Australia’s National Digital Health Strategy 2023–2028

The National Digital Health Strategy 2023–2028 outlines a comprehensive framework to enhance Australia’s healthcare system through digital transformation. The strategy provides a blueprint for modernising Australia’s healthcare system, ensuring it is resilient, efficient, and inclusive. By fostering collaboration and innovation, the strategy seeks to enhance health outcomes for all Australians.

The strategy’s vision is to establish ‘an inclusive, sustainable, and healthier future for all Australians through a connected and digitally enabled health system.’ This vision focuses on improving health outcomes, enabling person-centered care, and driving system sustainability through digital innovation​​.

Key outcomes

The strategy aims to achieve four interconnected outcomes:

1. Digitally enabled health system: Ensure health services are connected, safe, secure, and sustainable.
2. Person-centred care: Empower individuals with tools and information to actively manage their health and well-being.
3. Inclusive access: Guarantee equitable access to health services irrespective of geography, socioeconomic status, or other barriers.
4. Data-driven decision making: Leverage readily available data to inform healthcare decisions and improve system efficiency​​.

Change enablers

To drive these outcomes, the strategy identifies four critical change enablers:

1. Policy and regulatory settings: Create conducive policies and regulations to support digital health adoption and innovation. This includes agile funding models and incentives for collaboration across the ecosystem​.
2. Secure and connected digital solutions: Develop interoperable, user-friendly technologies that ensure clinical safety and privacy while integrating seamlessly into healthcare workflows​.
3. Digitally ready workforce: Prepare the health workforce with the necessary digital skills and training to maximise technology use​.
4. Informed consumers: Enhance digital health literacy among consumers, enabling them to confidently navigate and benefit from digital health solutions​.

Implementation roadmap

The Strategy Delivery Roadmap provides a living document with priority actions to ensure effective implementation. It is periodically reviewed to align with technological advances, emerging health challenges, and evolving policy priorities. The roadmap emphasises collaboration among governments, consumers, healthcare providers, and industry​.

Addressing key challenges

The strategy acknowledges challenges such as:

• Health inequities
• The rising burden of chronic diseases
• Escalating healthcare costs It addresses these through person-centred multidisciplinary care models, better data sharing, and innovative solutions like artificial intelligence, genomics, and real-time data exchange​​.

Technological focus

The strategy emphasises leveraging:

• The My Health Record system for comprehensive health information access.
• Advanced tools like the National Authentication Service for Health (NASH) and Health API Gateway Service for secure data exchange.
• Innovations in telehealth, AI, and data analytics to improve care delivery and efficiency​​.

Governance and Trust

The strategy prioritises:

• Robust clinical governance frameworks for digital solutions.
• Clear privacy and security measures to build consumer and provider confidence.
• Legislation and standards to regulate emerging technologies​​.