Indigenous Data Reference

Detects person-linked Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander data - Indigenous status and origin fields and Indigenous data, health data or identifiers attached to an identified person record - as well as discovery-grade Indigenous data governance references.

Type

regex

Confidence

medium

Confidence justification

Low: most uses of the phrases are governance and policy text. Enforce tiers now require a populated identified-person field, and 85 also requires a cultural field and independent record evidence.

Jurisdictions

global

Regulations

Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), NDB Scheme (Cth), Information Privacy Act 2009 (Qld)

Frameworks

ISO 27001, ISO 27701

Data categories

sensitive-data, cultural, indigenous

Scope

narrow

Risk rating

7

Platform compatibility

Purview: Compatible, GCP DLP: Compatible, Macie: Compatible, Zscaler: Compatible, Palo Alto: Degraded, Netskope: Unsupported

Pattern

(?i)\b(?:(?:Aboriginal|Torres\s+Strait\s+Islander|Indigenous|First\s+Nations)\s+(?:data|health\s+data|community|heritage|identifier)|Indigenous\s+(?:data\s+)?sovereignty|data\s+sovereignty|AIATSIS|cultural\s+(?:heritage\s+)?data|Indigenous\s+status|Aboriginal\s+(?:and/or|or)\s+Torres\s+Strait\s+Islander\s+(?:origin|status))\b

Should match

• Client intake record Client name: Riley Ashworth Date of birth: 14/05/2001 Indigenous status: Aboriginal Language group: Kuku Yalanji Community: Mossman Kinship contact: Aunty (Elder) to be present at the next appointment at the Aboriginal Medical Service. — Person record with Indigenous status, populated cultural fields and kinship evidence (85)
• Participant record Participant ID: P-20417 Name: Casey Rourke Indigenous status recorded; consent for data linkage pending. — Person record naming Indigenous status with identifiers only (75)
• HR leave request - cultural and ceremonial leave Employee name: Jesse Marlowe Employee ID: E-55018 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander origin: Torres Strait Islander Community: Mer Island Leave type: Sorry Business, 3 days from 02/09/2026 Approved by line manager under the enterprise agreement. — HR leave record with the ABS origin label, employee identifiers, community field and Sorry Business evidence (85)

Should not match

• Indigenous plants found in the region — No Indigenous data phrase matched by the Purview regex
• The community garden project was successful — No Indigenous data phrase present
• Policy guidance: this procedure explains how Indigenous data and Indigenous status details are collected, stored and shared, who may access them and how long they are kept. Staff should read the privacy section before completing any form. It contains no details about any individual. — Policy/guidance text naming the topic without any populated record (65 discovery at most)
• Client registration Name: ____________________ Date of birth: ____________________ Indigenous status: ____________________ Language group: ____________________ Signature: ____________ Date: __/__/____ — Blank form with unpopulated labelled fields (placeholder guard keeps it below 75)
• News: a national framework on Indigenous data sovereignty was launched, giving Aboriginal community organisations a say in how Indigenous health data is used. — News/training prose about the topic without a populated record (65 discovery at most)

Known false positives

• References to Indigenous in geographical or botanical contexts. Mitigation: Require data-specific keywords alongside Indigenous references.

References

• OAIC - What is sensitive information
• Race discrimination - Australian Human Rights Commission
• Privacy Act 1988 (Cth)