National catalogues and metadata patterns that help researchers find relevant human omics datasets.
Australian human omics digital infrastructure
A national partnership building digital infrastructure for human omics research.
GUARDIANS is an Australian BioCommons-coordinated program working with national partners to improve data discovery, governance, secure access, and scalable analysis pathways for sensitive human omics data.
Addressing a critical need
Why GUARDIANS matters
Human omics research is at an inflection point, where massive data volumes and increasing clinical relevance demand robust digital infrastructure. Through Bioplatforms Australia and the NCRIS-funded GUARDIANS program, Australian BioCommons and partner organisations are delivering national-scale capabilities to support biomedical research using sensitive human omics data.
GUARDIANS addresses not just the technical stack but the essential foundations — trust and identity, protocols and standards compliance, and sustainable data stewardship — without which the promise of technologies like AI and population-scale analysis cannot be safely or equitably realised. By embedding best practices in platform architecture, governance, and community-led standards, GUARDIANS is establishing a standardised model for secure human omics data sharing and analytics that can be reused across Australia’s research infrastructure landscape.
Read the program background
Essential services & resources
Capability areas
Repository and data commons capabilities for nationally significant human omics collections.
Controlled computing environments and workflows for human omics analysis at scale.
Researcher identity, trust, and assurance capabilities that support access across national services.
Technical and governance pathways for requests, approvals, entitlements, and authorised data access.
Guidance, access models, and operational patterns that enable ethical and compliant national delivery.
Progress
Recent activity and outputs
ACDC launches to connect cardiovascular research data
The Australian Cardiovascular disease Data Commons (ACDC) launched in October, linking Australian research cohorts and providing a cloud-based platform to accelerate the discovery of new risk markers for heart attack and stroke.
Read moreGUARDIANS partners plan the next phase in Melbourne
Partners met in Melbourne on 4–5 August for the third GUARDIANS partner meeting, sharing progress and shaping Phase II priorities for sustainable human omics infrastructure, responsible data governance and connected services.
Read moreGlobal collaboration on AI and biomedical data infrastructure
BioCommons hosted Prof Robert Grossman and international research infrastructure experts for strategic discussions and technical demonstrations spanning Gen3, data commons, federated access, security, governance, and AI-ready biomedical infrastructure.
Read more Strategic partners
Browse partner contributions National coordination, distributed delivery
GUARDIANS is coordinated by Australian BioCommons and delivered with national partners contributing data resources, platforms and infrastructure, trusted identity, tool development, stewardship, governance expertise, secure access and analysis capabilities.
Next steps
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Start with the services and resources catalogue, or use the contact page if you need help finding the right pathway.