**6. Conclusions**

The first 50 years of data linkage development in Australia has provided a firm foundation for further expansion and development, and will help to ensure that Australia's linked health and human services data continues to be available to address the evolving challenges of the next half century.

**Author Contributions:** M.S. and F.F. both contributed equally to the article conception, literature review and drafting. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** Merran Smith and Felicity Flack are employed by the University of Western Australia with funding from the Australian Government's National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy via the Population Health Research Network.

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** Not applicable.

**Informed Consent Statement:** Not applicable.

**Data Availability Statement:** Not applicable.

**Conflicts of Interest:** Merran Smith and Felicity Flack are employed by the University of Western Australia with funding from the Australian Government's National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy via the Population Health Research Network.
