Health Connect Australia

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.

The Health Connect Australia Provider Directory (the Provider Directory) is the first initiative under the Health Connect Australia Program Foundations phase. It enables healthcare providers and organisations to discover accurate, up to date information about other providers and the services they offer, while establishing a trust framework to support consistent and secure access to health information. By connecting provider data from multiple primary sources through a single access point and ensuring near real-time updates, the Provider Directory lays the groundwork for broader interoperability and trusted information exchange across the health ecosystem.

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.