Data publishing for the Victorian Public Service (VPS)

Departments and agencies must take a number of steps to ensure that their data is made available and to comply with the DataVic Access Policy. Listing data on the VPS Data Directory is just one of these steps.

The main steps are desbribed in the DataVic Access Policy Guideline.

The VPS Data Directory allows departments and agencies to create their own internal data catalogues. Custodians retain complete control over who can access their metadata. It uses role-based access controls to grant approved users permission to manage records on behalf of the organisation.

The roles within an organisation are:

• Administrator – can create, edit, publish and archive metadata records. Can also create and manage user accounts within the organisation.
• Editor – can create, edit and archive metadata records. Publishing requires Administrator approval.
• Member – can view metadata records that have been published to the whole VPS or the organisation they are part of.

Comprehensive procedure manuals for Editors or Administrators are available to download on the VPS Data Directory.

Most VPS organisations can access the VPS Data Directory using single sign-on (SSO). This Okta application authenticates users via their Microsoft credentials.

If you are unable to sign in with SSO due to your organisation's security controls, request an account here

If you already have an account, you can reset your password. 

For guidance on the metadata required when creating a data record, please refer to Publishing datasets – DataVic Access Policy Guidelines(opens in a new window)

DataVic is a data discovery tool that contains a collection of metadata records. DataVic is not a data storage facility.

Each department or agency is responsible for hosting and maintaining its own data.

Publishing well-formatted CSV files makes your data easier for systems to read and allows DataVic to automatically generate an API. This makes the data easier to access and increases opportunities for reuse in applications, analysis and other digital services.

More information can be found in Preparing datasets before making them available

Contact Us to discuss setting up a harvest schedule for automated publishing.

1. Log in to your account
2. Navigate to My Datasets
3. Click  + Add dataset
4. On the first page you’ll be asked to complete fields to describe your data (the metadata). Information on the metadata can be found above in Metadata Definitions and Requirements.
5. After supplying mandatory fields. Click Next: Add Data
6. Click Link or Upload and select the URL or file you wish to add to the dataset.
   1. Add a description for this file
   2. Add the file extension to the Format field
   3. You can add additional files to the dataset by clicking Save & add another and repeating the process
7. Click the Finish button

You are responsible for maintaining and updating your data, and archiving it where appropriate. Learn more how to maintain your data.

Updating metadata

1. Log in with an authenticated account with editor or higher permissions.
2. Navigate to My Organisations
3. Select your organisation
4. Navigate to the relevant dataset
5. Click the Manage button
6. Update necessary fields. Click the Update dataset button

1. Log in with an authenticated account with editor or higher permissions.
2. Navigate to My Organisations
3. Select your organisation
4. Navigate to the relevant dataset
5. Click the Manage button
6. Click the + Add new resource button
7. Click Link or Upload and select the file you wish to add to the dataset
   1. Add a description for this file
   2. Add the (likely) 3 letter file extension to the Format field
   3. You can add additional files to the dataset by clicking Save & add another and repeating the process
   4. Click the Add button

1. Log in with an authenticated account with editor or higher permissions
2. Navigate to My Organisations
3. Select your organisation
4. Navigate to the relevant dataset
5. Click the Manage button
6. Click the Resources tab
7. Resources can now be reordered by dragging and dropping into a new position
8. Click the Save order button

Deleting a resource will mean that it is no longer available for use. If you are planning to remove a resource and replace it with an updated version, we recommend overwriting the resource. Updating a resource will mean its unique identifier will not change.

1. Log in with an authenticated account with editor or higher permissions.
   
2. Navigate to My Organisations
   
3. Select your organisation
   
4. Navigate to the relevant dataset
   
5. Navigate to the relevant resource
   
6. Click the Edit button
   
7. Click the Delete button
   
8. Click the Confirm button