The Australian Digital Health Agency (the Agency) is marking World Standards Day by highlighting its work to strengthen the standards, skills and partnerships that underpin safe, connected healthcare.
Standards provide a common foundation for health information to be captured, understood and shared consistently across different systems and care settings.
Agency Chief Digital Officer Peter O'Halloran said the Agency's work extended from contributing to international standards discussions to supporting their practical implementation across Australia.
"Standards are critical to ensuring health information can be trusted, understood and used safely, wherever care is provided," Mr O'Halloran said.
"Our role is to bring together international expertise and national priorities, then support people across the sector to put standards into practice."
Later this month, the Agency will welcome the global clinical terminology community to Sydney as the Australian host member for the SNOMED International Business Meetings from 18 to 21 October and co-host of SNOMED CT Expo 2026 from 21 to 23 October.
The events will bring together international experts from across clinical care, health informatics, research, government, software development and industry to explore the role of clinical terminology in connected, data-driven healthcare.
Alongside this international engagement, the Agency is building practical capability through its Standards Academy, which provides education and training to help clinicians, developers, policymakers, researchers and industry professionals understand and implement digital health standards.
At the end of September, the Standards Academy had recorded 3,999 course enrolments or completions, including 1,600 completed courses, 2,399 courses in progress and 112 participants ready to attend virtual workshops in October and November. Interest is also building in the Academy's new standalone Introduction to FHIR course, expanding its training offer in this important international standard.
Agency Branch Manager, Informatics and Standards, Ryan Mavin said building workforce capability was essential to translating standards into better connected care.
"Developing and agreeing standards is only part of the task. Their value is realised when people have the knowledge, tools and confidence to apply them consistently," Mr Mavin said.
"The Standards Academy is helping build that capability across the sector, supporting the people who will turn national and international standards into practical improvements for healthcare providers and consumers."
To build capability in digital health standards, register for a free Standards Academy course . The Academy offers fully funded, role-based training for technical and non-technical audiences in flexible formats, including self-paced, virtual, hybrid and instructor-led options. Participants can build the practical knowledge and confidence needed to support standards adoption and more connected healthcare.
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