Australian Open Data connector for CKAN portals
A single CKAN adapter covers all Australian government open data portals. Every portal shares the one system type, CKAN_AU - the portal is selected per connection rather than being registered as a separate system type.
Authentication: None for public portals (API key optional for rate-limit increase)
System type: CKAN_AU
API reference: CKAN API
Supported portals
Section titled “Supported portals”| Portal | portal value |
|---|---|
| data.gov.au | federal |
| data.qld.gov.au | qld |
| data.nsw.gov.au | nsw |
| discover.data.vic.gov.au | vic |
| data.sa.gov.au | sa |
| catalogue.data.wa.gov.au | wa |
| Any other CKAN 3.x portal | custom (with a base URL) |
Supported resources
Section titled “Supported resources”| Resource | FETCH | LOOKUP |
|---|---|---|
search_datasets | ✓ Yes | — No |
get_dataset | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
datastore_query | ✓ Yes | — No |
list_organizations | ✓ Yes | — No |
list_groups | ✓ Yes | — No |
| Pinned datasets (dynamic) | ✓ Yes | — No |
Pinned datasets are aliases you can configure per portal - frequently used datasets appear as named resources for easier targeting in workflows.
Integration model
Section titled “Integration model”One adapter serves every CKAN 3.x portal. It calls the portal’s Action API for dataset search, dataset retrieval, datastore queries, and organisation and group listings; pinned packages are addressed as named resources.
Connection setup
Section titled “Connection setup”No credentials are required for the public portals listed above. An optional API key can be supplied per portal for a higher rate limit; it is not needed for normal use.
Example queries via MCP
Section titled “Example queries via MCP”Once connected through the MCP server, you can ask Claude:
- “Search data.qld.gov.au for infrastructure project datasets in southeast Queensland.”
- “What road construction datasets are available on data.gov.au?”
- “Pull the latest construction industry employment data from the ABS dataset on data.gov.au.”
- “Find spatial datasets covering the Cunningham Highway corridor.”
Security
Section titled “Security”Access type: Read-only (public data)
All CKAN portals expose publicly available government datasets. No private or organisation-specific data is involved. An API key is optional and only needed for higher rate limits on specific portals.
Next steps
Section titled “Next steps”- MCP Server - connect Claude or ChatGPT to query government data portals directly
- AusTender - government procurement data
- ABR - business register lookups
- Sign up for Insights - combine government datasets with your uploaded contract and estimating data
Talk to the team
Tell us what you run - your ERP, field, payroll and document systems - and we will show you the registers Demiton would fill from them, on your data, in a 30-minute call.