The Centre for Victorian Data Linkage

The Centre for Victorian Data Linkage (CVDL) is a specialist data linkage unit established in 2009 with funding from the national Population Health Research Network (PHRN) and the Victorian Government.

The CVDL is based in the Victorian Agency of Health Information (VAHI) in the Department of Health.

The CVDL is an accredited Commonwealth Integrating Authority, which means that integration of high risks projects involving the Commonwealth data for statistical and research purposes is undertaken safely and securely.

The CVDL creates and maintains linkages via its Victorian Linkage Map (VLM) and the Integrated Data Resource (IDR), a de-identified linked data asset of health, human services and other administrative and clinical datasets.

The CVDL aims to:

provide trusted population-wide linkable data to researchers and policy makers to support evidence-based insights to improve planning and service delivery, while adhering to Victorian privacy principles
develop new data linkage capacity in Victoria and extend the capability for building a nationwide data linkage infrastructure
facilitate and create opportunities for Victorian researchers to undertake innovative, world-class research using linkable data drawn from existing datasets.

The CVDL operating model is governed by several Acts and Regulations such as the Victorian Health Records Acts 2001, the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014, Health Privacy Principles (HPP) and the Information Privacy Principles (IPP) from respective Acts.

The CVDL will provide more information on the associated costs shortly. In the meantime, to find out more about how the CVDL can assist you please email us at cvdl@health.vic.gov.au.

The teams

The Client Services role is to initially assess the linkage technical feasibility of your research project, and assist with the administration and coordination of your project from the application stage through to the delivery of the linked data.
The Linkage team has access to identifiable data only. The team facilitates linking of your study cohort (if relevant) to the Victorian Linkage Map (LM), assigns a linkage key to each record, removes identifying information before passing the de-identified file to the Content team.
The Content team has access to the content/clinical data only. The Content team provides guidance, and advise on the content variables available in the Integrated Data Resource (IDR). The Content team prepares, and finalises the Technical specifications before extracting the content variables as per project requirements.
To find out more about how the Centre for Victorian Data Linkages can assist you with your data linkage project email us at cvdl@health.vic.gov.au.

Data custodians

VDL puts custodians at the centre of our activities, as we know that without custodians agreeing to link their data, there can be no data linkage.

For researchers

Victorian Data Linkages (VDL) provides a mechanism for administrative, research and other datasets to be used for projects that are of benefit to the public.

Cross jurisdiction project

The Population Health Research Network (PHRN) has developed an online application system to improve the efficiency of the application process for cross-jurisdictional projects

Population Linkage Spine Trial

The Centre for Victorian Data Linkage (CVDL) is an expert data linkage and integration unit, located within the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).

Data linkage requirements

Victorian Data Linkages (VDL) provides data linkage facilities and services to researchers while adhering to the relevant Health Services and Records Acts in Victoria.