Access Policy

Access to the information is granted to bona fide researchers in WA who meet the stringent requirements of ethics committee clearance. Strict protocols are followed to ensure confidentiality and security of linked data and as much as possible research is performed on de-identified data files. 

For details see: Data Access Policy 2007 (word format, 63kB).

All applicants must also read the Practice Code for the Use of Personal Health Information.

Health Data Collections

The Information Management and Reporting (IMR) Directorate manages and develops statewide centralised statistical data collections and registers for the WA Department of Health.

WA Health Related Data Collections- Core Linkages
  • Hospital Morbidity Data Collection (1970 onwards)
  • Mental Health Information System (1966 onwards)
  • Midwives Notification System (1980 onwards)
  • WA Cancer Registry (1982 onwards)
  • Emergency Department Data Collection (2002 onwards)
  • Death Registrations (1969 onwards)
  • Birth Registrations (1974 onwards)
  • Electoral Roll (1988 onwards)
Other Linked Data Collections

*Indicates restricted access

  • Ambulance records*
  • Birth Defects Registry
  • Breastscreen WA
  • Cerebral Palsy Register
  • Department of Corrective Services*
  • Department of Education and Training*
  • Department for Child Protection*
  • Disability Services Commission
  • Home and Community Care (HACC)
  • Insurance Commission of WA
  • Intellectual Disability Exploring Answers (IDEA) Database
  • Main Roads WA
  • Silver Chain Nursing Association
  • WA Notifiable and Infectious Disease Database (WANIDD)

For more information on the data collections that are linked please contact the Data Linkage Project Officer at alexandra.godfrey@health.wa.gov.au  

 

Data Collection Documentation

Hospital Morbidity Data Collection:

HMDC Reference Manual and other documents

HMDC Summary (pdf format, 242kB)

HMDC data variables (pdf, 22kB)

WA Death Registry:

Mortality Summary (pdf format, 101kB)

Emergency Department Data Collection:

EDDC Data dictionary

 

Geographical Information

Data sources that incorporate address information can be assigned latitude and longitude, collector's district (CD), statistical local area (SLA), local government area (LGA) and radius values using purpose-built address parsing software linking to land-based reference datasets.

The Hospital Morbidity Data Collection, Midwives Notifications System and the WA Death Registrations are routinely geocoded for all records post 1993 using the 1996, 2001 and 2006 census boundaries.

Collector's District (CD) and SEIFA and ARIA values

A collector's district usually covers 200 households.

CD is usually not supplied on data extracts however we do offer the service of assigning 1996 and 2001 census SEIFA and/or ARIA values to post 1993 Hospital Morbidity Data Collection, Midwives Notifications System and the WA Death Registrations records at CD and SLA level. In most cases SLA, LGA and radius are supplied on data extracts where needed.

If CD is required  for geographic or environmental analysis a written explanation must be included in the linked data application.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) provides more information on SEIFA:

1996 Socio-economic indexes for areas (SEIFA) information paper

2001 Socio-economic indexes for areas (SEIFA) information paper

2006 Socio-economic indexes for areas (SEIFA) information paper