes, you must complete a PHA application form, have it signed by all relevant data custodians and seek final approval from the Director General (or Delegate) of Queensland Health (via GETU).
The Director-General's delegate for Chapter 6 Part 4 of the Public Health Act 2005 will assess the application and supporting documentation and if appropriate issue an approval notice. DSB will commence extraction and linkage of the requested data after you supply a copy of your final approval notice to DLQ@health.qld.gov.au.
For more information see the Data Services Branch PHA tips.
Consent
For a consent-based data request to be approved, you must be able to demonstrate that the study cohort has given informed consent for release and linkage of the data being requested.
You will be required to provide documentation that you have effectively communicated the scope of the data being requested (e.g. in the consent form or an information sheet), that your cohort has given consent (by supplying DSB with a sample of signed consent forms), and that other data custodians have given approval for data linkage (if applicable).
The specifics of your data request should be detailed in an DSB consent form template (doc, 124KB) for consideration by the DSB Data Custodian.
How long will this take?
Timeframes depend on the size and complexity of your request and of any other data requests currently being processed. You should allow at least six months in your project plan to organise approvals and receive the data. Once all approvals are complete, DSB can provide a more accurate time frame for data provision.
For more information see How long will this research request take?
What about data linkage?
If your research requires data from multiple data collections it may be possible to link the data. Data linkage is a process that is used to combine information that relates to an individual entity from within or across multiple sources. Further information about the data linkage process is available on the DSB Data Linkage in Queensland page. If you require the Data Services Branch to link several data sets for your project, please liaise with the Data Services Branch before seeking approval from other data custodians.
If you have any questions about this process or what is available in the DSB data collections, please contact DSB by email at DLQ@health.qld.gov.au.