ANDHealth has welcomed the 2025 Australian Federal Budget's continued focus on healthcare, medical research and innovation.

While the Budget outlines welcome investments in healthcare infrastructure and research, ANDHealth believes there is also an opportunity to provide more targeted support for digital and connected health technologies to drive economic growth and improve health outcomes.

Bronwyn Le Grice, ANDHealth Chief Executive Officer, said the ongoing investment in key programs, especially in health and medical research, provided stability but, with an election imminent, asked all parties to consider additional opportunities for economic and health growth as part of their policy platforms.

“This Budget continues to fund a supportive framework for digital and connected health with additional money available for digital health infrastructure through the My Health Record and some further funding for medical research,” Ms Le Grice said.

“With a Federal election in coming weeks, there is also an opportunity for additional commitments to be raised across the political spectrum. We would strongly advocate for targeted policies for digital and connected health research, development and commercialisation programs to support the transformation of our health and care system into one capable of taking us into future decades.”

“This would result in not just improved access and quality of care for Australian patients and their health and wellbeing, but also broader economic benefits including creating Australian jobs and generating revenue for the Australian economy,” Ms Le Grice said.

Key highlights of the Budget for digital and connected health include:

Digital health

ANDHealth welcomes the $228.7 million funding to the Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) in 2025–26 to continue modernising My Health Record and support the digital health reform agenda. Funding has also been provided to ADHA to improve electronic prescribing infrastructure and continue initiatives under the Health Delivery Transformation Program.

“An efficient and effective interoperable and accessible digital health infrastructure provides the underlying platform for applying innovation in the health sector,” Ms Le Grice said.

“We look forward to continuing to work with the ADHA, but also demonstrating to Government the economic and health benefits of supporting the broader digital and connected health ecosystem through investment incentives, grants, reimbursement, procurement and regulation.”

There is also $46 million funding for additional digital mental health services, reflecting the growing need for mental health service while acknowledging the clinical benefits digital health services can deliver in this space.

Medical research

The Australian Government has allocated $158.6 million over five years to support medical research and its translation into clinical practice. This includes $150.3 million to extend and expand the Zero Childhood Cancer Precision Oncology Medicine Program (ZERO), the Precision Oncology Screening Platform Enabling Clinical Trials (PrOSPeCT) program, and the Australian Rare Cancers Portal (ARC Portal).

Additionally, $7.8 million is allocated in 2024-25 for increased operational costs of the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), and $0.6 million in 2025-26 will go to the CSIRO to maintain infrastructure for the Australian Health Biobank. The funding also supports an intergovernmental agreement for the cooperative governance and development of the National One Stop Shop for Clinical Trials and Human Research which was announced in the last Budget.

“Australia is a world player in medical research – the funding of organisations like NHMRC, the Medical Research Future Fund and CSIRO means that research can continue,” Ms Le Grice said.

“There is also a focus on commercialisation of the great ideas within Australia; the MRFF with its commitment to both research and commercialisation is a unique asset for Australia in this space. While not a Budget announcement, we also look forward to contributing to the Strategic Examination of Research & Development currently underway.”

Future Made in Australia

The Budget builds on the Government’s existing $22.7 billion Future Made in Australia agenda, however there is no specific investment or support for digital and connected health.

Separately, the budget also highlights a focus on Buy Australian. While money has been allocated for a consumer campaign, the Budget papers also note that the Government remains committed to a small‑ and medium‑size enterprise (SME) procurement target in the Buy Australian Plan and it is meeting targets. While this is not identified for application in healthcare procurement, ANDHealth strongly advocates for consideration be given to improve procurement of local health products and services within Australian health systems.

“Procurement policies which are designed to prioritise locally owned and developed

technology or innovations ahead of international competitors, would be game changing for Australia’s digital and connected health sector,” Ms Le Grice said.

“Directing a proportion of our national healthcare spend into Australian companies will accelerate the growth of the sector, and also the knowledge, skills and expertise of both our innovation and healthcare workforces.”

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