Dear reader,
It’s my pleasure to welcome you to the very first edition of Partnership Pulse, a space dedicated to sharing news, opportunities and insights from across the Australian Digital Health Agency (the Agency) that matter to you.
We’ve created this bi-monthly newsletter in direct response to your feedback and we hope this becomes a valuable touchpoint to keep you informed about Agency projects, upcoming events, recent highlights, and other items of interest that support your work and align with our shared digital health goals.
Here in the Partnerships and Education Branch, we manage relationships with the Agency’s key delivery partners and provide the support and training needed to drive adoption of national digital health products and services. Our team works hand in hand with all areas of the Agency to deliver our strategic objectives and the National Digital Health Strategy, and we are proud to be a part of the important work transforming Australia’s digital health landscape.
As we kick off this new initiative, we’d love to hear from you. If there is something you would like to see included in future issues, or if you have ideas on how we can make this newsletter even more useful for you, please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts with us.
Thank you for your ongoing partnership, we truly value the important role you play in advancing digital health in Australia.
Kind regards,
Linda Neale
Acting Branch Manager, Partnerships and Education
Australian Digital Health Agency
In this article:
- Recent highlights
- Agency news
- Project and program updates
- Upcoming events
- Learning spotlight
- Inside Digital Health
Recent highlights
Share by Default: Better and faster access to health information
Australians will soon experience better and faster access to their key health information in My Health Record.
My Health Record is a secure online summary of a person’s important clinical information, available to them and their healthcare providers. It helps to ensure everyone involved in a person’s care can access the information they need, supporting safer, more connected healthcare.
Better Access
Under new legislation, healthcare providers will soon be required to upload written pathology and diagnostic imaging reports to My Health Record. This change ensures that key health information is more consistently available to support informed clinical decisions, reduce unnecessary duplicate testing, and enable more coordinated care across different healthcare settings. Over time, this initiative will close long-standing gaps in information sharing, giving people and their healthcare teams a more complete picture of their health.
Faster Access
The Faster Access initiative will reduce the time people wait to see their results, empowering Australians to take a more active role in managing their health.
- From mid-October 2025, people will be able to view most of their pathology reports as soon as they are uploaded to My Health Record. Certain tests, including anatomical pathology, cytopathology, and genetic tests, will be viewable after a 5-day delay, reduced from the previous 7-day delay.
- From February 2026, people will be able to view x-ray reports for their limbs (arms and legs) immediately after upload to My Health Record. They will be able to view other imaging reports 5 days after they are uploaded (such as reports for CT, MRI and PET scans, ultrasounds, as well as x-rays of the head, chest, abdomen and pelvis). Currently, people can access diagnostic imaging reports 7-days after they are uploaded to My Health Record.
If access to a result is delayed this is nothing to do with the result – it’s just that some types of tests won’t be accessible for 5 days (this is because of the type of test, not the result).
Healthcare providers will continue to have access to all reports as soon as they are added to a person’s My Health Record.
Getting ready
For consumers:
- Ensure your My Health Record is linked to your myGov account and that your identity is verified.
- Download the my health app for convenient access to your health information, wherever you are.
- Learn more about My Health Record and the options available to help you manage your record.
- Download the fact sheet or visit the better and faster access webpage to learn more about your pathology and diagnostic imaging reports in My Health Record.
- For assistance, contact the My Health Record help line on 1800 723 471 (option 1), available 24/7.
For healthcare providers:
- Be aware of the Share by Default requirements and the types of written reports that will be uploaded.
- Find out how to implement My Health Record in your healthcare organisation
- Check My Health Record for recent results before ordering new tests to avoid unnecessary duplication.
- Talk with your patients about access to their results in My Health Record and share the fact sheet with them, if they need more information.
- Consider opportunities to partner with your patients as active participants in monitoring their health, particularly when they are living with a chronic condition.
- Continue to follow your organisation’s internal workflows for critical results management, noting that My Health Record does not replace your existing processes for urgent follow-up.
- Download the Better and Faster access guide:
For more information, visit digitalhealth.gov.au or email help@digitalhealth.gov.au. Should you require any additional resources, tailored messaging or have any questions, please contact your Partnerships team at communityengagement@digitalhealth.gov.au.
Agency news
Another leap forward in modernising My Health Record with FHIR®
The Agency has awarded Telstra Health the contract to lead the transformation of the My Health Record system, marking a significant milestone in the nation’s digital health journey.
Supported by key partners, Smile Digital Health and Leidos Australia, Telstra Health will spearhead efforts to deliver real-time, interoperable health solutions that empower Australian healthcare consumers and deliver key information to the healthcare providers who support them.
Corporate Plan 2025–2026
The Agency has released its 2025–2026 Corporate Plan, outlining strategic priorities and initiatives for the coming year.
The plan reflects the Agency’s vision of a healthier future for all Australians through connected healthcare, and our mission to steward and accelerate the delivery of end-to-end connected healthcare for all Australians.
Download the 2025–2026 Corporate plan
Australia’s digital health workforce stepping forward to prepare for the FHIR® revolution
The Australian Digital Health Agency (the Agency) has launched a series of updated Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) training courses designed to modernise the nation’s healthcare infrastructure and empower its workforce.
