Our commitment to #AxeTheFax
At Consultmed, we are committed to modernising healthcare communication and retiring the fax machine for good. Fax has long been relied on, but in today’s health system it too often causes misplaced results, lost referrals, delays in care, and even tragic outcomes.
The #AxeTheFax campaign reflects our drive to accelerate this change, working with hospitals, health networks, and clinicians to build safer, faster, and smarter connections.
This page shares articles, case studies, and even satirical takes on the fax machine’s surprising survival—underscoring why it is time to hang up the handset and move forward.
Australians waiting years to see specialists puts the system under real pressure — ABC News, 2025
Some patients have been waiting more than six years for specialist treatment, despite clinically recommended wait times of around 30 days.
Caboolture Hospital in Queensland scan review highlights systemic risk — ABC News, 2025
Up to 9,000 patients’ imaging results were sent electronically and by fax; the faxed copies were not reliably delivered to the requesting outpatient clinicians.
‘Unacceptable in 2025’: Doctors forced to fax lung cancer screening results – Ausdoc, 2025
Radiologists are resorting to fax machines or snail mail to register lung cancer screening results after struggling to connect their practice IT with the national screening register.
Calls to ‘axe the fax’ from Australia’s ‘outdated’ medical referrals system – ABC News, 2025
National coverage on why fax-based referrals and PDFs persist, and the push from clinicians and patients to modernise.
Practice under scrutiny for referrals faxing error – Medical Republic, 2022
Multiple medical records were faxed to the wrong number; a reminder to prefer secure messaging for referrals.
Medical reliance on faxes ‘life-threatening’, doctors warn – Channel 9News, 2020
Doctors have warned that communication between GP clinics and public hospitals, which relies on fax machines, is causing dangerous delays and errors, with calls for reliable digital alternatives.
Victoria’s contact tracing system was not fit for purpose – ABC News, 2020
A parliamentary inquiry found the program was overwhelmed and hindered by manual, paper-based processes — a cautionary tale for any system relying on fax.
Fax machines are being kept on life support by ACT Health – ABC News, 2019
ABC highlighted the stubborn reliance on fax in Canberra’s health system, despite the technology being long past its use-by date.
Communicating urgent pathology test results: case studies – MDA National, 2019
Real-world examples where misdirected or unread faxes contributed to adverse outcomes, reinforcing why fax is unsafe.
Man dies after fax to doctor goes astray – Hospital + Health, 2018
Plain English summary of the Halwala coronial findings: a faxed PET result went to the wrong number, and chemotherapy continued.
Fax failure criticised in Victorian cancer death – Channel 9News, 2018
Victorian coroner Rosemary Carlin linked a misdirected fax of critical PET scan results to the death of 58-year-old Mettaloka Halwala, calling faxes “antiquated technology.”
Coroner finds communication failures in healthcare deaths – Legalwise Insights, 2018
Highlights coroner Carlin’s characterisation of fax as “antiquated and unreliable” and calls for urgent phase out.
Why is it so hard to wean healthcare off the fax machine? – RACGP newsGP, 2018
RACGP’s deep dive following the coronial report, with GPs calling to consign fax to history.