National digital health committee assembles but industry bodies absent

The Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) has established a national committee to advance clinical governance across the nation’s digital health ecosystem.

The National Clinical Governance Committee for Digital Health (NCGC-DH) will guide the approach to the use of virtual care and artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare, acting as a convening body to support the Department of Health in providing advice to Federal Health Minister Mark Butler.

Agency CEO Amanda Cattermole PSM said the formation of the NCGC-DH represents a major milestone in guiding the safety, quality, and continuous improvement of digital health in Australia.

“By bringing together leading voices from across the health sector, we are prioritising that the future of digital health is clinically safe, effective, and centred on the needs of all Australians,” Cattermole said. “This committee will play a pivotal role in providing advice to government, shaping policy and practices as digital health technology evolves.”

The advisory group includes a diverse cross-section of clinicians, consumer representatives, and regulators. However, conspicuously absent are industry peak bodies, including the Medical Technology Association of Australia (MTAA), Pathology Technology Australia (PTA), and Medicines Australia, with MTAA having recently led a major digital health report.

Agency Chief Clinical Adviser (Medicine) and NCGC-DH Chair Dr Amandeep Hansra highlighted the committee’s diversity of membership.

“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 Hansra said. “Expert Advisory Groups reporting to the NCGC-DH are central to its work. These groups will include clinicians, consumers, industry, health technology experts and other relevant government agencies including the Therapeutic Goods Administration and Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care.”

In its advisory capacity, the NCGC-DH will ensure the upload of health information, including pathology and diagnostic imaging results, is consumer-centred, clinically safe and inclusive. It will advise on additional types of health information that could be safely shared by default to My Health Record in the future and provide strategic guidance on the responsible use of virtual care, telehealth, and AI in healthcare settings.

Agency Chief Program Officer Paul Creech PSM said the calibre of the NCGC-DH and its three advisory groups reflects the agency’s commitment to robust clinical governance for national digital health initiatives.

“With Agency Specialist Adviser Dr Steve Hambleton carrying forward the work of the Clinical Reference Group as the Chair of Better and Faster Access, leading Australian health informatician Dr Louise Schaper chairing Virtual Care and Telehealth, and Chief Clinical Information Officer for eHealth Queensland Dr Rae Donovan taking the helm as Artificial Intelligence Enabled Care Chair, the Expert Advisory Groups are in very safe hands,” Creech said.

He added, “A key outcome of this collaborative work is that it will guide how the Agency applies digital health levers, such as share by default, conformance and standards, to better support the health workforce, reduce administrative burden and underpin a safer, more future-focused, sustainable health system.”

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