What is an information sharing officer?
Information sharing officers are subject matter experts who build capability and support their entity to share information responsibly. They are the primary contact for advice on when and how information can be shared.
Under section 210 of the Privacy and Responsible Information Sharing Act 2024 (PRIS Act), the principal officer (in most cases, the CEO) of each public entity must designate an information sharing officer. The role must be assigned to the principal officer or another senior officer. A senior officer is a person in the agency who has managerial responsibilities. They may be supported by a team to build data sharing capability across the entity and meet PRIS Act requirements when sharing data.
The principal officer of the public entity must notify the Chief Data Officer of the information sharing officer’s name and contact details, and any changes to these details. Notification should be sent by email to data.sharing@dpc.wa.gov.au
What is expected of the role?
Information sharing officers understand the strategic value of their entity’s data to other entities and champion the benefits of responsible information sharing. They play an important role in building capability and leading staff at all levels to share and use data for community benefit. They communicate effectively with executives and diverse stakeholders to address barriers and drive cultural change.
Information sharing officers understand the objectives of the PRIS Act and other laws that provide for data collection, use and disclosure, to enable and encourage data sharing. They also understand their entity’s data and operating environment. This allows information sharing officers to provide clear advice on legislative pathways and technical options that manage risk, build confidence and streamline data sharing decisions.
Information sharing officers should have sufficient authority and skills to perform the role effectively. Assigning the role to permanent or long-term contract staff will ensure continuity to improve data sharing capability over time.
What does an information sharing officer do?
Key responsibilities
Promote implementation of the responsible information sharing framework.
Coordinate engagement with the Chief Data Officer for any notifications relating to information sharing agreements or information holdings requests.
Assist with:
- information sharing requests
- the management of the information sharing agreements
- conducting relevant assessments, including responsible sharing principles, Aboriginal information assessments and privacy impact assessments.
In practice, information sharing officers oversee responsible information sharing across their entity and support the end-to-end management of sharing arrangements. Their responsibilities are ongoing and operational.
They support staff to request data or respond to sharing requests and provide advice on how information can be shared under an entity’s own legislation or the PRIS Act. Where sharing occurs under the PRIS Act, they coordinate the required assessments to identify and manage risks with appropriate safeguards, and establish and maintain information sharing agreements. The statutory duties of information sharing officers are set out in section 210(2) of the PRIS Act.
As the central point of contact, information sharing officers work with relevant experts within the entity to make informed data sharing decisions and manage communication between parties to an agreement. This includes external stakeholders, such as medical researchers, Aboriginal community controlled organisations, community service providers, universities and other jurisdictions.
Information sharing officers coordinate with the Chief Data Officer to register agreements, respond to information holdings requests and seek guidance where needed. The Chief Data Officer builds their capability through the Responsible Information Sharing Community of Practice, workshops, events, Guidelines and advice.
Download a copy of the Guideline below.
Print this page
