A message from our CEO
Annette Schmiede

Two landmark reports released in recent months make one thing unmistakably clear: Australia has reached a turning point for health and medical research - and digital health will play a critical role in what comes next.

The Federal Government's Ambitious Australia review of the national R&D system, together with the newly released National Health and Medical Research Strategy 2026–2036, sets out a bold 10-year reform agenda. Both recognise that translating research into real-world outcomes is no longer aspirational. It is a national imperative.

This focus was reflected in the recent Federal Budget, which included significant funding for digital health: $598.3 million to enhance My Health Record; $210 million to fast-track delivery of new national digital and connected health infrastructure; and $79.2 million to support implementation of national digital and connected health reforms in public hospitals.

The policy environment we are operating in has never been more aligned with what we do at the DHCRC.  Decisions being made now - around data governance, AI in healthcare, and interoperability standards - will shape the architecture of Australia's health system for decades. Together with our partners, we are a strong collective voice in these discussions.

Our mission has always been to translate world-class R &D into real-world impact - connecting our university and research partners with the practical needs of industry, government, the workforce, and most importantly, patients and consumers. That work continues, and I am proud of the breadth and depth of projects we have delivered over the past 8 years.

This is not a time to slow down, though. What matters now is whether investment translates into meaningful change for the community, those providing care, and all those who support the broader health system. 

In 2022, we released a flagship report with Deloitte, Australia’s health reimagined. In that report, we talked of a future driven by a confident and connected consumer with a system featuring robust data interoperability, digital tools, and ecosystem connections to deliver personalised care. While significant progress has been made, we still have a way to go to make this vision a reality. The momentum must not falter.

As we move into the second half of the year, our focus sharpens: completing and translating our research pipeline, ongoing engagement on the policy reforms, and future-looking collaborative opportunities that I look forward to sharing with you in the months ahead. 

In this edition, we share progress in clinical information modelling, education, and workforce capability, including work connected to synthetic data and informatics training. We also celebrate a recent award win for ADAPt and celebrate some of our emerging leader cohort. 

If digital health is to deliver on its promise, it must help create a health system that is not only more digitally enabled but also more connected around the needs of patients and communities. That is the opportunity now in front of us. And it is one that the DHCRC is proud to continue to help shape.

Latest News 

hosted by Cooperative Research Australia, and sponsored by Edith Cowan University. The award recognises the project’s collaborative success and demonstration of clear, measurable benefits, even at an early stage. 

The ADAPt project was established in 2021 by the DHCRC in collaboration with Monash University, Eastern Health, Department of Health Victoria, and the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards. The project addresses a long-standing challenge across the health sector: the reliance of health services on manual, retrospective and resource intensive processes to prepare for accreditation assessment against the National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards. 

From concept to reality, Health Clinical Informatics Fellowship – a first of its kind 

The Digital Health CRC, Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, and the Australasian Institute for Digital Health (AIDH) are proud to announce that the Clinical Informatics Fellowship (CIF) will move from concept to reality in 2027. 

The AIDH’s new Clinical Informatics Fellowship Program will give clinicians working at the intersection of health and digital practice the opportunity to be formally accredited and awarded professional fellowship standing. 

The CIF Program provides the healthcare system with a clear and evidence-based pathway to gain the skills and knowledge to transform care, with a nationally and ultimately internationally recognised fellowship. 

Aged care Quality Indicator app passes QI API v2.0

Kinnexus has demonstrated that the ‘capture once, reuse many’ approach delivers measurable improvements in data quality, workflow efficiency, and operational insight.

“Kinnexus integrates into existing aged care clinical systems and has been designed to significantly reduce clinician and provider investment in the generation of mandatory QI”, said Aged Care Strategy Lead, Meagan Snewin. “I invite nurses who want to see Kinnexus in action for themselves to contact me directly at Meagan.Snewin@dhcrc.com". 

Dr. Cory Williams is the Research and Clinical Lead at Five Faces where he brings his deep research into the patient journey to help shape and implement practical digital health solutions at scale.

Tell us about your career journey to date?
My career began as a Registered Nurse working on a surgical ward at the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital. Early on, I developed a strong interest not only in caring for patients, but also in understanding how healthcare systems and processes could be improved.

I later moved into a surgical case management role where I was responsible for coordinating patient journeys, booking surgeries and working closely with multidisciplinary teams. It was in this role that I became increasingly aware of the challenges faced by both patients and clinicians throughout the surgical journey. I found myself constantly asking how we could do things better, more efficiently and in a way that improved the patient experience.

That interest led me into a dedicated Service Improvement and Innovation role within Surgical and Perioperative Services at RBWH, where I was able to focus on identifying problems, engaging stakeholders and developing solutions to improve care delivery.

Alongside this work, I completed a PhD in Digital Health through Queensland University of Technology. The experience opened the door to my current role as Research and Clinical Lead with Five Faces, a health technology company focused on improving patient engagement and healthcare experiences through digital solutions. Today, I have the opportunity to work across both the public health and digital health sectors, helping bridge the gap between clinical practice, research and innovation.

