The launch of Health Connect Australia marks an ambitious and major leap toward real-time, secure sharing of health information.
A major milestone in Australia’s digital health journey has been reached with the nationwide rollout of Health Connect Australia this week.
This landmark initiative is designed to transform how health information is securely shared across the country’s healthcare system.
Led by the Australian Digital Health Agency, Health Connect Australia promises to deliver faster, safer and more connected care by enabling real-time, interoperable data exchange between hospitals, general practitioners, specialists and allied health professionals.
The launch coincided with the release of the Health Connect Australia Strategy, Architecture and Roadmap, which comprises three key documents, including:
- Health Connect Australia Strategy: an overview of the strategic intent and goals of the program, including its architecture and delivery approach.
- Health Connect Australia Architecture: an outline of high-level architecture for Health Connect Australia, designed to enhance national digital health interoperability. It provides a foundational framework to guide consistent solution design across the healthcare ecosystem.
- Health Connect Australia Roadmap: a high-level indicative representation of the program’s phases, including the key outcomes delivered in each phase. It also highlights the prioritised business themes, dependencies and key considerations for the program.
The initiative forms a core part of the federal government’s National Digital Health Strategy 2023–2028 and its Healthcare Interoperability Plan, which aim to eliminate information silos and improve continuity of care across Australia.
At its core, Health Connect Australia uses globally recognised standards like HL7 FHIR® to ensure different digital health systems can “talk” to each other securely, allowing patients’ data to move seamlessly between providers, reducing duplication of tests and medical errors.
It integrates with existing national infrastructure such as My Health Record, the National Clinical Terminology Service and the Healthcare Identifiers Service, building on a robust digital foundation.
A key feature of Health Connect Australia is its strong privacy safeguards. Patients remain in control of their information, with the ability to choose what gets shared and with whom.
The ADHA’s CEO, Amanda Cattermole PSM, said Health Connect Australia would address the evolving needs of Australians and healthcare providers.
“Our goal is to establish national capabilities and standards to facilitate health information sharing across existing and future systems,” she said.
“This initiative is not a singular product but rather a collection of capabilities designed to transform and better connect the healthcare ecosystem.
“Health Connect Australia builds on the successes of My Health Record and other agency products and services, laying the groundwork for the future of healthcare in Australia.”
Health Connect Australia’s strategic goals include:
- improving access to health information – for the right people at the right time;
- enabling Australians to control their healthcare journeys;
- enhancing national digital health infrastructure and tools to support health; and
- ensuring information is secure, high quality and addresses privacy concerns.
The ADHA’s chief clinical adviser (medicine), Dr Amandeep Hansra, said Health Connect Australia would have a positive impact on the relationship between Australians and their healthcare providers.
“The frustration for consumers having to constantly retell their story and clinicians trying to find information such as pathology and diagnostic imaging results is real, and Health Connect Australia will ensure that a person’s health information moves with them though the system, enabling seamless care,” Dr Hansra said.
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“It will enable all parts of the health system to invest in solutions that work together, improving care, reducing duplication and giving Australians more control over their health information.”
Agency chief digital officer Peter O’Halloran said increasing the adoption of open, national and international digital health standards was core to the effective implementation of Health Connect Australia.
“With evolving technology and an ever-changing healthcare system, new and updated digital health standards are essential to enable health information to be accurately generated, shared and interpreted across systems using consistent data and terminology frameworks,” Mr O’Halloran said.
“Efforts are also underway to develop robust legislative and policy settings to support the seamless exchange of health information across jurisdictions.”
Health Connect Australia will be rolled out in several phases, including:
- Foundations Phase: the establishment of a national directory for seamless access to provider and service information.
- Sharing Phase: enabling secure communication of health information between providers and improving consumer access to health documents.
- Discovery Phase: developing a record discovery service to locate and access healthcare information.
- Enhancement Phase: introducing value-added services, such as digital baby books and data sharing from medical wearables.
The release of the strategy follows a series of consultation papers and builds on previous digital health investments, including Provider Connect Australia™ and the National Healthcare Interoperability Plan.
The ADHA is expected to begin implementation immediately, with milestones planned through 2028 and full national capability by 2030.
While the vision is ambitious, the strategy acknowledges key challenges, including fragmented systems, variable digital maturity across states, and the need for workforce upskilling.
As Health Connect Australia expands, its focus will include mental health, aged care, and disability services – sectors where information sharing has historically been fragmented.
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