Request linked unit record data for research

Unit record data

Unit record data refers to information relating to an individual person, such as name, sex, date of birth, date of cancer diagnosis, date of screening and cancer type. 

Unit record data are available as either identified or de-identified (potentially re-identifiable) or non-identifiable.(Show more)

Linked unit record data

Linked unit record data refers to individual person-level data that has been brought together from multiple datasets. It allows evaluation of chronological sequences of health events for individuals. For example, in order to monitor a screening program, data from BreastScreen NSW may be linked to the NSW Cancer Registry to determine which women who attended BreastScreen NSW were diagnosed with breast cancer. To combine the data from multiple datasets, record linkage needs to occur. In NSW, the Centre for Health Record Linkage conducts record linkage for population-based datasets.

Data request process – linkage study

If you are linking NSW and/or ACT datasets, please contact the Centre for Health Record Linkage (CHeReL) for information about what documentation is required. All documentation should be submitted to the CHeReL who will coordinate individual data custodian approvals.

If you require linkage of national datasets, including the Australian Cancer Database, please contact the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) for information about what documentation is required.