In this study, we used datasets held by the Australian Government to support integrated analyses to support cross-sectoral, whole of government decision-making, with a focus on the Murray-Darling Basin. The overarching policy question for the analysis was what are the effects of water management on social change in regional communities? As part of this analysis we also evaluated whether being close to environmental assets (defined as locations) had an influence on adaptiveness of communities. The project focussed on data assets held by the Australian Government across three policy domains of natural resources, social/human services and economy. We used water data from a range of sources, including the Murray-Darling Basin Authority, the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the Bureau of Meteorology. We applied two analyses: we used an Adaptive Capacity Index developed for the Murray-Darling Basin to map results for southern Basin regional communities and then evaluated relationships between water availability and business data; and second we used machine learning methods to identify new community types. Our activities in data discovery suggest Government’s data assets provide a powerful tool for addressing policy questions in new ways, and for bringing to light important insights that span policy domains.