Welcome to our Winter Newsletter. These newsletters often coincide with the transition to a new season and for this one it is winter, bringing shorter days, warmer clothes, and indoor heating. Organisations also face transitions including the DHCRC where we are transitioning into a new phase while planning for our 18-month extension which gives us a revised completion date of December 2026.
Our initial seven-year term was due to finish in mid-2025. However, when we were established in 2018 no one could have foreseen the challenges and changes that would be forced onto the healthcare sector, and the economy more broadly, by the onset of COVID-19. The global pandemic delayed many of our research projects, but at the same time demonstrated the extraordinary benefits that digital health can deliver in improving the health outcomes of all Australians.
Planning for the next two and half years gives us the opportunity to focus on our lasting legacies, which coincides with an increased focus on, and investment in, digital health.
The work we are doing to build evidence-based research and upskill the health workforce alongside you, our industry, university, and health partners, aligns strongly with the Federal Government’s ten-year Digital Health Blueprint released late last year, and a continued and deeper focus on digital health including:
- The recently released Federal Budget further committed investment across aged care, virtual care, medical research, and artificial intelligence. We welcome this investment by the Federal Government.
- The Productivity Commission has identified the potential of digital technology to generate cost savings and improve efficiency. Including a headline-grabbing figure of $5.5 billion that could be saved each year off the health budget by integrating digital technology. We facilitated a roundtable with our healthtech partners with Commissioner Catherine de Fontenay, as part of the consultation for this report.
- The recently released Medical Science Co-Investment Plan, committed up to $1.5 billion to medical manufacturing in Australia.
- And a strategic review of the research and development system has been announced by the Federal Government in the National Health and Medical Research Strategy to facilitate strategic coordination of innovation and research priorities to meet Australia’s health needs.
Supporting these efforts of the Commonwealth remains a priority, along with maximising the research translation from our R&D investment and upskilling the health workforce. Our focus on commercialisation will increase along with supporting our digital health technology participants and the broader Australian digital health technology sector in line with the Federal Government’s aspirations.
It is so gratifying to see this attention, finally, being placed on digital health. We have a once in a generation opportunity to take advantage of this attention, to transform the delivery of healthcare, and to improve patient experiences. We plan to help drive this forward every step of the way.
I hope you enjoy our Winter newsletter. We have some exciting news about our showcase event series; another great industry partner profile, this time Five Faces CEO Nicole Nixon; and lots of updates from our education team.
Warm regards,
Annette Schmiede
CEO
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