Australia’s digital health reforms have reached a “turning point,” with the focus shifting from building the foundations for interoperability to delivering the next phase of digital health reform, health officials told delegates at the opening of HIC 2026.
Department of Health, Disability and Ageing first assistant secretary Duncan McIntyre and Australian Digital Health Agency CEO Amanda Cattermole said the focus had shifted from building digital health foundations to delivering connected care at scale, supported by major Commonwealth investments, legislative reform and the growing adoption of national standards.
“We’re really moving from theory to practice at the moment – from putting in place the foundations to realising the potential of many of the digital reforms that we’ve been working on for many years,” Mr McIntyre said.
He said healthcare identifiers, information-sharing infrastructure and legislative reforms were making it easier to connect Commonwealth and State health services and support the transfer of care between them.
Mr McIntyre highlighted funding to support healthcare identifiers and discharge summaries, along with the government’s National Medicines Record.
“We have a much larger investment to develop a National Medicines Record and that’s something I’m particularly excited about,” he said, adding that it would give clinicians a more complete view of patients’ medicines and help clinicians identify unnecessary or duplicate medicines.
He also pointed to the Childhood Digital Health Record as a way of improving continuity of care, particularly for children who see multiple healthcare providers.
“The Child Health Record and the National Medicines Record are both ways that we can use My Health Record to expand the way in which clinicians can know what’s going on for their patient.”
Mr McIntyre described Share by Default as “one of the most exciting changes that we’ve had in recent years”, saying it marked a significant shift in how health information becomes available through My Health Record.
He said Share by Default had already produced a “clear turning point,” with millions of pathology and diagnostic imaging reports now being uploaded each week, which he said was driving up use of My Health Record – noting “We’re seeing engagement with My Health Record on a beautiful exponential curve.”
Mr McIntyre also said patients were increasingly using AI to better understand their health information before appointments.
“When people get AI to give them ideas about a report, it can help them ask more targeted questions, be more engaged in their own care and therefore get a better and more connected result,” he said.
DIGITAL VALUE
Ms Cattermole said digital health had moved beyond the point where its value needed to be argued, noting “We passed the tipping point about 18 months ago.”
“It isn’t about making the case anymore for digital health as a changemaker. We have made that case. We are here. It is about turning that momentum into the next wave of real, sustainable change.”
She said Australia was now entering “the next change curve,” where information would “flow” across care settings and be available whenever clinicians and patients needed it.
Ms Cattermole said governance structures such as the Council for Connected Care, national advisory committees and the Sparked initiative had helped create the conditions for reform – while the National Healthcare Interoperability Plan was now “about 80 per cent there”.
“Some have said, rightly, that there’s more to do – but we have the conditions for getting it done,” she said, pointing to increased use of shared information as evidence the reforms were beginning to deliver tangible results.
“A 94 per cent year-on-year increase in consumer use of shared information. Healthcare providers using the information more than 207 million times in episodes of care in the last 12 months. Views of pathology reports up 590 per cent. Diagnostics up 738 per cent in the last three years.”
Ms Cattermole said the remaining work on interoperability and national information sharing could be challenging, noting “There are no excuses – there is nothing stopping getting this done. Nothing that stops us looking at systems through the lens of connectivity. Nothing that stops us meeting minimum standards – so that everything lifts.”
She also pointed to work that had begun on Australia’s next National Digital Health Strategy and said that AI’s value depended on the information environment that it was in.
“AI is a great example of that – because its value depends on the information environment that it’s in. It will amplify the strengths and weaknesses of the system. So we need those foundations to be solid for that amplification.”
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