In partnership with HL7 Australia, the Agency has already delivered FHIR training to more than 1,000 participants.
Fanning the flames of innovation with FHIR® as Australia’s digital health transformation gathers pace
The Australian Digital Health Agency (the Agency) in partnership with HL7 Australia® is turning up the heat on digital health innovation with the launch of FHIRside, a dynamic new forum that will bring developers and implementers together with industry experts to solve real-world challenges in health technology.
Commencing 7 October 2025, FHIRside will offer a weekly opportunity for healthcare technology professionals to connect, collaborate and accelerate the implementation of Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources® (FHIR) standards.
Project and program updates
Healthcare Information Provider Service (HIPS)
HIPS is the world’s first digital health product to be declared conformant with the My Health Record Connecting Systems Security Conformance Profile!
For the past 2 years, the HIPS development and support teams have worked with the Agency Conformance and Assurance and Security teams to provide ongoing feedback on the development of the profile.
Concurrently, the HIPS product manager engaged the development team to address conformance requirements that were not implemented in the current product versions of the day.
Subsequently HIPS v9.0 and HIPS HealthViewer v1.1 together provide a conformant offering to the Australian digital health ecosystem.
Thanks must go to Yuki Yu and Jonathan Walker and the Connections team all from the Agency and the HIPS development team from Chamonix for their collaboration throughout this period.
Interoperability highlights
The latest Interoperability Plan Annual Report shows that 24 of 44 actions are complete, with three new actions starting in 2025–26 to support individual data sharing and consistent health legislation. All remaining actions are actively progressing, reflecting strong national collaboration. For more information, see the Interoperability Plan 2024-25 Annual Progress Report.
The national rollout of Healthcare Provider Identifiers – Individual (HPI-Is) is progressing, with growing support for the adoption of default templates for My Health Record (MHR) uploads. Four organisations – WA Health, St John of God, UnitingCare, and Healthscope - have transitioned to default templates for MHR uploads, and more are expected to follow by December.
The Council for Connected Care, comprising 37 members from the health and digital sectors, continues to provide governance and strategic direction for the implementation of the Interoperability Plan. At its August 2025 meeting, the Council reviewed progress and set priorities for the coming year, ahead of its next meeting in November. For more information, see the Council for Connected Care page on the Agency website and Council for Connected Care 2024-25 Annual report.
The Healthcare Identifiers (HI) Roadmap is a joint effort by the Australian Digital Health Agency, the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing and Services Australia, and 17 of 20 planned activities have been commenced. Some key highlights include:
- Legislative reforms to the Healthcare Identifiers Act 2010 are under parliamentary review, and a policy position is being drafted to support HI service adoption.
- The Agency is working with Services Australia on enhancements to the HI Service, focusing on improved data matching and accuracy, and strong engagement with National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) is helping improve data matching for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
- The HI Services Conformance Profile v5.0 was published in July 2025
- Materials to support HI Service and technical standards updates, including education and stakeholder engagement resources, are being prepared with delivery expected in 2026.
- Monthly meetings of the HI Working Group support cross department implementation, and a new DHOC sub-committee has been established to drive reforms with input from jurisdictional stakeholders.
For more information on recent progress, see the Healthcare Identifiers Roadmap 2024-25 Annual Progress Report from page 26.
Shaping the future of digital health through streamlined conformance and connections
The Australian Digital Health Agency is enhancing the Developer Portal as part of the Streamlining of Implementations, Conformance and Connections (SLICC) Project. The improvements to the Developer Portal will move beyond being a static library of documents to become a dynamic, multi-platform service.
At the core of this change is a modernised solution that replaces legacy PDF-based forms with an improved and customised experience for software developers and implementers connecting to the Health Identifiers Service and My Health Record. The solution introduces four key features for developers:
- Personalised case management system with digitised forms to directly raise enquiries (tickets), track issues and have a shared history of discussions within one system.
- Dynamic smart forms showing only what needs to be completed based on each developer’s scope to reduce complexity and confusion on conformance requirements.
- Developer dashboard showing the current status and providing future visibility of required deliverables within the journey.
- Conformance engine capturing the logic embedded in technical documentation, that delivers tailored requirements, use cases, and test cases for each developer's implementation and integration journey.
These changes will enable a faster onboarding, clearer guidance, and a better overall experience when connecting to national digital health systems.
Keeping stakeholders informed remains central to this change. Over the coming months, the Agency will provide updates through newsletters, webinars, forums, and targeted communication. These channels will share progress, highlight key milestones, and provide practical information about how the improvements will support Australia’s digital health ecosystem.
Building the digital health capability of the health and care workforce
The Clinical Safety in Digital Health introductory course mentioned above, is one example of work the Agency is undertaking to build the digital health capability of the health workforce. The Agency is also partnering with multiple universities, research and educational institutions to build digital health capability of the future health and care workforce, aligned to the key priority actions in the National Digital Health Capability Action Plan (the CAP).
