Data Sharing and Governance Act 2019

The Act provides a generalised legal basis for data sharing between public bodies for specific, legitimate purposes, including:

• making public services more seamless by reducing the burden of providing the same information to different public bodies;
• facilitating the effective administration, supervision and control of public services;
• establishing entitlements to public services
• identifying and correcting erroneous information; and

The Act also requires that sharing be carried out under a formal written data-sharing agreement that sets out in detail what data will be shared with whom, and for what purpose. Data-sharing agreements will be published in advance of any sharing taking place, and the public will be able to comment on the proposals

In addition, the Act includes a provision to ensure better data governance across the public service through:

the establishment of a Data Governance Board to advise the Minister on data management policy in the public service;

The Act also seeks to significantly enhance transparency by providing a legal basis for the creation of a personal data access portal that will provide a single point of access for people to see what data is held about them by public bodies, how that data is used and who is using it.