Why Australia needs a digital backbone built for the future
Australia’s healthcare system is entering a new era – one where digital connectivity will be as critical to patient care as hospital beds or medical staff.
The release of the Health Connect Australia Strategy is a landmark moment, setting out a bold vision for a more connected, inclusive and modern healthcare system. At the heart of this transformation is a simple but powerful idea: information should follow the patient.
At Optus, we call this ‘infrastructure as intelligence’ and see it as the foundation for a modern, equitable and patient-centred healthcare system.
Whether they’re visiting a GP, getting emergency care, or managing a chronic condition, their health records, history, and care plans need to move with them – safely and instantly. But achieving this vision isn’t just about new apps or platforms. It’s about the digital infrastructure underneath – the networks, cloud systems and tools that connect it all together.
From utility to enabler
Traditionally, infrastructure has been treated like background wiring – necessary, but not something you think about. That approach no longer works.
Today’s health environments are more complex and as fast moving than ever. Hospitals rely on real time imaging and data. Clinicians use mobile devices and cloud tools at the point of care. Telehealth, remote monitoring and digital records are becoming the norm.
To support this, infrastructure must step up and not just carry data, but actively improve how care is delivered. That means being smarter, faster and more responsive.
At Optus, we’re building this next generation of infrastructure by making it programmable,
aware and adaptive. It’s infrastructure that knows what’s important, responds in real time, and helps health workers focus on what matters to the patient.
Some examples include:
● Private networks that give priority to critical data (such as radiology images or patient monitoring, to keep care uninterrupted).
● Smart networking tools that allow hospitals to move between cloud, on-site systems and remote sites without slowing down or losing control.
● Predictive technology that spots potential issues before they affect patient care – from outages to system strain.
● 5G-powered solutions that bring decision making to the front line – from emergency vehicles to rural clinics.
It’s about giving health providers tools that don’t just support them, but actively help them deliver faster, safer care.
Alignment with Health Connect Australia
The goals of Health Connect Australia – including better access to information, greater patient control, improved security and stronger digital foundations – all line up closely with how we already work.
We have designed our infrastructure to be open and compatible, so it can connect with national systems like My Health Record and work alongside different electronic medical record (EMR) platforms. We follow national standards around privacy and security, and deliver cloud first, secure-by-design solutions ready to be used by public, private and regional health services.
Importantly, we aren’t just providing the technology, but also partnering across the system to make it usable in real world settings. From state departments and Primary Health Networks (PHNs) to private providers and community clinics, Optus is helping turn strategy into capability and vision into delivery.
Looking ahead: infrastructure that thinks ahead
As the national strategy moves through its four key phases – from setting up the foundations, to sharing information securely, to building discovery tools and enhancing services – infrastructure must evolve alongside it.
But we believe there’s an even bigger opportunity: building an infrastructure layer that actively supports better health outcomes.
That might mean using digital twins to test how new hospital layouts affect care delivery. Or helping ambulance crews send vital data ahead to hospitals via 5G, so staff are ready before the patient arrives. It might mean using AI to spot trends across regions and better prepare for demand, whether that’s a flu season or a rural health workforce shortage.
We are also thinking globally. Around the world, governments are investing in smarter digital infrastructure to support better health from AI-led transformation in the U.S. FDA to new unified record platforms in Europe and Africa. Australia can lead in this space, but we need to be proactive.
This is where Optus sees its long-term role: not just as a service provider, but as a system enabler and innovation partner. We want to help connect the dots between policy, technology and people – ensuring every investment in digital health actually improves lives on the ground.
In closing: A global opportunity
Healthcare will always be about people – doctors, nurses, patients and carers. But to truly support them, the digital systems behind the scenes must be just as agile and smart as the people using them.
The Health Connect Australia Strategy gives us the blueprint. Now we must bring it to life -with infrastructure that doesn’t just connect us, but helps us care smarter, faster and more fairly.
At Optus, we are ready to help lead the way.
Yes. But patient informed consent absolutely essential
Yes. Private and public infrastructure stakeholders have equal responsibility of meeting the needs of patients
Yes. I believe the right infrastructure and technology enabled medical equipment can enhance hospital in home management by GP’s can take off a lot of pressure on hospital bed situations making it available to those requiring high level care.Dedicated specialist input can be accessed in a similar fashion. Integration of technology and government bodies like PHN, GP colleges like RACGP and ACRRM can help GP’s take on the ground work.
Yes. Absolutely! Please don’t leave us out of the equation. Small business private practitioners often don’t have all the support networks (admin, It support, appropriate clinical software etc) that hospital employees have access to because they are not affordable and they are time poor to explore the options. We need our unique requirements to be heard and accommodated. It is vital that private practice becomes a sustainable option for all health professionals for many reasons, including allowing flexibility for health workers to fit in with family and other commitments. Personally, I would not have been able to work at all as an occupational and lymphoedema therapist if private practice had not been an option, due to issues with my mother’s, childrens’ and my own health. Lucky for me, my partner supports me financially, as private practice was never sustainable financially.