A strategy for linking data extracts from cancer registry, pathology, hospital inpatient, radiotherapy-centre, health-insurance, screening and vaccination databases is outlined that is consistent with Cancer Australia’s National Cancer Data Strategy. Non-identifiable data extracted, linked and accessed remotely for analysis using established privacy-protecting protocols, have a crucial role for monitoring cancer control activity in Australia and survival outcomes, including effects of primary prevention, screening and treatment services through to end-of-life care. Links to large population cohort data bases that incorporate risk behaviour, environmental exposure and other self-reported data are important. Linked bio-marker data can support research into the value of new markers of cancer risk and treatment effectiveness. Clinical cancer registries, where they exist, enable more detailed customized data to be used to check the fit-for-purpose validity of administrative data for system-wide monitoring. Prototypes of linked databases of this type exist at State and Territorial level, and their usefulness has been demonstrated in multiple studies for investigating trends in stage, other prognostic indicators, co-morbidity, patterns of care, survival outcomes, and side-effects of care, including late effects. Exploratory work is underway to determine the best means of collecting recurrence and progression data. Apart from providing an evidence base for population-wide and all-of-system cancer service planning, monitoring and evaluation, the data can be used for health-services and population health research, including investigations of the intermediate and longer term effects of new cancer drugs. Population-based survivorship data are lacking in Australia and are needed to for targeting and evaluating support services, evaluating the cost-utility of new cancer therapies and models of care, and for burden-of-disease studies. Means of obtaining these data population-wide, and including them in national linked cancer data, are discussed and recommendations made for including them in routine cancer monitoring.