Education Update

DHCRC scholarship recipient, Sophie Macklin, publishes research on digital health in rural and remote settings

research evening at UQ, where she met Senior Research Fellow at the Queensland Digital Health Centre (QDHeC), and now co-author, Dr Lee Woods.

In starting her Honours, Sophie wanted to solve a real-world issue and went to eHealth Queensland to ask what research they would find useful. They pointed her to rural and remote healthcare and cited the need to map the journey of consumer healthcare information between services, including where it works well and where the issues are, especially because those settings were still largely paper-based.

The Digital Health CRC Synthetic Health Data Masterclasses, held in Melbourne, Sydney, and Perth, was a sell-out this month with a mix of government, industry, health providers, and health consumers attending the Masterclass to have thoughtful discussions, share learnings, and gain hands-on experience. 

Facilitated by Professor James Boyd from La Trobe University and the Swansea University (UK) team, they presented across all three masterclasses, bringing their deep experience and practical insights on synthetic health data. 

Across the three locations and two days, one message came through clearly: synthetic health data is not just a technical tool, but an important enabler of safer, more privacy-preserving research, innovation, and collaboration across the health system.

Universities push for national reset of digital health research

Project Spotlight

A review into Australia’s Clinical Information Modelling (CIM) ecosystem has found our workforce training capabilities remain largely undeveloped, calling on more formal and informal training, and the establishment of national standards, to re-establish Australia’s leadership in digital health and data standards. 

The Workforce Competencies and Gap Analysis for Clinical Information Modelling in Australia, a report released by the Digital Health CRC and RMIT University, makes 11 recommendations for Australia to maintain sustainable digital health leadership, addressing the shortage of skilled CIM professionals – a bottleneck that threatens to constrain Australia’s digital health ambitions. 

CIM provides the foundation for interoperability, enabling health information to flow across organisational boundaries while preserving its clinical meaning and safety. Without it, digital health infrastructure remains a collection of isolated systems speaking different dialects, unable to collaborate effectively in the delivery of patient care. 

Upcoming Events

Register now for the launch of Don’t Walk. Run. AI in Healthcare – The 3rd National Policy Roadmap. Join the Australian Alliance for AI in Healthcare (AAAiH) for the official launch of its third National Policy Roadmap on 22 July 2026, 1:00–2:00pm. This landmark report sets the national agenda for policy and practice in AI-enabled healthcare.

The Roadmap provides critical guidance across governance, workforce capability, regulation, industry development, and AI safety. It builds on previous national efforts and responds to the growing urgency to close the gap between rapid technological advances and healthcare system readiness.

Developed by the AAAiH with the support of the Australian Institute of Health Innovation at Macquarie University, in partnership with the Digital Health Cooperative Research Centre (CRC), CSIRO eHealth Research Centre, and RMIT University, the Roadmap identifies key priorities to accelerate safe and effective adoption of AI in healthcare.

Hear from Professor Enrico Coiera, Director of the Centre for Health Informatics at AIHI and founding member of AAAiH, and Adjunct Professor Annette Schmiede, CEO of the Digital Health CRC, as they outline the policy challenges and opportunities that AI brings to healthcare.

This webinar is designed for clinicians, healthcare leaders, policymakers, digital health and IT professionals, regulators, workforce planners, researchers, patient safety leaders, and consumers interested in the future of healthcare.

Register to attend and receive access to the report on release.

Digital health is shifting from application-centric to data-centric architectures, changing how platforms, applications, and standards work together. In this webinar, the Digital Health CRC and Monash University will explore the foundational principles of openEHR and its role in enabling open platforms and open ecosystems. We will unpack what a modular EHR is and how it differs from traditional monolithic systems, alongside the “right tool for the right job” approach to digital health architecture. The session will also clarify how openEHR aligns with other international standards such as HL7 FHIR and OMOP CDM, and what this means for health and care providers as well as application vendors. Nordic success stories will highlight critical success factors and the lessons that may be transferable to Australasia.

• Date & Time #1: 13 July 2026 – 3pm – 4pm AEST
• Date & Time #2: 23 July 2026 – 4pm – 5pm AEST

Note: This webinar will be delivered twice on different dates to provide flexibility for attendees, so you only need to register for one session.

Created by the digital health community for the community, this event is focused on turning groundbreaking ideas into practical solutions that transform healthcare. Join us at ICC Sydney in August 2026 for an experience that challenges the status quo, fosters collaboration, and celebrates actionable innovation.

Join the nation’s leading researchers, clinicians, philanthropists and decision-makers for an evening that matters.

For more than two decades, the Research Australia Health & Medical Research Awards have recognised the individuals and teams transforming health outcomes across the country. Now in their 22nd year, these prestigious awards showcase the depth and breadth of Australia’s research and innovation community — from discovery and translation through to commercialisation.

The awards shine a spotlight on the researchers, clinicians, philanthropists and advocates whose work improves lives, strengthens our health system and drives Australia’s global leadership in health and medical research.

This year’s combined 2025–26 awards bring together an outstanding field of nominees from across the country, reflecting the remarkable strength and diversity of Australia’s health and medical research community.