Who we are
The Data Conversation is a social enterprise dedicated to supporting non-profits, social enterprises and community organisations with their data.
We believe that teams who are working towards better outcomes for their clients and communities deserve to have access to the right data, tools, and support to make informed, evidence-based decisions.
We know the right tech and tools are important – but they’re not the whole story. Teams also need the confidence, capability and organisational culture to make the most of their data.
A strong data practice requires conversations across an organisation. That’s why we offer holistic support for all aspects of the data cycle: from planning what to collect, to securely storing and managing data, to interpreting and sharing findings through dashboards and reports.
Our team members bring together a love of data and experience working in for-purpose organisations. Many of us have front-line service delivery experience, including in education, health, and disability support services.
Our approach is collaborative and friendly. We take the time to understand your work, listen to your challenges, and design solutions with you that fit your context and budget.
Our vision for change
A social enterprise is a business that exists to achieve social and environmental change. Below we list the long-term outcomes that The Data Conversation aims to contribute to, and how our work supports these outcomes. We’d love to hear from you if you’re also working towards any of these outcomes or if you have any ideas and suggestions for us – please get in touch at: enquiries@thedataconversation.au
%20Speech%20Bubbles.svg)
Current Projects
In our core business, we support non-profit organisations, social enterprises and other community organisations to work better with data. We focus on offering services that are useful, realistic and accessible for the for-purpose sector. In 2026, we're launching a data learning community for small and start-up social enterprises, to provide a free community of support around data needs.
Future Plans
Funders are increasingly requiring more data, and more sophisticated data, from for-purpose organisations. We believe in the benefits of data-driven decision making, but we're also concerned about the chronic underfunding of for-purpose work, including the lack of overhead funding to support data systems, capability and capacity. We also see smaller organisations missing out on funding because they don't have data on their impact, creating a negative spiral. In future, we want to contribute to sector-wide initiatives and campaigns that seek to better support and resource for-purpose data. We're also keen to test a range of funding and delivery models for supporting smaller community organisations and social enterprises that otherwise struggle to afford data staff and data projects.
Current Projects
Our current team includes people who have experience in front-line service delivery and who are seeking a career change into data, or who are seeking a balance of front-line client support and data projects. We value the insights they bring and provide them with training and mentoring to build their data skills. In our core work, we take a collaborative approach to designing projects with our clients, working towards a system that embeds good practice.
Future Plans
In future, we want to contribute to fit-for-purpose data systems for the community sector, and broader initiatives and discussion about how tech can support social justice. We also want to support training, mentorship, and employment opportunities for people from marginalised communities who want to enter the data workforce.
Current Projects
We believe in the power of place-based and community-based approaches to solving challenges. Data access and sharing is an important part of such approaches. Communities need to have sovereignty, custodianship and stewardship over their own data. Partnerships and collaborations between for-purpose organisations need safe and appropriate ways to share data and support to use data for shared decision making.
Future Plans
In the future, we want to support and deliver projects that support communities to access, use, share and control their own data with a focus on sustainability of ongoing costs and responsibilities, including community-based data assets and community data engagement projects.
Meet our team
Our team has a broad range of professional and life experiences that have led us to appreciate the role of data in supporting service delivery and social justice advocacy.
