Submission to the Next National Digital Health Strategy Consultation

This two-page letter to the Australian Digital Health Agency responds to the consultation on the next National Digital Health Strategy. Research Australia considers the current strategy’s seven pillars still relevant and recommends a progress update on the 2018 Framework for Action. Drawing on COVID-19, it notes that state check-in apps broadened what counts as digital health, that digital vaccine certificates showed what Commonwealth and State cooperation can achieve, and that telehealth and remote monitoring need further work. It recommends national tracking and tracing systems to be built and tested before the next pandemic or disaster, and asks whether My Health Record’s absence from the pandemic response was a missed opportunity.