Partnership Pulse – Edition 3

Throughout 2025, the Agency partnered with multiple universities, research and educational institutions to create digital health education content to build the digital health capability of the current and future health and care workforce.

Two new eLearning courses, developed in collaboration with the Digital Health Cooperative Research Centre, are now live and freely available via the Agency’s online learning portal. The Digital Health in Healthcare: Understanding My Health Record course is aimed at current Vocational Education and Training (VET) TAFE students, and complements qualifications in nursing, allied health and health administration. The Supporting Quality Aged Care with My Health Record course is designed for anyone working in aged care across a range of roles, including nursing, aged care assistants and residential support workers.

Health and aged care organisations interested in hosting these courses on their own learning management system can contact engagement@digitalhealth.gov.au.

The Australian Digital Health Agency continues to support implementation of the Share by Default reforms, which enable written pathology and diagnostic imaging reports to be shared through My Health Record, supporting more connected healthcare.

The Share by Default Rules are outlined in the Health Insurance (Share by Default) Rules 2025 and the My Health Record (Share by Default) Rules 2025, which are now available on the Federal Register of Legislation. The Rules, which support the Share by Default legislation passed in 2025, set out how written pathology and diagnostic imaging reports must be shared to My Health Record, including the types of providers that are in scope.

The Agency is developing new resources to help healthcare provider organisations determine whether the pathology and diagnostic imaging services they provide are in scope of the Share by Default Rules. These resources are currently being reviewed and tested with a working group of sector representatives to support clarity and useability for healthcare providers. 

Planned resources include:

• A flowchart that outlines the key considerations for determining whether the pathology and diagnostic imaging services you or your organisation provide are in scope.
• An interactive PDF resource that guides you through a series of questions to confirm whether your services are in scope.

Once finalised, these resources will support understanding of the Rules and their application in practice. Partners are encouraged to look out for further updates and links to these resources in the March edition of Partnership Pulse.

Additional guidance materials for pathology and diagnostic imaging providers and requesting healthcare providers are also available and continue to be updated as implementation progresses.

Further information and links to guidance resources are available on the Share by Default webpage and are included below:

For Healthcare providers: 

• Share by Default overview
• Guide for requesting providers
• Guide for pathology and diagnostic imaging services
• Resources for your patients: Consumer fact sheet

For Consumers: 

• Understanding better and faster access to health information
• Your questions answered: Fact sheet for healthcare consumers
• 1800MEDICARE app for convenient access to your health information, wherever you are.

For more information, visit www.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.

Australia’s connected care journey is advancing under the National Healthcare Interoperability Plan 2023–2028, and the Agency recently published the 10th Interoperability Plan quarterly progress report (October - December 2025). 70% of actions in the National Healthcare Interoperability Plan 2023–2028 are now complete, with all initiatives either finished or underway. For more information, see the Q2 progress report (PDF, 2.33 MB) covering both the Interoperability Plan and the HI Roadmap for the period October – December 2025. 

The adoption of default templates for My Health Record (MHR) clinical document uploads is continuing, as the national rollout of Healthcare Provider Identifiers – Individual (HPI-Is) is progressing with jurisdictions and Private Health Organisations across Australia.

Four organisations - WA Health, St John of God, UnitingCare, and Healthscope – have already transitioned to default templates for MHR uploads, and other organisations, including Ramsay Healthcare, NSW, NT, ACT, VIC, and St Vincent’s Health Australia, are expected to complete their transition by the end of the financial year.

The Interoperability and Connections team, in collaboration with other vendor support teams successfully enabled nine vendors to gain production access to the My Health Record (MHR) system during November and December.

Three of these vendors achieved a key milestone under the Agency’s second Aged Care Industry Offer (ACIO-2), increasing the total MHR connections under this contract to 12, with one vendor still in progress. The vendors included: LeeCare Solutions, Health Metrics, and Management Advantage. Additional vendors completing MHR integration – through new connections or enhanced functionality – were HealthWise Services Pty Ltd, Vitro Software, AlayaCare, and Sonic Healthcare, NSW Pathology and Scanaptics. With 40 more vendors in the pipeline, the Connections team is poised for a busy start to 2026 following a well-earned break.

On 19th January, the Agency unveiled the enhanced Developer Portal available for use by software developers working to connect to the Healthcare Identifier (HI) service and My Health Record (MHR). This is a massive accomplishment that could not have been done without the unwavering support of the SLICC (Streamlining Implementations, Conformance and Connections) project team and aims to streamline vendor support throughout the connection process, better manage vendor expectations upfront and expediate timelines where possible.

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 3 of 20 planned activities have been completed. The remaining activities are on track for completion by June 2028. Some key highlights include:

• Amendments to the Healthcare Identifiers Act 2010 took effect on 1 November 2025, following their passage by the Commonwealth Parliament through the Aged Care and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2025. Additional reforms under the Omnibus Bill were approved in December 2025. These changes expand the range of individuals and entities eligible to be assigned and use healthcare identifiers.
• The Agency is working with Services Australia on enhancements to the HI Service, focusing on improved data matching and accuracy, and continued engagement with National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) is helping improve data matching for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
  • Supporting resources for HI Service and technical standards updates are in development and expected for release in 2026. These will include a dedicated Healthcare Identifiers webpage and a series of short, practical digital health foundations videos. The videos will guide healthcare provider organisations through essential topics such as:
    • What healthcare identifiers are and why they matter
    • How to connect to the HI Service
    • The registration process for My Health Record and electronic prescribing
• 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 Agency’s Healthcare Identifiers Roadmap webpage. 

