Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Services Data Advisory Group

The Health Services Data Advisory Group (HS DAG) advises us on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health data. It also contributes to the development and continuous improvement of the Health Data Portal, which collects key data.

Role

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Services Data Advisory Group (HS DAG) was formed in 2017. It was previously called the OCHREStreams Advisory Group. Its role is to advise us on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health data, specifically the:

HS DAG also contributes to the development and continuous improvement of the Health Data Portal , which collects the nKPI and OSR data.

These data collections create a robust evidence base that supports Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander:

  • health policy
  • program development
  • service delivery improvements.

Terms of reference

The HS DAG terms of reference defines the group’s role and work remit.

Submissions

HS DAG welcomes contributions from all health services and stakeholders, including Clinical Information System (CIS) software vendors, through a submission process.

Send your submission to the HS DAG secretariat using the submission template. The co-chairs review all submissions for appropriateness, priority and conformity.

Members

Member

Background and experience

Ms Melinda Turner (Co-chair)

Assistant Secretary, Indigenous Health Division, Department of Health  

Dr Jason Agostino (Co-chair)

National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation

Dr Lorraine Anderson

National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation

Dr John Boffa

Central Australian Aboriginal Congress

Dr Christine Connors

Northern Territory Government

Dr Ana Herceg

Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health and Community Services

Dr Tim Senior

Royal Australian College of General Practitioners

Dr Fadwa Al-Yaman

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW)

Mr Timothy Saunders

National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA)

Dr Tomoko Sugiura

Director, Indigenous Health Division, Department of Health

The Chair can also extend participation to individuals with relevant expertise to present, discuss or provide advice on particular issues.

Meetings

The HS DAG meets at least twice each year until June 2022. We will then review the group’s role, function, objectives and membership.

Communiques

After each meeting, HS DAG releases a communique to keep Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander primary health care services informed of outcomes related to nKPI and OSR data collections. It includes the date of the next meeting in each communique.

Newsletter

We also produce a monthly Health Data Portal newsletter to keep stakeholders informed about changes.

Subscribe to the Health Data Portal newsletter

Related committees or groups

The HS DAG Clinical and Technical Working Group reports to this committee. The working group advises HS DAG on changes needed to ensure the nKPIs:

  • continue to be clinically relevant
  • align with better practice guidelines
  • can be used as a tool for continuous quality improvement.

The working group's terms of reference defines their role and work remit. It meets as required when a particular need arises and provides advice and recommendations to HS DAG within agreed timeframes.

Contact

Health Services Data Advisory Group (HS DAG) secretariat

Contact the secretariat if you have questions about the work of the Health Services Data Advisory Group (HS DAG).
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