This was not an AI budget. Nor was it a health reform budget. These elements were visibly absent from the pages of the 2025 federal budget papers. Given the many urgent imperatives to create sovereign capabilities in AI for Australia, both in healthcare and beyond, it’s no wonder that many industry groups and leaders were disappointed by what they didn’t see.
With less than two months until the next federal election, we must hope that this means AI will figure strongly in the policies that government and opposition take to the nation. Indeed, how could it not? Any nation that wants to have independence and resilience in our new geopolitics must secure, own and evolve its digital infrastructure. To not do so is to hardwire into our economy a deep dependence on the information machines of other nations – some of which see us transactionally at best.
For our part, the AAAiH put forward modest and targeted suggestions to the federal government to fill critical gaps in national AI safety governance, consumer safety, industry and workforce development – all clearly identified in our Healthcare AI Policy Roadmap. We would strongly hope to see early commitments to address these still unmet needs.
It is not that the government is inert on AI. The federal department of health is actively working on policy reform in this space. We do have a national digital health reform agenda, led by the Australian Digital Health Agency – which received $228.7 million to continue the operation and modernisation of My Health Record and to drive the digital reform agenda. So, there is money there for AI if we choose to prioritise it.
National AI reform is, however, not solely the responsibility of the federal government. The states have a clear role in health care service delivery which requires digital infrastructure, and which will increasingly use AI to deliver services clinically and back-of-house. Industry has a clear role, as do the health professions. Indeed, the AAAiH was created because we recognised that AI reform is complex and whole of nation, and not just a federal government obligation. We have consistently asked for a national AI in Healthcare Council to bring these disparate players together. But it is much harder to do without the feds. We can only hope that the next 2 months see considered and bold policy in the AI space that specifically addresses the many unique safety and quality challenges we find in healthcare.