MCP server for the Australian public data API. Plug into Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, or any other MCP client and get one-call access to 100+ curated Australian government datasets across 9 sources.

Install

Add to your MCP client config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ausdata": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "ausdata-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "AUSDATA_API_KEY": "ak_xxx"
      }
    }
  }
}

Get a free API key at https://ausdata.io (500 calls/month on the free tier, no credit card).

Tools exposed

Tool	What it does
`search_datasets`	Plain-English search across the catalog. "unemployment NSW" → dataset IDs to call.
`list_datasets`	List curated datasets for a given source (abs, rba, ato, …).
`describe_dataset`	Schema + filter dictionary for one dataset before you `get_data` it.
`get_data`	Generic accessor by `source` + `dataset_id`. Search first, fetch second.
`releases`	Upcoming + recent statistical release calendar across all sources.
`real_wages`	Wage Price Index minus CPI, quarterly. The Greg Jericho chart in one call.
`real_cash_rate`	RBA cash rate minus CPI — the real policy stance.
`economic_dashboard`	Cash rate, CPI, unemployment, wage growth, lending — in one response.
`cost_of_living`	ABS Selected Living Cost Indexes by household type.
`youth_unemployment`	15-24 unemployment rate, state-level.
`trade_balance`	Goods + services trade balance, monthly.
`housing_affordability`	House prices vs household disposable income, indexed.
`gender_pay_context`	WGEA gender pay gap by industry / employer-size context.
`energy_snapshot`	AEMO NEM dispatch + price snapshot, current trading interval.
`health`	API reachability check. Useful for debugging.

Example agent prompts

Once the MCP is connected, try asking your agent:

"What's the latest RBA cash rate and how does it compare to a year ago?"
"Show me the real wages trend since 2019."
"Search for AU housing approval data and pull the last 2 years for NSW."

Configuration

Env var	Purpose	Default
`AUSDATA_API_KEY`	Bearer token	required
`AUSDATA_API_URL`	Override the API base URL	`https://api.ausdata.io`
`AUSDATA_TIMEOUT`	Per-request timeout (ms)	`30000`

Errors

Every tool returns MCP-formatted errors that AI agents can read and recover from:

Missing key → Set AUSDATA_API_KEY in your MCP config. Get a free key at https://ausdata.io
401 → reauth hint
403 → upgrade hint
429 → retry-after seconds
5xx → "try again, status page is at..."

The ausdata.io ecosystem

Part of a family of MCP servers + a hosted API for Australian public data:

Sister MCPs (free, MIT): abs · rba · ato · apra · aihw · asic · aemo · au-weather · wgea
Hosted API + cross-source endpoints: ausdata.io
Python SDK: pip install ausdataio · Node MCP: npx -y ausdata-mcp

License

MIT — see LICENSE.

This client is independent of the upstream data; each response carries attribution metadata for the underlying ABS / RBA / APRA / AIHW / etc. source under their respective CC-BY licenses.

Development

npm install
npm run build
npm test
npm run lint

Source lives in src/. Tool definitions are in src/tools/. The HTTP routing layer is src/client.ts — it does NOT parse responses, that's the API server's job.