The NSW Government’s central data repository has hit a major milestone, with more than 10,000 data sets now available to the public.

Launched in 2009 and claimed to be the first state-level open data catalogue in the world, the NSW Open Data Portal provides businesses and individuals access to data sets from all government departments and agencies in NSW.

Executive director of Data, Insights & Transformation Simon Herbert said the data for applications like Fuel Check, Fires Near Me and the NSW Education School Finder is published by agencies and is easily accessible via Data.NSW.

“The Fires Near Me app is helping many families across the state right now, while the popular Fuel Check app helps customers find the cheapest petrol available,” Mr Herbert said.

“Releasing non-personalised data is good for everyone in NSW including the government, as the data can be used in a number of different ways to help make life easier.”

Mr Herbert said the open data sets have made the NSW Government more open and transparent.

“We strongly encourage the private sector to make use of NSW Government open data, under the open licensing frameworks, to find new and innovative ways to use the data,” Mr Herbert said.

“The NSW Government works closely with the Information Commissioner as the NSW Open Data Advocate to encourage the release of data by NSW government agencies whilst upholding data sharing safeguards and protecting the rights of the individual.”

The data sets available through Data.NSW are also used during major data hackathons, including GovHack, the largest open data hackathon in Australia, which identifies and addresses key problems using open government data.

The annual weekend-long event sees teams of researchers and data enthusiasts also create new uses from existing government data sets from each state and territory.