canonical: https://jentic.com/apis/data.gov.au/data-gov-au

# data.gov.au CKAN API

Jentic publishes the only available OpenAPI specification for data.gov.au CKAN API, keeping it validated and agent-ready. The Australian Government open-data portal runs on CKAN and lets anyone search and read public datasets: list and search packages, inspect dataset and resource details, browse tags, groups, and organizations, and track recently changed packages and activity. Every operation is a public read that needs no authentication.

## For AI agents

Lets an AI agent search and read public datasets, resources, groups, and organizations from Australia's data.gov.au CKAN portal without any credentials.

## Scope

Does not create, edit, or delete datasets and needs no login: use it to search and read public data.gov.au datasets only.

## Capabilities

- Search datasets with full-text and faceted queries
- List all dataset, tag, group, and organization names
- Read dataset and resource details
- Browse datasets within a group or organization
- Track recently changed packages and activity

## Use cases

### Open-data discovery

Analysts and apps need to find relevant government datasets fast. The data.gov.au CKAN API searches packages with full-text and faceted queries and returns dataset details, so a tool can surface the right dataset for a question.

Example prompt: Search packages for a keyword and return the matching datasets with their resource details

### Dataset update monitoring

Data teams watch for new and updated datasets. The API lists recently changed packages and package activity, so a monitor can detect updates to a dataset of interest and trigger a refresh.

Example prompt: List recently changed packages and flag any update to a watched dataset

### Agent-driven research assistant

A research agent can gather open data on request. Through Jentic, an agent resolves a question into searching packages, reading the top dataset's details, and following its resources to the underlying files.

Example prompt: Search for datasets on a topic, read the best match's details, and return its resource links

## Key endpoints

| Method | Path | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| GET | `/action/package_search` | Search datasets |
| GET | `/action/package_show` | Get dataset details |
| GET | `/action/package_list` | List all dataset names |
| GET | `/action/resource_show` | Get resource details |
| GET | `/action/organization_list` | List organizations |
| GET | `/action/group_package_show` | List datasets in a group |

## Key resources

- **Packages** — List, search, and read datasets
- **Resources** — Read and search dataset resources
- **Tags** — List tags and read tag details
- **Groups** — List groups and the datasets within them
- **Organizations** — List organizations and read their details
- **Activity** — Track recently changed packages and package activity

## AI readiness

This API is usable in Jentic One now. Its AI-readiness score against Jentic's framework shows where it stands today and where improvements would make it even easier for agents to use.

- **Score:** 68 / 100
- **Maturity:** AI-Aware
- **Dimensions:**
  - Foundational Compliance: 90 / 100
  - Developer Experience & Jentic Compatibility: 59 / 100
  - AI-Readiness & Agent Experience: 47 / 100
  - Agent Usability: 94 / 100
  - Security: 100 / 100
  - AI Discoverability: 71 / 100
- **View full report:** https://jentic.com/apis/data.gov.au/data-gov-au/scorecard
- **How the score is calculated:** https://docs.jentic.com/reference/api-readiness-framework/overview/
- **More about the dimensions:** https://docs.jentic.com/reference/api-readiness-framework/specification/#dimensional-model-overview

### Score it yourself

Every API in the directory is allowlisted, so you can re-score it with no key required.

- **Score your own API:** https://jentic.com/scorecard.md
- **Scoring CLI agent skill:** https://github.com/jentic/jentic-api-scorecard/blob/main/skills/jentic-api-scorecard/SKILL.md

```sh
npx @jentic/api-scorecard-cli score <openapi-url>
```

## Why Jentic

- **Setup:** data.gov.au needs no key, so the work is just CKAN's action-style query parameters and JSON. With Jentic One you install once, import the read operations from the API Directory, and point an agent at them.
- **Permission scoping:** Every operation is a public read, and datasets and resources are addressed by id or name parameters, so you can scope an agent to specific searches and reads.
- **Credential handling:** There is no credential to handle: the portal is public, so nothing is stored and no secret ever reaches the agent's prompt or logs.
- **Discovery method:** Agents find the right CKAN read through Jentic's intent search, matching a request like searching Australian open data to the matching data.gov.au operation.

## Related APIs

- **data.gov (US)** — United States federal open-data portal
- **data.gov.uk** — United Kingdom open-data portal, also CKAN-based
- **US Census Bureau** — Structured US demographic and economic statistics

## FAQ

### Do I need an API key for the data.gov.au API?

No. The CKAN portal is a public read service, so there is no key to request and nothing to store. Jentic One sends each request straight through.

### Can I limit what my agent is allowed to do with the data.gov.au API?

Yes. Every operation is a public read, and you import only the ones an agent needs, so it can search datasets while every other operation stays unavailable.

### What is CKAN?

CKAN is the open-source data-portal platform behind data.gov.au. Its action API exposes datasets (packages), resources, tags, groups, and organizations through consistent read operations.

### How current is the data?

The portal reflects what Australian agencies have published, and the recently-changed and activity operations let a tool see when datasets were last updated.

### Why is there no official OpenAPI spec for data.gov.au?

data.gov.au documents its CKAN action API in prose rather than publishing a machine-readable spec. Jentic generated this OpenAPI description from that documentation and keeps it validated so agents can call it reliably.