VAADABase is a data collaboration project designed to empower Victorian Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) treatment services with enhanced control and improved access to deidentified client data.
This innovative collaboration between VAADA, participating AOD services, and the Latitude Network represents a significant step forward in data-driven decision making for the Victorian AOD sector. A key feature of the project is the development of user-friendly and bespoke data dashboards that offer greater insights and more timely access to data, informing better decision-making, service delivery, and treatment planning.
Alongside data dashboards, VAADABase offers insights through organisational and sector reports. We are excited to announce the release of the first VAADABase AOD Sector Insights Report (2024-25).
The project has been successfully running since 2023, and we are actively seeking to welcome additional organisations to join our growing network of data-driven AOD services.
Ready to join? To express your interest in participating, please submit an Expression of Interest here.
Why is the VAADABase Important
Victorian AOD treatment services have faced challenges in accessing and analysing client data. VAADABase aims to address some of these concerns by:
- Establishing a collaborative approach to data:
Through dedicated executive and data working groups, participating organisations work collaboratively with the Latitude Network and VAADA to ensure data dashboards are fit-for-purpose. This collaborative model has ensured that both organisational data insights and aggregated sector insights are meeting the needs of AOD services. - Delivering better data:
VAADABase data dashboards provide user-friendly interfaces that translate complex data into clear insights. Our dashboards have been co-designed by the AOD sector alongside Latitude Network ensuring relevance and usability. And we continue to enhance our dashboards through improvement cycles and listen to what AOD agencies need and want to understand. - Supporting Growing Data Intelligence:
The project offers access to an online project portal alongside dashboard access, which includes project documentation and user guides, a directory, reports and more.The overall aim of the VAADABase is to empower organisations to not only understand their current service delivery, client demographics and statistics, but also make data-driven decisions that improve AOD treatment service delivery and support client outcomes.
How Does it Work?
VAADABase utilises a “bottom-up” approach, putting the power of data directly in the hands of AOD services. Participating services decide what data they want and how to present it, making analysis and interpretation faster and easier.
Here’s How it Works:
- Participating AOD services contribute a fee to join the VAADABase.
- Agencies sign a data sharing agreement with the Latitude network, the project’s trusted third-party data custodian to share their VADC data (the Department of Health has endorsed the sharing of de-identified data for the purposes of this project).
- Participating organisations contribute their VADC data monthly.
- A secure central storage system safeguards all data.
- The Latitude Network runs a further de-identification process and then analyses the data.
- Ongoing consultation between participating organisations through project executive and data working groups ensures the dashboards are fit for purpose.
- Enhancements are made on a quarterly basis.
- Additional insights and reports are generated to benefit participating organisations.
Benefits of Joining VAADABase
- Access your own organisational data dashboard and sector insights dashboard, updated monthly for timely insights.
- Access to AOD Insight Reports covering aggregated data across all participating agencies.
- Access to your individual organisation’s reports featuring client numbers, demographics, AOD trends and more.
- Access to an online project portal with project directory, roadmap, resources and how to guides and more through our learning and project portal.
- Improve sector-wide data and contribute to improving data quality and analysis for the Victorian AOD sector.
Who can Join VAADABase Pilot?
This project is currently open to organisations that use the VADC and provide funded Alcohol and Other Drug Services in Victoria.
Who’s Has Joined Already?
Want to find out more?
Watch the below brief demonstration video.
Questions?
For more information on this initiative, please contact Esther Toomey, Project Coordinator at VAADA