As Spring brings some welcome warm weather to Sydney, the iconic Harbour Ferries are filling up again – it really must be the best way in the world to get to the office!
The last few months have seen the second Albanese Government settle in with new Minister Tim Ayres in the Department of Industry Science and Resources. We have also seen a new assistant minister, Andrew Charlton, appointed with Data and Digital in his portfolio. This is welcome news for the Digital Health CRC, as we operate within this Industry portfolio and are well-positioned to make the case for the health care sector’s vital role in productivity improvement and the opportunities for the Australian digital health technology sector to grow and expand both locally and globally. The global success of Harrison.ai, a home-grown company deploying AI tools to support clinical diagnosis, is a testament to this reality.
We are also seeing R&D as top of the political and business agenda, a rare occurrence, I would say, in my many decades of working in the health and research sectors. The productivity challenges facing the Australian economy have been well-prosecuted over recent months. In this context, it is encouraging to see the contribution of R&D recognised in addressing this productivity challenge.
However, despite the talk, the reality is our investment in R&D is in terminal decline. The Strategic Examination of Research & Development (SERD) notes that our investment in R&D has steadily decreased over the last 15 years to 1.66% of GDP – just 60% of the OECD average.
The SERD issues papers are currently open for consultation. They present the case for the importance of R&D in boosting productivity and addressing the complex challenges facing Australia into the future.
One of these complex areas is healthcare. An ageing population that requires more frequent and complex care, and the growing prevalence of chronic disease, is putting unprecedented strain on our health system and ultimately the economy. Research to generate new insights and understanding, and development focused on applying those insights to produce practical solutions or commercial opportunities to improve outcomes and the health of current and future generations.
We clearly see access to data and mobilizing digital technologies playing a key role in this discussion.
Last month, we launched our own research report: Health Data is a National Asset: Observations into Unlocking the value of Australia’s Health and Medical Data for Research, Improvement and Innovation.
Australia’s health data is underused but holds enormous value, with this Report intended to be a starting point to shape a national shared vision and way forward to unlock this value.
In this report, we identified the need for a national health and medical data blueprint to guide long-term investment and achieve greater coordination, enabling world-leading data-driven research to support health care innovation.
The draft National Health & Medical Research Strategy 2026–2036, released for consultation earlier this month, strongly agreed and supported the role of data and advanced technology as a fundamental asset to enable a successful health and medical research ecosystem. It sees building capability in emerging technologies, AI and data, that is accessible and linked, as essential building blocks, and we couldn’t agree more.
These are significant Reviews that have the potential to reshape the future of R&D in healthcare and the broader economy, and as part of our role, we will continue to advocate and contribute to these national discussions. To this end, you can read more below on the virtual workshop we co-hosted with Research Australia to bring together key stakeholders to discuss these in further detail and explore how a unified national coordinated approach could strengthen data-driven healthcare.
Our unique ability to bring together industry, government, and universities positions us strongly to be a leading voice in this critical R&D discussion. We have seen how powerful this collaborative approach is in practice. A good example of this ability to bring all stakeholders together is our work in aged care.
Building upon the work of the Aged Care Data Compare (ACDC) flagship project, the DHCRC is now investing in the development of a production-ready SMART on FHIR Quality Indicator Tool to demonstrate the feasibility of a solution for standardising the data collected for the functional assessment of older Australians and generating evidence-based quality indicators.
We are calling this solution Kinnexus. You can read more below and sign up to stay informed, but beyond the tech, what is really exciting is the first-hand feedback we are getting from aged care workers about the potential time savings this tool presents, collecting information once and using many times, and the opportunity to deliver better, more timely reporting to government.
We need practical, translatable, and collaborative initiatives like this. Blueprints, roadmaps, and discussion papers are important, but only when they serve a clear purpose – setting a clear direction toward a better future.
We need to move from this current state of under investment in R&D, which is too often characterised by fragmented efforts, duplication, and short-term funding, to a future state where we have shared priorities, reduced inefficiencies, and, most critically of all, in my view, national leadership, agreed priorities, and coordination across Federal and State governments.
As I said, there is a lot going on in the world of R&D, and it is energising to be working together to ensure our courses are set for a bright future.
Warm regards,
Annette Schmiede
CEO, Digital Health CRC
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