Australia’s healthcare sector is one of the world’s most productive. Compared to peer countries, we achieve some of the best population health outcomes for our healthcare dollar, once we account for risk and environmental factors.

But these gains largely stem from advances in saving lives, not cost reductions. Australia's health spending continues to increase, as the burden of chronic disease grows, the population ages, and consumer expectations rise.

At the same time, the lingering effects of COVID-19 and workforce constraints are contributing to longer wait times for care. In hospital emergency departments, the share of high-priority patients seen on time has fallen. A growing number of Australians say that wait times for general practitioners (GPs) and specialists are unacceptably long.

Australia needs to find ways of containing healthcare spending and easing system pressures without sacrificing the quality of care. Digital technology can help achieve these goals if implemented well. 

Key points:

• While Australia has made major strides integrating digital technology into healthcare, there are still a lot of unrealised gains that governments can help unlock.
• Governments can better exploit the value of health information by improving information sharing.
• Governments can help embed remote care services into mainstream practice.
• Governments can harness the power of AI by building trust among users and improving access to data.