Data Integration and Access
AIHW Linkage
BioGrid Australia offers its members streamlined, cost-effective access to the AIHW National Death Index (NDI), backed by a formal partnership that removes much of the complexity researchers would otherwise face going it alone.
A partnership built for researchers
Since 2012, BioGrid Australia and AIHW have partnered to give Australian clinical researchers a faster, simpler path to NDI data. Rather than negotiating directly with AIHW, BioGrid members benefit from an established relationship that covers the linkage methodology, ethics submission process, and commercial terms, so individual research teams don't have to build this from scratch.
Through this partnership, BioGrid members can obtain date and cause of death information for defined research projects with support at every step, from application through to linkage.
If you have a project that you would like to access accurate date and cause of death for a specific research project, apply for access through the BioGrid Access Request System. The NDI is listed as a data set to apply for access. BioGrid will then assist you with the application and technical assessment for submission to the AIHW Ethics Committee under our streamlined process with AIHW.
Favourable terms, negotiated for members
AIHW applies both an ethics fee and a linkage fee to every NDI project. BioGrid has negotiated favourable rates on both for its members. Beyond the cost savings, BioGrid manages and supports your application on your behalf and facilitates the linkage directly with AIHW, taking the administrative burden off your research team.
Contact us to discuss pricing for your project.
How linkage works
BioGrid identifies patients' demographic and clinical records using a Unique Subject Identifier (USI), which is shared with authorised researchers to support linkage across databases. For NDI projects, AIHW requires project-specific linkage: each project cohort is assigned its own project-specific identifier (PID), rather than the USI itself. This ensures that, for every project:
Identifiers are unique to that project
Identifiers are randomly generated
Identifiers cannot be correlated between different projects
Identifiers cannot be reverse-engineered to reveal USI numbers
BioGrid manages the generation of PID numbers for every approved AIHW project as part of the service. AIHW has recently indicated that projects requesting only date of death may not require a project-specific identifier at all — a further simplification that BioGrid can advise on, subject to approval by the AIHW Ethics Committee.
Applying for NDI access
Every project seeking NDI data must submit an application, including a technical assessment, to the AIHW Ethics Committee. The Committee meets five times a year, with submissions due approximately six weeks before each meeting.
BioGrid prepares and supports your submission. Because applications now require a technical assessment, we ask members to submit their project to BioGrid at least six weeks ahead of the relevant AIHW submission date (see schedule below).
If your project doesn't yet have ethics approval, please get in touch earlier so there's time to secure it through BioGrid first.
We've successfully supported numerous linkage projects through this process and look forward to assisting with yours.
2026 AIHW Ethics Committee meeting dates
17 February 2026
Submissions have already closed
5 May 2026
Submissions have already closed
7 July 2026
Submissions have already closed
22 September 2026
30 June 2026 — BioGrid submissions have closed
11 August 2026 — AIHW submission deadline
1 December 2026
8 September 2026 — BioGrid submission due
20 October 2026 — AIHW submission deadline
Apply for access
If your project needs accurate date and cause of death data, apply through the BioGrid Access Request System. Select the NDI dataset in your application, and BioGrid will guide you through the technical assessment and submission to the AIHW Ethics Committee under our streamlined process.