"Creating a safer and more secure nation."

Deakin Law School and UNSW Law collaborate on the Law and Policy Program of the national Data to Decisions Cooperative Research Centre (D2D CRC). The D2D CRC was established in July 2014 with a government grant of $25 million. It combines researchers and industry as well as additional contributions valued at more than $50 million, to provide Big Data capability resulting in a safer and more secure nation and a sustainable Big Data workforce for Australia.

Deakin Law School Professor Louis de Koker is the program lead of the D2D CRC Law and Policy program and in 2015 other key researchers included Professor Danuta Mendelson and Mr David Vaile.

The program’s first large project, ‘Big Data Technology and National Security: Comparative International Perspectives on Strategy, Policy and Law in Australia, the United Kingdom and Canada’, is valued at $1.34 million and will be completed in June 2016. Alongside the project lead, UNSW Professor Janet Chan, researchers include Professor de Koker, Professor Mendelson, Mr Vaile and other UNSW law academics as well as staff from the Attorney General’s Department.

The project examines the policies, regulatory approaches, processes and strategies used by these countries to support the use of Big Data for law enforcement and national security purposes, while safeguarding confidentiality and security of sensitive personal information, as well as the accuracy of data sets. The project combines interviews with key government and community stakeholders in Australia, Canada and the UK with legal and policy analysis.

The Law and Policy Program is currently identifying a range of future projects. These will involve collaboration with end-users such as national security agencies, oversight bodies and industry partners.