Australia’s federal, state and territory governments have made digital health and data a national priority under a new five-year strategy for reforming the public health system.
The 2026-31 National Health Reform Strategy was endorsed by health ministers earlier this month and sets out the priorities and key deliverables that governments have agreed to pursue under the 2026-31 National Health Reform Agreement.
Modernising and connecting systems through data and digital health is one of 11 national priorities identified in the strategy – with governments aiming to create a more digitally connected health system to support faster, safer and more consistent sharing of patient information.
Among the first priorities will be improving the uptake of discharge summaries and Healthcare Identifiers to support smoother transitions between public hospitals and other care settings.
The Commonwealth and states and territories are expected to develop and implement roadmaps covering both areas between 2026-27 and 2028-29.
National standards for hospital discharge information are also due to be developed in 2026-27, followed by agreement on a coordinated implementation approach in 2027-28.
Adoption of the standards is set to take place between 2028-29 and 2030-31.
The strategy also calls for governments to “adopt and expand digital enablers” in 2029-30 and 2030-31 – although it does not provide further detail on which technologies or infrastructure this will include.
National health data system
Data sharing is another significant component of the strategy, with governments committing to develop a National Health Data System Governance Framework for authorised data sharing between 2027-28 and 2028-29.
This is expected to be followed by the design and development of a National Health Data System in 2029-30 and 2030-31.
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) would develop a new Health System Performance Assessment Framework – with the first annual reports due by June 2027.
The framework is intended to measure performance across the health system, with AIHW also proposing harmonised indicators, regular report cards for health ministers and a national health performance portal.
The strategy also calls for improvements to the collection, reporting and analysis of disaggregated Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health system data.
It says Indigenous Data Governance should be understood and embraced by government health data custodians, alongside greater Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander control and access to data and information.
Connecting care
Digital and data reforms are included within a broader push to improve integration between hospitals, primary care, aged care and disability services.
The strategy identifies fragmented care systems as one of the major challenges facing the health system and calls for improved patient flow and better integration between care systems.
It also proposes nationally consistent definitions and data collection for delayed discharge of older patients, as well as nationally consistent data collection and performance reporting for public hospital patients who are NDIS participants or prospective participants.
The strategy is intended to operate as a “living” roadmap rather than an “exhaustive” account of the National Health Reform Agreement – with the System Reform Deputies Group set to regularly review it as implementation progresses.
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