Business Council of Australia: Supporting a Healthy and Productive Nation Report.

The Business Council of Australia (BCA) represents over 130 major employers across industries, including health, aged care, insurance, research, and education. In September 2025, the BCA released Supporting a Healthy and Productive Nation—a blueprint for reforming Australia’s health and care economy.

The blueprint focuses on two key areas: health and aged care. While the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and veterans’ services are also vital, the BCA notes that significant work is already underway in those sectors. This blueprint provides a path forward for health and aged care specifically, outlining what must be done to ensure that Australia’s population remains healthy, the health and care system stays financially sustainable, and productivity continues to improve.

The report frames health not just as a social service but as an economic investment, calling for a consumer-centred, outcomes-driven, and financially responsible system. It makes six overarching recommendations:

• Innovation and technology – capture the opportunities of evidence-based digital solutions.
• Consumer empowerment – support individuals to choose how their care needs are met.
• Complementary public and private systems – build on the strengths of both sectors.
• A skilled workforce – expand and sustain a highly trained health and care workforce.
• A coordinated national approach – tackle structural issues across the full continuum of care.

From fax machines to future-ready digital health

One of the report’s most striking observations is that 75 per cent of global fax traffic is generated by medical services. Despite Australia’s high standing internationally, many providers still rely on fax machines and paper forms to transfer patient information. This reliance creates duplication, slows communication, and increases risks for patients.

By contrast, modern digital tools—from secure messaging to AI-enabled triage—can transform the way clinicians collaborate and patients access care. The BCA highlights that up to 30 per cent of health and care tasks could be automated with digital technology and AI, freeing clinicians’ time to focus on patients. AI is already being used internationally in diagnostic imaging, risk screening, x-ray analysis, and decision support, and the OECD predicts it may contribute to breakthroughs in vaccines for cancer, cardiovascular disease, and autoimmune conditions by 2030.

But the blueprint also cautions that without strong safeguards, AI brings risks of bias, safety concerns, and privacy breaches. Policymakers must strike a balance: encourage adoption while avoiding overregulation that could stifle innovation.

Getting the architecture right

The report is clear that digital health cannot deliver its full promise without interoperability. At present, digital solutions across Australia often use different standards, making it difficult for systems to communicate. This fragmentation frustrates clinicians, creates inefficiencies, and undermines the vision of integrated, patient-centred care.

The BCA acknowledges the important work of the Australian Digital Health Agency and its partners in driving consistent adoption of digital standards. A flagship initiative is the Sparked AU FHIR Accelerator, which is delivering a core set of Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) standards for Australia over three years. This work supports the National Healthcare Interoperability Plan 2023-2028 and is central to achieving system-wide transformation.

The return on digital investment

Digital health is not just about modernising technology; it is about strengthening the sustainability of the system itself. The OECD estimates a potential $3 return for every $1 invested in effective digital strategies. For Australia, this means digital health should be seen as an economic opportunity—one that can improve outcomes, increase productivity, and support the long-term resilience of the health and care economy.

Read the full blueprint here: Health and Care Blueprint – Business Council of Australia