Data governance in Australia
A decision-making approach
Ken Weldin, PKF Partner, outlines the key findings and significance of this study
(4 minutes, 33 seconds)
Insights
The Governance Institute of Australia, working in conjunction with PKF, is delighted to share this year’s key thought leadership project — Data governance in Australia. This report forms the fifth in the Governance Institute’s digital thought leadership series.
2 contributors
Melbourne
Insights
We asked the experts some poignant questions on data governance and the findings. What are the benefits of data governance? "The here and now on data governance is know your data and don’t keep it for longer than you should." - Sue Laver, Company Secretary, Telstra "Twenty per cent of...
Ken Weldin
Partner
Melbourne
Insights
Designing and implementing procedures to support the responsible and legally compliant dealing with data is one of the greatest challenges currently faced by boards of directors. The aim of this data governance study is to assist boards and senior management with implementing an effective data governance framework. The purpose of...
Liam Murphy
Managing Partner
Brisbane
Insights
In August 2023, the Governance Institute of Australia initiated an online survey on data governance. A total of 345 responses were received over a one-month period.Respondent profile The largest cohorts of respondents (Figure 2) were senior governance or risk management professionals (25%) or CEO or C-suite executives (21%). As such,...
2 Partner
Melbourne
Insights
An interesting feature of the survey results is its insight into boards and other organisation leaders' understanding of ‘data governance’. Significantly, there was strong consensus in this area, with 70 per cent agreeing that data governance formed part of ICT governance, with a further 68 per cent agreeing that it...
Scott Tobutt
Partner
Sydney, Newcastle
Insights
The dominant risk identified in relation to data governance is that of cyber security attack (57 per cent). Interestingly, the second most perceived risk relates to human involvement and a lack of staff skill and knowledge (44 per cent). This is reassuring as organisations appreciate that risks relate to both...
Kaitlynn Brady
Partner
Melbourne
Insights
Opinions differ as to the most effective means of data oversight and governance. However, a clear majority believe inclusion in existing audit and risk committee to be the most effective option. For any assistance with addressing the data governance needs of your organisation, do not hesitate to contact your local...
Jasmine Tan
Partner
Adelaide
Insights
This study into the data governance landscape delivered important key findings and conclusions. Governance structure — A clear majority of the surveyed organisational leaders are of the view that data governance forms part of wider ICT governance, relates to privacy and security, and should be part of information and records...
Simon Fermanis
Partner
Perth
Insights
Building on the analysis, we make the following recommendations for organisations in relation to data governance. Provide greater education and training to members of the organisation, including senior leadership, on: Identifying the various data assets of the organisationQuantifying the value of data assets held by the organisationIdentifying the level of...
Insights
What does a good data governance report look like? How do you make sure it’s on the board’s agenda? We outline key considerations in the following table. It is not designed to be an exhaustive checklist, rather, it aims to trigger conversations at a senior management and board level in...
Ken Weldin
Partner
Melbourne
Key learnings
60% say the board does not have an understanding of the organisation's current data governance challenges
>50% do not have a data governance framework
Siloed data holdings, understanding the value of data, and not having proper data governance frameworks were key issues in 2023
One third of organisations don't have data governance on the risk register
Just under one third regularly purge data
The stand out risk around data governance is cyber attack, followed by emergent technologies and AI
Opinions differ as to the most effective committee structure
Acknowledgements
PKF was proud to sponsor this important research project, and we acknowledge the contributions of all involved.
The report was prepared by the DataX Macquarie Research Centre, with contributions from:
Professor Niloufer Selvadurai, Macquarie Law School
Professor Hanlin Shang, Department of Actuarial Studies and Business Analytics
Professor Bamini Gopinath, Macquarie University Hearing
A/Professor Babak Abedin, Department of Actuarial Studies and Business Analytics
A/Professor Jessica McLean, Macquarie School of Social Sciences
A/Professor Michael Proctor, Department of Linguistics
A/Professor Anthony Chariton, School of Natural Sciences
Expert advisers, who provided insightful contextual analysis around the report’s findings, are:
Ken Weldin FGIA FCG, Partner, PKF
Karin Geraghty FGIA FCG, Non-Executive Director, Strategist, Digital Transformation Consultant
Stuart Harrison, General Manager Cyber Defence, nbn Australia
Sue Laver FGIA, Company Secretary, Telstra
Eve Lillas, Senior Associate, Gadens
Andrew Methven, Head of Risk and Compliance, Hearing Australia
Joanne Moss, Board Chair, Non Executive Director, and Gadens Partner
Megan Motto FGIA FCG, CEO Governance Institute of Australia
