AIHW National Aged Care Data Clearinghouse
Data Quality Statement Attributes
Identifying and definitional attributes | |
Metadata item type: | Data Quality Statement |
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Synonymous names: | Data Clearinghouse |
METEOR identifier: | 586498 |
Registration status: | AIHW Data Quality Statements, Standard 10/09/2014 |
Data quality | |
Data quality statement summary: | Data included in the AIHW National Aged Care Data Clearinghouse (the Data Clearinghouse) are sourced from the Department of Social Services (DSS). As such, the AIHW has limited capacity to validate data quality. The Data Clearinghouse is located at AIHW for the purpose of providing aged care data to a range of stakeholders including policy makers, researchers, service providers and general consumers.
The majority of these data are derived from administrative data collections designed to support payment of subsidies to service providers, and include data on the numbers of clients, their age and Indigenous status. |
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Institutional environment: | As noted above these data are sourced from the Department of Social Services (DSS). A range of collection, collation and quality processes are implemented prior to these data being transferred to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW); as such, the AIHW has limited capacity to validate data quality. The AIHW is a major national agency set up by the Australian Government under the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Act 1987 to provide reliable, regular and relevant information and statistics on Australia's health and welfare. It is an independent statutory authority governed by a management Board and accountable to the Australian Parliament through the Health and Ageing portfolio. |
Timeliness: | Data within the DSS data warehouse are updated and refreshed at varying times. For example, HACC data are submitted to the HACC MDS National Data Repository (NDR) on a quarterly basis. However, claims are submitted by service providers on a monthly basis for services delivered under residential aged care and community packaged care. For consistency, AIHW receives a full refresh of all (historical and current) Data Clearinghouse source data in September each year. The Data Clearinghouse holds data on services and clients from the time of the introduction of the Aged Care Act 1997 (including historical data on clients receiving care at this time). |
Accessibility: | Researchers, agencies, advocacy bodies and members of the general public can request access to data from the Data Clearinghouse via the website: http://www.aihw.gov.au/national-aged-care-data-clearinghouse/.
Given that the study/project/research can meet these conditions, it can be best progressed by researchers discussing feasibility and likely costs with one of the contact officers in the AIHW. The AIHW Ethics Committee application forms are available to download from http://www.aihw.gov.au/ethics/. These forms contain questions relating to the objectives of the study/project/research, the security of the confidential information, the intended release of results and the public benefit that might be gained from conducting the study/project/research. The Ethics Committee will consider these factors in determining whether to grant approval to the project. The Committee meets four times a year. Once a study is given an Ethics Committee certificate the project can proceed. |
Interpretability: | Important information on interpretability is available in the accompanying data dictionaries and/or user guides. Note that the AIHW is currently reviewing all datasets in the Data Clearinghouse and developing a complete range of technical documentation to assist in interpretability of data. These will be made available through the Data Clearinghouse once finalised. In addition, AIHW’s review of the data will include a plan for progressing metadata through national standards development processes and preparing specifications in METeOR (the AIHW’s online metadata register for health, housing and community services data standards). |
Relevance: | The data provides coverage of aged care services subsidised by the Australian Government under the programs identified above. Data linkage is needed to estimate the number of individuals receiving aged care services across aged care programs. |
Accuracy: | Data are collected at the service provider level; some of these data are then reported to the Australian Government Department of Social Services. A subset of the data held by the Department is provided to the Data Clearinghouse. As such, AIHW cannot control the data collection or cleaning processes up to this point. However, AIHW conducts consistency checks on all received Data Clearinghouse data. All data requested from the Data Clearinghouse are assessed prior to public release to ensure data are as accurate as possible. Any potential interpretation issues are detailed within any release. There are a few key limitations that should be noted when interpreting these data.
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Coherence: | In general, data are comparable and consistent over time. The Data Clearinghouse holds data on services and clients from the time of the introduction of the Aged Care Act 1997 (including historical data on clients receiving care at this time). |
Data products | |
Implementation start date: | 18/08/2014 |
Source and reference attributes | |
Submitting organisation: | Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. |
Relational attributes | |
Related metadata references: | Has been superseded by AIHW National Aged Care Data Clearinghouse AIHW Data Quality Statements, Standard 18/01/2021 See also Aged Care Funding Instrument; Quality Statement AIHW Data Quality Statements, Standard 10/09/2014 |