Posted on 28 Aug, 2025 in

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National Digital Health Strategy 2023–2028: Towards a Connected, Paperless Future.

Australia’s National Digital Health Strategy 2023–2028 sets a bold vision: an inclusive, sustainable and healthier future for all Australians through a connected and digitally enabled health system.

Developed by the Australian Digital Health Agency with input from governments, providers, consumers, and industry, the strategy provides a roadmap for embedding digital health into every corner of healthcare. It builds on the momentum of the past decade — from telehealth’s rapid expansion during COVID-19 to the growth of 23.7 million active My Health Records — and outlines how the next phase of digital transformation will drive better, safer and more connected care.

Why digital health matters

The strategy makes clear that digital health is not just about adopting new technology. It’s about tackling some of the system’s biggest challenges: rising costs, health inequities, chronic disease, and duplication of effort. Australians should not need to retell their health story at every encounter or carry paper records between providers. Instead, their information should follow them across general practice, hospitals, aged care and allied health, with their consent, in real time.

Digital health, the report argues, is essential to reducing duplication and waste, easing workforce pressure, and giving patients and clinicians timely access to the information they need. It also recognises the risks: resilience, cybersecurity, privacy and clinical safety all need to be built in from the start

From paper and fax to real-time exchange

Despite progress, many parts of Australia’s health system still rely on paper records and fax machines. This creates delays, risks and inefficiencies. The strategy highlights that digital health can reduce this reliance by modernising infrastructure and mandating digital capture of key information, from pathology and imaging reports to discharge summaries and medicines information.

Removing fax and paper workflows isn’t just about convenience. It is about safety and sustainability. Each year, 250,000 hospitalisations are linked to medication-related problems, with duplication and errors often stemming from poor information sharing.

By shifting to connected digital solutions, providers can access results and summaries in real time, reducing avoidable harm and freeing clinicians to focus on patients rather than chasing paperwork.

Connecting care through interoperability

At the heart of the strategy is interoperability — the ability for different digital systems to “talk” to each other securely and consistently. The accompanying National Healthcare Interoperability Plan 2023–2028 sets out priority actions:

  • using national healthcare identifiers to ensure the right data follows the right patient
  • driving adoption of standards such as FHIR® for structured information exchange
  • enabling secure, near real-time information sharing across providers and settings
  • fostering innovation by applying interoperability principles to new digital initiatives
  • measuring and sustaining the benefits of interoperability over time

The strategy also emphasises the role of the Council for Connected Care in coordinating progress and ensuring industry, governments and providers move in step.

Building the digital foundations

To support this shift, the strategy highlights key national platforms already in place:

  • My Health Record and the my health app – giving Australians easier access to their information.
  • Provider Connect Australia™ (PCA™) – helping organisations keep provider and service details accurate in one place.
  • Health API Gateway Service – a secure national platform for information exchange.
  • National Clinical Terminology Service (NCTS) – supporting consistent use of clinical terms across systems

These tools, alongside state and territory electronic health records, are the backbone of Australia’s move away from fax and paper to a connected, digital-first environment.

The National Digital Health Strategy 2023–2028 is clear: Australia cannot deliver safe, sustainable and person-centred healthcare while stuck in a paper-and-fax past. By embracing interoperability, investing in national digital infrastructure, and ensuring information follows patients across their care journey, Australia can build a system that is connected, efficient and fit for the future.

As the Hon. Mark Butler, Minister for Health and Aged Care puts it:

“We must build on this and ensure Australians continue to have access to a world class healthcare system – one that empowers them to manage their health journey and better supports health professionals to work to their full potential… Digital health technologies open up the possibility for better linkages across the health system, enabling cooperation and coordination across silos, regardless of which level of government or the private sector is responsible for funding or delivering those services.”

You can read the full strategy on the Australian Digital Health Agency website: National Digital Health Strategy 2023–2028.

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