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The Australian Digital Health Agency has set up a national committee to guide the safe use of AI, virtual care, and other emerging digital health technologies in Australia.
WHAT IT'S ABOUT
Based on a media release, the National Clinical Governance Committee for Digital Health (NCGC-DH) will advise the government on policies and practices as digital health technology evolves.
It will be supported by expert advisory groups focused on three areas of growth and innovation in digital health:
- safe health information sharing through My Health Record;
- patient safety and quality issues in virtual care and telehealth; and
- safe implementation of AI in healthcare settings.
These groups will include clinicians, consumers, industry, health technology experts, and other relevant government agencies, such as the Therapeutic Goods Administration and the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care.
An ADHA spokesperson told Healthcare IT News that the membership of these groups is "intentionally diverse" to represent various perspectives and identify collaborative and effective ways to enhance clinical safety and quality.
WHY IT MATTERS
"As digital health technology and models of care emerge and evolve, it is critical to support clinical safety and quality," stressed the ADHA spokesperson.
The role of the NCGC-DH, the spokesperson said, is to provide a "national forum for collaboration" across the digital health ecosystem, aiming to strengthen clinical oversight.
According to ADHA chief program officer Paul Creech, this committee may utilise digital health levers, such as legislation and conformance and standards, "to better support the health workforce, reduce administrative burden, and underpin a safer, more future-focused, sustainable health system."
THE LARGER CONTEXT
The NCGC-DH expands on the work of ADHA's internal Clinical and Technical Advisory Committee, which will continue to provide clinical governance for ADHA products and services. Formal pathways between these two committees, explained the spokesperson, will prevent duplication of work.
The new committee also builds on earlier clinical and consumer input that shaped Australia's Sharing by Default legislation, which will take effect in July 2026. It was informed by the Clinical Reference Group representing peak bodies, professional associations, and consumer groups.
That work, according to the spokesperson, has now been formalised into national governance structures through the creation of the NCGC-DH and its three expert advisory groups.
Meanwhile, last year, the ADHA sought providers of application support and maintenance services for the country's digital health infrastructure. It said that the work is critical to maintaining the reliability, performance, and scalability of the existing infrastructure, which also underpins the My Health Record system.
ON THE RECORD
"Our focus is providing advice to government that is drawn from a collaborative ecosystem to ensure the benefits of digital innovation are delivered with clinical safety and quality as the guiding principle," Dr Amandeep Hansra, ADHA chief clinical adviser (Medicine) and chair of the NCGC-DH, was quoted as saying in a statement.
