Bringing you the latest news and updates from DHCRC
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A message from our CEO
Annette Schmiede
Welcome to our first newsletter of 2025. It has been a busy and productive start to the year with the release of two significant reports on the aged care sector. Aged care has been a focus since our foundation, and it is certain to be one of our lasting legacies.
We know that around 65,000 aged care workers leave this sector every year. This is not sustainable. And it is not because of the caring responsibilities or patients that they give as their main reason for leaving, but predominantly because of the increased administrative burden they are facing. Better collection, and use, of data is critical to helping solve this pain point for aged care.
We have a number of projects focused on digital, data and aged care and are tackling these challenges head-on. It is an area we are passionate about and we will continue to advocate for both across the sector and with government.
To this end, at the ITAC conference this month, I used my keynote presentation to release a joint report with Semantic Consulting calling for a standardised, nationwide approach to assessing older Australians’ health and wellbeing.
At the DHCRC we have experienced first-hand the challenges posed by a lack of data standardisation across
the sector through our flagship Aged Care Data Compare (ACDC) research project. We firmly believe a uniform approach is critical to inform care needs and reduce pressures across the aged care sector.
The report makes a series of recommendations around the implementation of a standardised functional assessment framework and we at the DHCRC are calling on the industry to work together to make this change a reality. We welcome input from aged care providers and vendors on the recommendations of this report and we will host a series of events and consultations to drive this collaboration, so stay tuned.
The second report was published in partnership with the CSIRO’s Australian e-Health Research Centre (AEHRC). The Australian Aged Care Data Landscape Report looks at how data is collected, shared, and used across aged care. The report shows that data is being collected in a breadth of ways and formats to provide care for older adults living at home or in residential aged care facilities. Data exchange across the sector and with the broader healthcare sector is limited by a lack of system interoperability. The report identifies a number of key priorities for the sector.
Take a read here.
In other news, our education and capacity building team continues to achieve success and broaden its reach. Our Australian Council of Senior Academic Leaders in Digital Health, established by the DHCRC last year, has been selected by the Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) to help coordinate a national approach to embed digital health education into university degrees.
It is critical all graduates enter the workforce with an understanding of digital health systems and how they can be used to support clinical decisions and provide better care. This is a critical initiative that supports the goal of the National Digital Health Capability Action Plan (CAP) to support digital health capability for new and existing workers. You can read more on this initiative below.
As you can see throughout this newsletter, there is a lot of momentum building in the digital health sector. With a federal election approaching it is important we continue to place healthcare as a national priority. We have seen so much change over recent years, yet we are still playing catchup on the systems and processes that are critical to embed digital health into practice.
Warm regards,
Annette Schmiede
CEO
Latest News
Building digital health capability: Transforming healthcare education in Australia
A new national initiative is embedding digital health education into university degrees, equipping future healthcare professionals with the skills needed for a digitally enabled future.
Led by the Australian Digital Health Agency and the Digital Health CRC’s Academic Council, this project aims to standardise digital health curricula and address knowledge gaps in healthcare education.
Inaugural Council Chair and Director of the Queensland Digital Health Centre at the University of Queensland, Professor Clair Sullivan, said: “Our workforce needs to be progressively ‘retooled’ to face the future of healthcare. Embedding digital education into university degrees will advance digital health research and education to positively impact Australia’s healthcare system.”
The initiative will develop core digital health topics for degrees, provide training for educators, and create resources to support a connected, innovative health workforce.
Setting the standard: collective action needed for a sustainable aged care sector
Addressing the Ageing Australia ITAC 2025 conference in Melbourne, DHCRC CEO, Annette Schmiede, issued a call for collective action to industry leaders to support the urgent need for a standardised, government-backed, nationwide approach to assessing functional abilities of older Australians in residential aged care.
A DHCRC-commissioned report by independent digital health specialist, Semantic Consulting, makes a series of recommendations around the implementation of a standardised functional assessment framework.
The DHCRC has committed its support behind the report’s recommendation to develop a prototype SMART on FHIR app with the ability for aged care software vendors to easily integrate.
