Global Specialist Digital Health Workforce Census – Australian census 2023

Start Date

2 June 2023

End Date

29 March 2024

Project Participants

Australasian Institute of Digital Health, Australian Government Department of Health Disability and Ageing, Australian Library and Information Association, Health Information Management Association of Australia, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT University), Telstra Health, University of Melbourne

Status: Completed

Tags: career pathways, data analytics, digital health workforce, education and training, health informatics, health system, workforce capability, workforce diversity

Opportunity

Australia needs a clear understanding of the specialist workforce that develops, manages and governs the data, information and knowledge underpinning digital health. Without reliable workforce evidence, it is difficult to anticipate capability requirements, identify shortages, support career development or align education and training with the future needs of the health system.

The project was an opportunity to quantify and qualify the specialist digital health workforce in Australia through a third national census.

Project Objectives

The Census captures vital information about this workforce for use by government, academia, peak bodies, and industry. The project aimed to conduct the Census, publish a high-level summary of the findings, and provide data to partners to identify workforce growth andforecast future workforce needs for strategy and planning. This data would also support further analysis of workforce configuration, emerging roles and capability gaps that could  inform education, training needs, and career pathways.

The census launched on 1 July 2023, and recorded 1,103 responses.

The project published the Specialist Digital Health Workforce Census: Summary Report 2023, providing a high-level summary of the census findings. The project team also produced a special report focussed on the gender diversity in Australia’s digital health workforce, along with additional analyses relating to education, professionalisation and gender continuing beyond project completion.

A cleaned dataset was produced and made available to project parties for internal analysis and for non-research, strategy, education and planning purposes.

The project provides government, industry, professional associations, educators and researchers with a stronger evidence base for understanding Australia’s specialist digital health workforce. By supporting approved non-commercial analysis of Census data, it enables more informed policy, education and capability development and contributes to building the skilled workforce required for a digitally enabled Australian health system.

A capable specialist digital health workforce is essential to developing, implementing, maintaining and governing the data, information, systems and services required for digitally enabled healthcare. The knowledge generated in this project continues to contribute to Australia’s longer-term digital health capacity and workforce readiness.

Integrity, Excellence,
Teamwork and Authenticity

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