Tripling its investment, the Australian Digital Health Agency (the Agency) is accelerating the connection of allied health professionals to comprehensive consumer healthcare data via My Health Record and electronic prescribing services through its expanded Allied Health Industry Offer .
Agency CEO Amanda Cattermole PSM said the expanded investment underscores the Agency's commitment to improving clinical decision-making at the point of care.
"The Allied Health Industry Offer attracted substantial interest from software vendors, resulting in 16 vendors now working on this important project. This has enabled the Agency to expand funding to more than $2 million to support a broader range of professions within the sector," Ms Cattermole said.
"Co-design work began this week to create software that will provide allied health professionals with the digital tools to access vital health information, paving the way for more effective and coordinated care for all Australians.
"Improved information sharing is critical where broad care teams need to work together to provide the best outcomes for healthcare consumers, such as supporting chronic, advanced or complex disease management."
Agency Chief Program Officer Paul Creech PSM emphasised the importance of creating a range of clinical software that met the diverse needs of the allied health sector.
"With this expanded investment we are able to collaborate with a range of vendors, from those with broad market share to smaller organisations with niche expertise, to drive innovative solutions," Mr Creech said.
"We remain committed to exploring ways to support all allied health professions to connect to digital health infrastructure, ensuring all Australians can benefit from better connected healthcare."
The first two vendors contracted to the Allied Health Industry Offer have been joined by a further 14 vendors (the full list is below):
- Best Practice Software
- Beyond Essential Systems (BES)
- CareLynx
- Cared Global
- Clintel Systems
- Energy Testing Solutions Australia
- Global Health Limited
- Halaxy
- Harmonie Health
- Humanetix
- Medical-Objects
- PalCare
- PPMP
- QUBS
- Touchstone Life Care
- ToukanLabs
With over 300,000 allied health professionals providing 200 million services annually, the expanded funding promises to add significantly to those already accessing My Health Record and enhance capabilities in areas such as dietetics and nutrition, exercise physiology, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, podiatry, psychology, speech therapy, social work, counselling and sonography.
The Allied Health Industry Offer was released in September 2024 in response to the recommendations of the Strengthening Medicare Taskforce Report 2022. The Agency's approach has been informed by the Allied Health Digital Transformation Survey Report published in February 2025 and conducted in collaboration with Allied Health Professions Australia (AHPA). The survey revealed strong interest among allied health professionals in connecting to digital health infrastructure.
AHPA CEO Bronwyn Morris-Donovan said this is the largest and most diverse cohort to respond to a national survey focused on Australian allied health professionals and their use of digital products.
"Fit-for-purpose, conformant Clinical Information Systems are one of three infrastructure enablers identified in the survey," Ms Morris-Donovan said.
"This investment into software vendors is a necessary first step toward enabling allied health professionals to access and use digital products such as My Health Record and electronic prescribing."
As software vendors work towards delivering solution design documents by May 2025, they have already attended an Information Session to establish connections and support from the Agency's specialists in solution architecture, conformance assurance, clinical safety, connections, service design, interoperability and electronic prescribing.