New report provides a snapshot of digital health in aged care
The Australian aged care data landscape report identifies how data is collected, shared and used across aged care and highlights the associated challenges and opportunities.
Standardised data sharing is vital to connected and coordinated care across the aged care sector, according to a new report from CSIRO’s Australian e-Health Research Centre (AEHRC) and the DHCRC.
The Australian aged care data landscape: Gaps, opportunities, and future directions report identifies key priorities for the sector including improving the interoperability of systems by promoting common data languages and developing a coordinated, national approach to support data access and use.
Smarter procurement: the missing link in Australia’s digital health future
Australia’s health system is world-class with a thriving research sector in health and medical sciences. Yet, when it comes to supporting and scaling homegrown digital health innovations, our disconnected public hospital system presents a significant barrier.
The recent $32 million investment in Harrison.ai by the National Reconstruction Fund Corporation (NRFC) is a welcome recognition of the potential and capability of Australia’s digital health industry. But it also highlights a critical and unresolved challenge: Why must Australian digital health companies scale offshore before they are recognised at home?
Education Update
The future of perioperative nursing: digital health research by Cory Williams
DHCRC PhD scholar and emerging leader Cory Williams has published new research on the role of digital health in perioperative nursing. His paper explores how digital tools can improve patient outcomes, streamline workflows, and support clinical decision-making in surgical settings. Cory’s work highlights the potential of digital innovation to enhance perioperative care.
Find out more on the Big Thinkers Forum.
Hear from three of our brilliant interns whose project findings are hot off the press:
- Elizabeth Kells: NSW Health’s ‘single front door’ model to streamline healthcare access. Read more
- Angela Pan: AI-driven automation to improve hospital quality measures and efficiency. Read more
- Putu Jyoti Prema: Automated clinical documentation to enhance lymphedema patient care. Read more
Our emerging leaders are represented on the DHCRC Talent Hub: take a moment to explore this diverse and powerful community.
Calling all start-up founders, business owners and workplace managers tackling complex healthcare challenges
DHCRC's Curiosity Camp might be the intervention you have been looking for. If you're a problem owner and think you might benefit from fresh perspectives, real-time strategic problem solving, and a handpicked team of experts, click the link to find out more about this innovative program.
Project Update
Health research for all
We believe health care cannot be inclusive if health research is not inclusive. Currently, health research is not inclusive of all and this contributes to the perpetuation of health inequities for many communities (including First Nation Australians, migrants, and refugees, LGBTQIA+ communities, people living with disabilities etc.). Our work has shown that many researchers lack the knowledge and confidence to design, plan and conduct inclusive health research.
The Health Research for All program aims to address this by delivering an online
capacity-building product for researchers, through the curation and development of high-quality resources that will enable researchers to undertake more inclusive research.
Upcoming Events
DHF brings together 8,000+ senior execs for two days of learning, networking, and fun, creating spaces for connections to thrive.
You’ll rub shoulders with leaders in digital transformation - senior execs, clinicians, and tech buffs from hospitals, primary & allied health, pharma, and aged care, alongside Australia’s wellness community.
DISCOUNT CODE: SPONSORGUEST
Collaborate Innovate is your chance to connect with people from across the entire R&D and innovation system – from researchers and government agencies and institutions, right through to venture capitalists and businesses involved in innovation.
The 2025 conference will bring together this industry-research community to focus on Australia’s potential to be a research, development, and innovation powerhouse with the conference theme – Bold Ideas, Brave Ventures: Collaborate to Compete in a Changing Environment. Join hundreds of other like-minded attendees in addressing critical matters surrounding research translation, utilisation and commercialisation, and innovation and industrial transformation.
The Cooperative Research Australia (CRA) Awards for Excellence in Innovation and Early Career Researchers Competition are accepting nominations.
- The Awards will be presented at the Gala Dinner on Tuesday 20 May 2025 as part of Collaborate Innovate.
- The Early Career Researchers (ECR) competition will also be at Collaborate Innovate 2025.
