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Government Open Data in Australia

The Transport for NSW Open Data Hub provides a range of transport-related open data to the public. There are a number of other places you can find reliable government open data from around Australia in the areas of transport, health, population, and more.

Perhaps the most well known source of data about Australia and it’s population, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), publishes a huge range of statistics, reports and census data. If it’s transport open data you’re looking for in particular, it’s worth checking out their Tourism and Transport section. Most ABS data is licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Another option for national data is Data.gov.au. With over 30,000 datasets, you’re bound to find something of interest. The site also features built-in mapping tools, so much of the data can be visualised from your browser. Datasets are generally licensed under CC BY 3.0

A Data61 initiative, NationalMap provides map-based access to spatial data from Australian government agencies. It also has a ‘data stories’ feature, allowing you to create and share data stories right there within the platform. Data licensing varies based on applied datasets. 

There are also a number of state-based open data providers across Australia, including: 

Australian Capital Territory (ACT)

  • DataACT: Access a whole range of data relating to ACT and its population, with categories ranging from Arts, Culture and Events to Justice, Safety and Emergency and our personal favourite, Transport

  • ACTImapi: From bushfires and floods to land custodianship and significant species maps, ACTmapi is the ACT government’s interactive spatial data portal. Data is updated daily, with most data available under CC BY 4.0 licensing. 

New South Wales (NSW)

  • Data.NSW: With over 10,000 datasets, Data.NSW is the state’s main portal for NSW government open data. Browse across several categories such as bushfire, transport, and planning. If it exists, there’s a great chance you’ll find it there. 

  • Transport for NSW Open Data Hub: That’s us! Dedicated to publishing transport-related data as open data, the TfNSW Open Data Hub currently has over 130 datasets and 750 resources available for use by anyone, for any purpose, under CC BY 4.0 licensing. 

  • Transport for NSW Data and Research: Transport for NSW publishes a number of datasets, statistics and visualisations on the Transport for NSW website such as traffic volume data, car registration statistics, crash statistics and patronage data. 

  • City of Sydney Data Hub: The City of Sydney Data Hub is a one stop shop for Sydney-related open data, in categories including Community, Public Domain, Regulatory, Cultural, Economic and Environmental. The website also has a map feature, allowing you to create your own map. Data is licensed under Creative Commons

  • NSW Spatial Data Catalogue (NSDC): This is the place to go for metadata regarding NSW local and state government spatial data. The NSDC allows you to search for data, find out where and how to access the data, as well as more info like how the data was created and how often it is updated. 

  • NSW Planning Portal: Here you can search and download datasets and other resources related to planning. Think planning policies, resource information, environmental data and more. You can also filter your search by data type (JSON, PDF, etc.) and tags to make life a little easier. 

  • NSW SEED: If you’re looking for NSW environmental data, the Central Resource for Sharing and Enabling Environmental Data in NSW (SEED) is what you need. You can search some 2600+ datasets by category or specific area using the map feature. Aside from some exceptions, data is licensed under CC BY 4.0

Northern Territory (NT)

  • NT Government Open Data Portal: This portal contains open data released by NT government agencies. Search over 700 datasets or request additional data. Data licensing varies by dataset. 

  • City of Darwin Open Data Hub: Explore and download open data related to the City of Darwin, and use tools to combine and analyse different datasets. There’s also a Charts and Statistics page, where you can see a number of stats at a glance, like the number of playground items, the length of all footpaths, and more. 

Queensland (QLD)

  • Queensland Government Open Data Portal: Discover, use and request Queensland Government open data with over 2,700 datasets and 11,200 resources. There is a dedicated Transport category.

  • Department of Transport and Main Roads: Find a number of Transport and Road statistics for QLD such as licensing, registration and road safety statistics. 

  • Brisbane City Council Open Data: This website contains a range of open data related to Brisbane across categories including Arts and Culture, Events, Environment, Public Transport and Spatial Data. The datasets are available in a variety of formats (.csv, .kml, .html etc.). Data is licensed under CC BY 3.0

  • Queensland Mining & Exploration Data: Access a range of open data related to mining and exploration in Queensland. You can also explore data using a geospatial tool on the website which allows you to add datasets to an interactive map. Data is licensed under CC BY 4.0

  • Queensland Spatial Catalogue: Use this catalogue to get access to a variety of spatial and other data. Select, display, and download data in selected formats, including map coverage data, image data and text file data. Data is licensed under CC BY 4.0.  

South Australia

  • DataSA: This is the data directory for the South Australian government. It contains over 1600 datasets, which you can search for by organisation, grouping, tag, format and license. 

  • LocationSA Map Viewer: This tool allows you to find, view and download a range of information about SA government activities as well as view roads, satellite and topographic map views of the state. You can also share data and maps with others. Data is licensed under CC BY 4.0

Tasmania (TAS)

  • Land Information System Tasmania (LIST): LIST is a data portal for Tasmanian location-based information. There’s also a map application that helps you to find and use information about land and property in Tasmania. 

Victoria (VIC)

  • Data.VIC: Your go-to for discovering and accessing open data from the Victorian state government. Search by keyword, organisation, category and format. Data is licensed under CC BY 4.0

  • City of Melbourne Data: Get Melbourne-related open data across several areas including transportation, sensor data, business, environment and people. You can also request data and view Census of Land Use and Employment (CLUE) data. 

  • Department of Transport Open Data Hub: A resource for transport-related data for building transport apps (among other things). It currently contains over 80 datasets. 

Western Australia (WA)

  • DataWA: The central repository for WA government data, DataWA contains over 2500 datasets from more than 60 organisations. They also provide several data toolkits, each aimed at a different group of data consumers like the general public, data professionals, and app developers.

  • Main Roads Open Data, Maps & Apps: Find WA Main Roads data and information in areas such as traffic, road safety, and heavy vehicles. There’s also a map gallery which can be refined by keyword and an app listing.