Jurisdictions, organisations and research groups collect data, which are analysed, and used in indicators to provide information and statistics about the state of health and welfare in Australia.

Data sources are listed for indicators. They specify where the data for a particular indicator has come from. An indicator may have several data sources. Linking a data source with an indicator provides more robust information, which is especially important for reports and research.

The Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) is one example of a data source. The indicator Australian Health Performance Framework: PI 2.1.1–Immunisation rates for vaccines in the national schedule, 2020 relies on the AIR for its source of data.

If you are developing metadata, you do not have to specify a data source in an indicator, but it is recommended. Data sources in METEOR can only be created by a registrar.