The Alliance takes this opportunity to respond to term of reference (d) of your Inquiry to highlight that digital health and connectivity are important enablers of the health system and access in Australia. Ensuring connectivity, in particular, is crucial to supporting improved health outcomes for Australians who make up the 30 per cent of the Australian population that live in rural communities. It is apparent, now more than ever, that connectedness and digital literacy is critical to the accessibility and delivery of individualised and comprehensive healthcare solutions throughout the country. However, connectivity, reliability, accessibility, affordability and digital health literacy remain ongoing barriers to enabling rural communities’ participation in digital health activities.
Investment in telecommunications infrastructure in rural areas is known to have the capacity to improve access to health care. However, whether these improvements are actualised is intricately linked to issues around service suitability, reliability, consistency and affordability. On these measures, rural Australians continue to face significant disadvantage, and it is unsurprising that they are overall less digitally connected.