This Special Issue addresses the use of linked data for research purposes and to carry out government functions such as child protection, allocation of resources, and debt recovery. Government investment in big data has the potential to change citizens' experience of the welfare state in a broad range of areas in both positive and negative ways. It is therefore important that the Australian social policy community understands and engages with the potential benefits and risks involved in the linkage and analysis of government datasets. Papers in this Special Issue discuss the technical challenges and institutional barriers involved in the construction and governance of linked government data assets and showcase the promise of big data for generating policy relevant insights. This Special Issue also features papers critically interrogating the potential for big data to produce social harms. We contextualise this collection of papers with a brief history of recent policy developments in regards to access to government held data. We also discuss ways of improving public trust and social licence for the use of big data and argue that the voices of First Nations and disadvantaged Australians must be given greater weight in discussions of how their data will be used.

中文翻译：

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澳大利亚大数据与社会政策特刊介绍

本期特刊讨论将关联数据用于研究目的和履行政府职能，例如儿童保护、资源分配和债务追偿。政府对大数据的投资有可能以积极和消极的方式在广泛的领域改变公民对福利国家的体验。因此，澳大利亚社会政策界必须了解并参与政府数据集的关联和分析所涉及的潜在利益和风险。本期特刊中的论文讨论了相关政府数据资产的构建和治理所涉及的技术挑战和制度障碍，并展示了大数据在产生与政策相关的见解方面的前景。本期特刊还刊登了批判性地质疑大数据产生社会危害的可能性的论文。我们将这组论文与有关获取政府持有数据的近期政策发展的简要历史联系起来。我们还讨论了提高大数据使用的公共信任和社会许可的方法，并认为在讨论如何使用他们的数据时，必须更加重视原住民和弱势澳大利亚人的声音。