Publications
Materials on this page are available for download – please acknowledge the WA Department of Health and Data Linkage Services as a source where applicable.
Please note: the WA linkage unit operates under the name Data Linkage Services. References to the Data Linkage Branch (DLB) refer to the same business unit prior to a restructure. Any mentions of DLB within these publications should be understood in this context.
Data Linkage Services guidance documents
| Research Data Services Roles and Responsibilities (PDF, 826KB) |
| Research Data Services Roles and Responsibilities Flowchart (PDF, 200KB) |
| Prioritisation and Costing Framework (PDF, 343KB) |
| Minimum Data Requirements for Linkage (PDF, 636KB) |
Peer Reviewed Publications
| Using data linkage to monitor COVID-19 vaccination – development of a vaccination linked data repository (2022) Eitelhuber TW, Ngeh S, Bloomfield L, Chandaria B, Effler P. International Journal of Population Data Science 2022;4(5) doi: 10.23889/ijpds.v5i4.1730 |
| A blinded evaluation of privacy preserving record linkage with Bloom filters (2022) Randall S, Wichmann H, Brown A, Boyd J, Eitelhuber TW, Merchant A, Ferrante A. BMC Med Res Methodology 2022;22(1):22 doi: 10.1186/s12874-022-01510-2 |
| Population Data Centre Profile – The Western Australian Data Linkage Branch (2019) Hodges S, Eitelhuber TW, Merchant A, Alan J. International Journal of Population Data Science 2019;4(2) doi: 10.23889/ijpds.v4i2.1138 |
| Fit for purpose – developing a software platform to support the modern challenges of data linkage in Western Australia (2018) Eitelhuber TW, Thackray J, Hodges S, Alan J. International Journal of Population Data Science 2018;3(3) doi: 10.23889/ijpds.v3i3.435 |
| Western Australia unveils advances in linked data delivery systems (2014) Eitelhuber, T., Davis, G., Rosman, D. and Glauert, R. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 2014 38: 397-398. doi:10.1111/1753-6405.12258 |
| The Custodian Administered Research Extract Server: “improving the pipeline” in linked data delivery systems (2014) Eitelhuber, T. and Davis, G. Health Information Science and Systems 2014 2:6. doi.org/10.1186/2047-2501-2-6 |
| Population-based linkage of health records in Western Australia – development of a health services research linked database (1999) Holman CD, Bass AJ, Rouse IL, Hobbs MS. The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health 1999;23(5):453–459. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-842x.1999.tb01297.x |
Linkage Quality Paper
Data Linkage Branch Linkage Quality Paper (PDF, 33.7 KB)
This document contains a summary of Department of Health protocols for maximising linkage quality.
Privacy and Security Reviews
Data Linkage Systems Security Review (PDF, 156 KB): In January 2017, the former Data Linkage Branch (DLB) contracted an independent security review of its systems and processes, carried out by Asterisk Information Security.
Confidentiality and Security in the Data Linkage Branch (PDF, 272 KB): This document is an abridged list of the standards used by Data Linkage Services to manage and secure confidential information.