More than two years after Victoria's Human Services Directory (HSD) went live, the Department of Human Services has outlined its plans to extend the application's functionality with a new three-year contract beginning in 2008.
The original concept of a state-wide health services directory resource dates back to 2001, when it was decided it would be the most effective means of providing services information to agencies and practitioners.
These will set the rules for systems interoperability and govern the issue, acceptance and use of cards in sectors such as health, defence, education and social services.
The proposal, which also canvasses the idea of "framework application modules", is based on work by Australian Government Information Office.
Currently there is a range of systems being used to exchange information that use various formats.
To ensure all systems can effectively communicate, a standard exchange format is required.
Read more: Australia: Standard data exchange format for e-health announced, Based on HL7
The long-awaited announcement came at the Health-e-nation conference in Sydney last week, when NEHTA chief executive Ian Reinecke conceded HL7 was the only viable path.
Telecommunications is a national issue and therefore requires government involvement; this is not unique to Australia but applies to all jurisdictions. Unfortunately over the past 10 years, policies have been concentrated on getting the government out of telecommunications.
Read more: Australia: ALP gets ringing endorsement for broadband policy