Health Connect Australia is a national health information exchange program designed to enable the sharing of health information between healthcare participants quickly and securely.

By integrating advanced digital infrastructure, standards, privacy protections and enabling real-time data sharing, Health Connect Australia will support multidisciplinary collaboration across care settings. As a key enabler of the National Digital Health Strategy 2023–2028 and the National Healthcare Interoperability Plan 2023-2028, it ensures secure, connected digital solutions that improve access, efficiency and care quality—paving the way for a smarter, more integrated future in digital health.

The program is currently in its Foundation phase, the first of four phases and is focussed on establishing a National Provider Directory and Authorisation Service. The program is also undertaking discovery work in collaboration with the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists to enable access and viewing of Diagnostic Images nationally. For further information on these initiatives and subsequent phases of the program please refer to the Health Connect Australia Strategy, Architecture and Roadmap.

As the program continues, consultation opportunities for key program artefacts will become available for community contribution such as the FHIR Implementation Guide Community Consultation which is currently open for feedback until 24 February 2026.

For more information please visit Health Connect Australia or contact healtconnect@digitalhealth.gov.au.

The Australian Digital Health Agency, in proud partnership with HL7® Australia, is excited to offer a suite of FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) training courses designed to upskill the Australian health technology workforce and support the nation’s digital health transformation.

Developed and delivered jointly, these courses are tailored to support the Australian healthcare community in its implementation of FHIR.

Why Attend?

• Gain in-demand skills in FHIR standards and implementation
• Contribute to better connected care across the Australian healthcare system
• Meet compliance requirements for digital health initiatives
• Earn CPD points – endorsed by the Certified Health Informatician Australasia (CHIA)
• Join a growing FHIR community and network with peers and experts

To ensure broad participation, the Agency is fully funding places in these courses, making them accessible to professionals across the sector regardless of location or budget.

Course Overview

The training suite includes:

• Introductory modules for those new to FHIR
• Advanced modules for implementers and developers
• Practical guidance on integrating FHIR into real-world systems

The Agency FHIR courses provide:

• e-learning at your own pace
• Live training by FHIR experts
• Hands on exercises and group activities
• Blended learning.

Whether you're a developer, clinician, informatician, or policy maker, these courses are designed to meet your needs and help you contribute to a more interoperable and efficient healthcare system.

Help Shape Future Training

We value your input! Attendees will be invited to share feedback to help inform and improve future training programs, ensuring they remain relevant and impactful.

Ready to upskill and make a difference?

Register now for FHIR training and secure your place in this transformative learning experience.

Alongside the Uplift Plan, the Agency is continuing to deliver a range of initiatives under the Allied Health Program to support sector readiness and connection: 

• Allied Health Industry Offer: Progress continues to enable software vendors to upgrade clinical information systems to support My Health Record viewing and uploading, connection to the Healthcare IdentifiersService, and optional electronic prescribing
  • Six vendors have completed HI registration, with the remaining vendors progressing through onboarding.
  • Five vendors have now integrated with My Health Record, with others continuing development.
  • The Agency is working closely with vendors on solution design, clinical workflows and data mapping to support high-quality clinical document uploads.
• Clinical Terminology and Standards: The Agency is progressing the development of SNOMED CT-AU terminology sets across diagnosis and procedure data to strengthen the capture and exchange of allied health clinical information. Work is also underway to develop Clinical Information System (CIS) standards to provide guidance on minimum software requirements that support consistent, high-quality clinical data capture across allied health settings.
• Sector Engagement and Capability Building: In partnership with AHPA and other peak bodies, the Agency is delivering activities to support sector uplift in 2026, including targeted digital health promotion and practical guidance to increase awareness and uptake of national digital health tools. 

Together, these initiatives are laying the foundations for improved interoperability, safer information sharing and stronger participation by allied health in Australia’s digital health ecosystem. 

The Agency is leading an important new development in improving safety and quality of digital health by establishing the National Clinical Governance Committee for Digital Health (NCGC-DH). The NCGC-DH replaces the Agency’s Clinical Reference Group and builds on the success of that committee by bringing together key national stakeholders including peak bodies, professional associations, consumer groups and representatives from jurisdictions to oversee the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the share by default agenda, as well as providing national leadership on emerging digital models of care.

Reporting to the NCGC-DH are three expert advisory groups that will explore key topics in greater depth:

• Better and Faster Access Expert Advisory Group (EAG) advising on safe health information sharing to My Health Record
• Virtual Care and Telehealth EAG advising on patient safety issues concerning emerging care models
• Artificial Intelligence EAG advising on approaches for clinically safe implementation.

The NCGC-DH is to provide national clinical governance for digital health, system safety and quality, lived experience perspectives and expert clinical advice with the Agency acting as the convening body, supporting the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing provide advice to the Minister for Health and Ageing and Minister for Disability and the National Disability Insurance Scheme, the Honourable Mark Butler MP.

The NCGC-DH held its inaugural meeting in November 2025 with further meetings planned for 2026. The Better and Faster Access EAG and Virtual Care and Telehealth EAG will hold their inaugural meetings in February 2026, with the Artificial Intelligence EAG proposed to meet in April 2026.

The Agency is proud to support these committees focused on supporting safe and high-quality digital health care.