The Agency is building a secure, interoperable digital health ecosystem to enable timely, patient-centred information exchange across the national health system via Health Connect Australia.
Community Consultation
To guide consistent implementation and promote national alignment to contemporary HL7® FHIR® standards necessary for seamless integration across clinical and administrative systems, the project is developing a FHIR specification (Implementation Guide) that defines how provider information should be represented and exchanged, and welcomes feedback from the community on the technical soundness of the specification
The Health Connect Australia Provider Directory FHIR Implementation Guide is being developed in alignment with the Australian FHIR Community Process.
The Health Connect Australia Provider Directory FHIR Implementation Guide, published by Australian Digital Health Agency, is open for community consultation:
- Feedback closes 24 February 2026.
- Final version to be published March 2026.
For more information refer to the Health Connect Australia – FAQs
Instructions on how to participate in the consultation that is aiming at ensuring the specification is technically sound can be found here.
This release follows an extensive and ongoing consultation process to ensure a fit-for-purpose solution. Consultation opportunities are listed below:
- FHIR IG Consultation Session #1 – 19th November 2025
- Australian FHIR Connect-a-thon Melbourne – 10th December 2025
- FHIR IG Consultation Session #2 – 16th December 2025
- Virtual Testing Session - Planned for early February 2026
In case of questions regarding the community consultation process for the Provider Directory FHIR Specification, please contact informatics@digitalhealth.gov.au.
Expected Outcomes of Health Connect Australia
- Safer, more connected care through timely access to health information.
- Improved coordination via a single, nationally consistent source of provider data.
- Empower Australians with greater control over their health information.
- Reduce duplication and waste, improving system efficiency.
- Stronger national consistency through shared standards and infrastructure.
- Enable better-informed policy and planning with real-time insights.
Value Proposition
Health Connect Australia delivers the infrastructure, standards, and policy enablers needed to securely connect health information across care settings, empowering Australians, improving clinical decisions, and enabling safer, more efficient care nationwide.
Health Connect Australia Program Phases
Health Connect Australia Provider Directory
The Health Connect Australia Provider Directory will be a national service which provides seamless access to accurate, up-to-date details about healthcare providers and their services.
In 2026, the Agency will take carriage as the service operator for the existing Healthcare Provider Directory, laying the foundation for Health Connect Australia’s enhanced directory.
It will include 970,000+ registered providers and draw data from sources like AHPRA, the Healthcare Identifiers Service, and the Australian Business Registry, with more integrations planned to continue to enrich and evolve its capabilities.
The goal is to create a trusted, comprehensive directory to support better care coordination and interoperability across Australian health care settings.
What does this mean for Healthcare providers?
- Users can efficiently search for healthcare providers and exchange information seamlessly.
- Provider details are consolidated into a single, reliable source, featuring near-real-time updates and automated synchronization from trusted sources like AHPRA and Medicare.
- Minimised duplication & enhanced data accuracy, ensuring information is current and reliable.
What does this mean for Software developers?
- The Directory will use FHIR-based interoperability standards and open APIs.
- A national trust framework including authentication, authorisation, and validation protocols to ensure that only verified providers can be trusted for secure health information exchange.