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Building trust and minimising risk through data governance
Not-for-profit
How a leading Australian health organisation strengthened its approach to data governance and unlocked new opportunities
Data is one of the most valuable assets an organisation holds, underpinning everything from crucial decision-making to delivering engaging experiences for customers. For highly regulated industries, such as healthcare and financial services, data goes beyond operations. It is deeply sensitive, subject to strict privacy requirements and central to maintaining public trust. Without strong governance, organisations risk compliance breaches, reputational damage and a loss of confidence from users and stakeholders.
While undertaking a substantial technology transformation and modernisation program, a leading Australian health organisation recognised that its approach to data governance also needed to evolve with its tech. Equal Experts partnered with the not-for-profit organisation to uncover existing risks, co-create a robust governance framework and plan a practical, realistic roadmap to strengthen governance capabilities over the next year.
Within just three months, the organisation had a comprehensive data governance framework and a 12-month plan to embed improvements, providing the secure, compliant and future-ready foundation to support its transformation journey.
Outcomes
3 months
to create a comprehensive data governance framework
23 recommendations
to mitigate risks and also unlock new data opportunities
12-month roadmap
to enhance capabilities and approach to data
About the client
Our client is a leading health organisation and charity within Australia. It provides a range of support and services to people with complex health needs across the country, as well as information and support for their families.
Industry
Health, not-for-profit
Organisation size
Thousands of service users
Location
Australia
Project length
3 months
Challenge
Managing sensitive data in a digital world
Across Australia, healthcare organisations are increasingly adopting digital services. From telehealth consultations to remote monitoring and online support platforms, these services have the power to deliver more personalised care and broaden access to health services. But to be effective, they rely on a consistent supply of accurate, secure and protected data.
As a national health organisation and charity, our client holds a substantial amount of highly sensitive data about its service users and their families, as well as fundraising efforts, financial reporting and volunteer information. With thousands of individuals relying on its services, the integrity of this data is not only a compliance requirement but also a matter of trust and safety.
With the organisation already underway with a long-term digital transformation to improve its offer to users, it recognised that gaps in its existing approach to data governance could pose risks in the future. Equal Experts was engaged to conduct a thorough review, benchmark against data best practices and develop a robust plan for data governance.
Critical gaps in the existing approach
Working closely with stakeholders across the organisation, we conducted a review of current practices, documentation and systems. The assessment was benchmarked against the DAMA-DMBOK (Data Management Body of Knowledge) framework, industry standards and compliance requirements. The review highlighted several areas of concern:
- Fragmented data storage: Sensitive participant data was dispersed across multiple systems with limited oversight.
- Informal governance roles: Responsibility for data stewardship and oversight was unclear, leading to inconsistent practices.
- Lack of data classification: There was no consistent process for data classification, protective markings, or lifecycle management.
- Limited quality assurance: Processes for monitoring, improving and maintaining data quality were not formalised.
- Compliance risks: Gaps in policy and practice increased the risk of data breaches, privacy violations and potential regulatory non-compliance.
Beyond compliance and material damage, the organisation risked inefficiencies, duplication of effort and an inability to fully utilise data as a strategic asset.
Solution
Co-creating a robust data governance framework
After uncovering the issues within the existing approach to data within the organisation, we worked with stakeholders to co-create a robust governance framework tailored to the client’s context and operating environment. The framework aimed to address immediate risks while setting the foundation for long-term sustainability. Aligned to DAMA-DMBOK standards, it provided a structured, practical approach to managing data assets securely, efficiently and in compliance with Australian regulations.
Key recommendations included:
- Governance and oversight: Establishing a Data Governance Council to oversee initiatives and defining data roles and responsibilities across the organisation.
- Data classification and labelling: Refining the data classification and protective markings policy and locating and labelling sensitive data throughout the organisation.
- Data security: Enhancing information security by refining security policies, including implementing access controls with defined roles and role groups and establishing a data storage and life cycle management policy.
- Quality and value creation: Implementing a data quality management framework outlining standards, processes and metrics as well as utilising a data catalogue to automate data discovery, profiling and defect management.
- Sustainability and people: Embedding data governance into day-to-day processes and uplifting data literacy in internal teams through training and guidance.
Balancing quick wins with long-term change in a roadmap
With these recommendations outlined, we then worked with our client to create a roadmap to implement these key steps across a 12-month timeline. The plan balanced quick wins and urgent fixes with long-term improvements to enable the organisation to tackle the steps logically and effectively.
Activities across the roadmap were grouped into four streams:
- Foundational governance: Establishing councils, roles, and baseline policies.
- Process uplift: Standardising classification, quality assurance, and lifecycle management.
- Technology and automation: Implementing tools such as a data catalogue to automate governance activities.
- People and culture: Training and support to ensure governance practices were embedded across the organisation.
By planning the various data governance initiatives logically, the roadmap provided the client with an approach that would address urgent risks quickly, build momentum early and create the internal capability to sustain governance improvements over time.
Results
Stronger governance, reduced risk and greater opportunities
Within just three months, the organisation moved from fragmented and potentially risky approaches to a comprehensive data governance framework and an actionable roadmap.
It provided our client with the confidence to enhance its data governance in the short and long-term, with the required knowledge and key capabilities to manage its data assets securely, efficiently and in compliance with regulatory requirements.
As the organisation implements the initiatives at scale, it will not only mitigate risks related to data breaches and regulatory non-compliance but also unlock opportunities for better utilisation of its data to support decision-making, reporting and future service innovation, including AI adoption.
Conclusion
In industries such as healthcare, where data is both highly regulated and deeply sensitive, strong governance is fundamental to more than just regulatory compliance. It’s a vital component in trust, resilience and future innovation. Data breaches can be devastating to a company, not only through financial penalties, but also through the erosion of public confidence and user trust.
Our client’s experience illustrates that by investing in governance early in a transformation programme, organisations can both reduce risk and unlock new opportunities with data. With a new data governance framework, the health organisation is now well-positioned to manage sensitive data responsibly while also enabling greater analytics, insight and service innovation in the future.