A collaboration between TAFE NSW and the Australian Digital Health Agency led to the development of a digital health micro-skill course to train future aged care workers in My Health Record. Building on this work, the Agency has partnered with the Digital Health Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) to modify the micro-skill to make it suitable for the current aged care workforce. This involved making a mobile-friendly version of the digital health course and working in collaboration with the subject matter experts to reshape this content to meet the industry identified needs of the RTO trained aged care workforce. A pilot of the aged care course Supporting Quality Aged Care with My Health Record is underway. Once finalised the course will be available via the Agency’s online learning portal.
Several other CAP projects are also underway. Stay tuned for future updates.
Are you ready to be a cyber champion?
“Every cyber champion is proof that cyber resilience is built from the ground up, and together we are shaping a stronger, safer healthcare sector”
Become a cyber champion: Strengthening Australian healthcare's cyber resilience
Australia’s healthcare sector is facing ever-evolving cyber threats, and now more than ever, building a strong cyber security culture is vital. The Australian Digital Health Agency is helping to empower healthcare professionals to proactively understand and defend against cyber risks through the Cyber Champions Network.
What is the Cyber Champions Network?
The Cyber Champions Network is a community of healthcare professionals with the collective goal to foster a proactive, engaged, and security-conscious healthcare ecosystem. Together, members are strengthening Australia’s collective cyber defences and enhancing the sector’s ability to respond to emerging threats.
Program success and participation
Since its launch in August 2024, the program has seen 89 healthcare organisations from across Australia successfully complete the course. Participating organisations have deepened their understanding of cyber threats and significantly increased their resilience to cyber-attacks.
Participant feedback
“The program has provided practical insights into how I can better support my organisation in building cyber resilience. As someone working at the intersection of digital health and operations, I’ve always seen cybersecurity as a shared responsibility and this program helped deepen that understanding.”
- Operations Manager, Aged Care
How does the program work?
Participants join five interactive fortnightly sessions, each running 1 to 2 hours. The program is designed to build positive cyber behaviours, including:
- Understanding the types of cyber security threats and risks that are currently affecting Australian healthcare organisations.
- Learn about the best practices to secure your systems.
- Recognise that cyber security is everyone's responsibility and learn about the impact of social media and your digital footprint, as well as supply chain risk and vendor management.
- Learn how to build cyber resilience, including creating a cyber incident response plan and cyber security awareness program.
In addition, Cyber Champions gain access to a wealth of ongoing resources and tools to uplift cyber awareness and cultivate a strong security culture within their organisations.
Ready to join?
Participation in the Cyber Champions Program is free, and no technical skills are required. New sessions are commencing on the 9th and 18th of September 2025. Don’t miss this opportunity to become a leader in cybersecurity within your healthcare organisation.
Take the next step to protect your organisation and join the Cyber Champions Network today! Register your interest: Join the Cyber Champions Network
Learn more about cyber security
Our Cyber Security Team monitors digital threats relevant to healthcare and issues timely alerts on vulnerabilities and cyberattacks. Stay informed by subscribing to Cyber Alerts.
Train your staff with our Digital Security eLearning course – over 1,500 healthcare workers have completed it in the past six months, and 21 organisations plan to host the course on their own systems in 2025.
Upcoming events
Agency update webinar
Date: Thursday 23rd October 2025
Time: 1:00-3:00pm AEDT
The Agency Update Webinar is an opportunity for representatives across the digital health ecosystem to come together and hear about the Agency’s progress on a wide range of digital health initiatives. The agenda will include a welcome from CEO, Amanda Cattermole, as well as some exciting topics such as Real Time Prescription Monitoring, the Share by Default Mandate, and the Capability Action Plan.
Please register your attendance here.
Health sector cyber security town hall
Date: Thursday 30th October 2025
Time: 10:00-11:00am AEDT
Maintaining a strong cybersecurity posture is essential for Australia’s health sector. Registrations are now open for this important online webinar. To secure your place, visit the link below or head to Humanitix and search for Virtual Events – Health Sector Town Hall 2025.
Please register your attendance here.
Learning spotlight
Clinical Safety in Digital Health
As mentioned above, we are proud to launch our new eLearning course, Clinical Safety in Digital Health, developed in partnership with the AIDH, to support the safe and effective use of digital health technologies across Australia. This course is designed for clinicians, students, developers, and policymakers, anyone involved in designing, delivering, or supporting digital health solutions. It provides practical tools and insights to embed clinical safety into everyday practice and has been formally endorsed by AIDH for the CHIA Program as part of Continuous Professional Development (CPD). We encourage all stakeholders to complete the course via our Online Learning Portal to help strengthen our collective commitment to safer digital health.
Organisations interested in hosting the course on their own learning management system can contact education@digitalhealth.gov.au.
Did you know ...
You can train staff about My Health Record using the Agency’s free resources?
We have a range of resources such as on demand webinars, eLearning modules and even a recommended training list.
Inside Digital Health
While Partnership Pulse keeps you up to date with our projects and programs, the Agency’s Inside Digital Health newsletter on LinkedIn takes a wider view. It’s all about innovations, global trends, and sector-wide updates, perfect for keeping up with the bigger digital health picture.