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Optus shares vision for intelligent digital infrastructure

14 July 2025
By Heather Fletcher
Image: iStock

The government’s new Health Connect Australia Strategy represents an opportunity for Australia to lead globally in digital health innovation, says Optus.

However, success will require close collaboration between healthcare providers, technology companies, and government agencies.   

And traditional connectivity models may not be sufficient for the strategy’s interoperability goals. Instead there was a requirement for “infrastructure-as-intelligence”.

Optus was commenting on the  Health Connect Australia strategy, architecture and roadmap which articulates the vision for “secure, efficient and standardised information exchange” across Australia’s healthcare sector.  It brings together the National Digital Health Strategy’s objectives and the Interoperability Plan’s recommendations.

Optus Head of Government, Enterprise and Business Kavin Arnasalon said traditional connectivity models would not suffice for the ambitious interoperability goals outlined in Health Connect Australia.

“Moving beyond basic infrastructure-as-a-service, the healthcare sector requires what we call ‘infrastructure-as-intelligence’, where every connection delivers not just data transfer, but context, trust, and actionable insights,” Mr Arnasalon said.

“Traditionally, digital infrastructure has been viewed as a passive utility. But in an increasingly data-driven, sensory-rich healthcare environment, it must become an intelligent participant in clinical and operational processes.”

He said Optus was operationalising this shift by embedding programmability, sensing, observability, and AI into its digital infrastructure – including:

  • Cognitive Private Networks that prioritise critical workloads (ie. radiology, telemetry) in real time.
  • AI-powered SD-WAN, enabling dynamic movement between on-prem, cloud, and edge with no latency or compliance trade-offs.
  • End-to-end observability, letting clinicians use AI and digital twins to predict issues before they impact care.
  • Sovereign 5G edge, bringing decentralised decision making to ambulances and rural clinics.

“This positions infrastructure as a strategic, responsive asset – one that protects data, improves outcomes, and reduces cost,” he said.

EFFECTIVE IMPLEMENTATION

Australian Digital Health Agency Chief Digital Officer Peter O’Halloran said that core to the effective implementation of Health Connect Australia is increasing the adoption of open national and international digital health standards.  

“With evolving technology and an ever-changing healthcare system, new and updated digital health standards are essential to enable health information to be accurately generated, shared and interpreted across systems using consistent data and terminology frameworks,” Mr O’Halloran said at the launch.  

“Efforts are also underway to develop robust legislative and policy settings to support the seamless exchange of health information across jurisdictions.”

Mr Arnasalon said Optus was in alignment with Health Connect Australia across design, delivery, and procurement.

  • Adoption of Interoperable Patterns and Principles:

We use open, modular architectures to integrate with national platforms (e.g. My Health Record), support EMR/EHR compatibility, and ensure vendor-neutrality.

“Our Digital Infrastructure Blueprint mirrors key Agency artefacts – from SD-WAN and 5G reference models to security-by-design and reusable components like consent and identity layers.

  • Alignment with Procurement Guidelines: 

We deliver pre-assessed, security-cleared networks, cloud-native services, and edge-enabled capabilities aligned with ADHA’s cloud-first policy. We conform to national standards and privacy-by-design frameworks.

  • Acting as a System-Level Enabler:

“Optus acts both as a co-developer of national infrastructure and a partner to state agencies, PHNs, and private providers – translating strategy into on-the-ground capability. We operate as a distribution layer for interoperability and security across metro, regional, and remote health settings,” he said.

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