PLIDA Enhancement Projects

The ABS is a partner in the Social Science Research Infrastructure Network (SSRIN) project, an Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC) initiative led by The University of Queensland. SSRIN aims to strengthen Australia’s social science research capability by:

• Enhancing the discovery, accessibility and use of large-scale administrative data assets
• Establishing the foundations for new integrated data resources with expanded research potential
• Developing critical research capabilities across the social science community
• Supporting the ethical and culturally appropriate use of Indigenous administrative data
• Fostering strong stakeholder networks to drive ongoing innovation in research infrastructure.

SSRIN is a national collaborative initiative established to address social science infrastructure priorities identified in the Decadal Plan for the Social Sciences in Australia developed by the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia (2024).

As part of this partnership, the ABS is contributing to the enhancement of metadata quality and accessibility for users of PLIDA, helping researchers more effectively discover, understand and use available data resources.

The key deliverables include:

• Improvements to the PLIDA Data Item List
• Guidelines for expanding the improvement process to other data items in PLIDA
• Enhancements to user experience and accessibility of explanatory notes
• Piloting an enhanced version of the explanatory notes for two PLIDA Modular Products 

This project is supported by the Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC) through the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) as part of the Social Science Research Infrastructure Network (SSRIN).

The ABS is working in partnership with the ARDC to improve how researchers discover, access and use integrated health data within PLIDA.

The project is intended to deliver:

• improved pathways and support for health data researchers accessing PLIDA via ABS DataLab
• continuous improvement of datasets through expanding the opportunities for researcher feedback
• a demonstration of the feasibility of mapping a national health dataset to the Observational Medical Outcomes Partnership (OMOP) common data model
• pilot and compare potential solutions for reducing the time and cost of generating insights from Australian health data.

The project commenced in early 2026 and is expected to conclude in mid-2028. Further information is available on the ARDC website.

The Enhancing PLIDA for Health Data Researchers is a co-investment partnership with the Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC) through the People Research Data Commons (DOI: 10.3565/xs20-t732). The ARDC is enabled by the Australian Government’s National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS).