TYPE OF SUPPORT
Research Background
The HeSANDA program, part of the ARDC People Research Data Commons, is building national-scale infrastructure to support health research and translation. It enables the sharing and reuse of valuable data from clinical trials, cohort studies, and other health research, helping guide clinical practice, inform new studies, and train future researchers.
The initial Clinical Trials Project (2020–2023) established nine national Nodes, including Queensland’s, which developed coherent data practices, coordinated services, and federation tools. Key outputs included the launch of Health Data Australia and the Queensland Node’s Dataverse metadata repository.
The Queensland Node of HeSANDA, of which QCIF is a key partner, is dedicated to implementing FAIR data principles through robust systems, processes, and partnerships. This embedded model supports both research and service provision, enabling sustained collaboration and a deep understanding of the community’s evolving needs.
From 2024 to 2026, the Queensland Node is enhancing infrastructure, increasing uptake among partners, and aligning efforts nationally. Looking ahead, the HeSANDA program will expand to include Health Cohort studies from July 2025, further extending its reach and impact.
This incremental, collaborative approach is helping overcome challenges in data sharing, such as privacy and jurisdictional silos, while unlocking the full potential of health research data for innovation and improved patient outcomes.
QCIF Role
QCIF supports health and medical research data management across the full research lifecycle, offering:
Expertise in data governance, privacy, metadata, and sensitive data handling
Engagement and training for researchers and institutions
Development and deployment of Dataverse software for metadata management
Support for digital curation and repository interoperability
Research Outcome & Impact
The main outcome for the Program is the HeSANDA QLD Node metadata repository that QCIF operates, currently for Clinical Trials and now extending to Cohorts studies.
The key outcome from the HeSANDA Clinical Trials project is Health Data Australia a catalogue for health and medical researchers to register a description of their research so it’s easy to discover.
The federated structure of partners across Australia’s 9 HeSANDA nodes links researchers and facilitates data sharing and access through Health Data Australia.
This project provides the tools to share clinical research data in a safe and secure way, increasing the value of the data through re-use. This supports the expectations of the community and consumers regarding the use of the data they have provided for the use and provision of improved research and clinical outcomes.
Kathy Dallest, Senior Health Informatician, QCIF
Collaborating Organisations
Hugo Leroux, CSIRO, Sara Gottliebsen (formerly Health Translation Queensland); UQ, QUT, Griffith University, James Cook University, Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC)
