157/07
Wednesday 3 October 2007

Australian Government assists the Flying Doctors to access essential medical information through the latest broadband technology

The Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator the Hon Helen Coonan, announced that the Royal Flying Doctor Service is the beneficiary of $2.7 million in Australian Government Clever Networks funding for their eHealth for Remote Australia project.

“eHealth for Remote Australia, will give the Flying Doctors access to the essential medical history information of more than 750,000 Australians living in remote and isolated areas of New South Wales, South Australia, Queensland and Western Australia.

“The project will make medical histories, allergy, immunisation, current medications and other health information available to all Royal Flying Doctor Service clinicians or other authorised health professionals helping to treat people in rural and remote areas,” Senator Coonan said.

“The funding will enable health professionals from the Royal Flying Doctor Service to provide better health care for people in rural and remote Australia,” Senator Coonan said.

“The Royal Flying Doctor Service will have the right information available for the right person, in the right place at the right time to enable assessment to be made during flight and preparations to be made on the ground to receive the patient.

“Mobile access to the electronic medical record system will also provide the benefits of financial savings, better risk management and improved recruitment and retention of health professionals,” Senator Coonan said.

The Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia will lead the project in partnership with SingTel Optus Pty Ltd, Alphawest Services Pty Ltd, Intel Australia Pty Ltd and Cisco Systems Australia Pty Ltd.

“The Australian Government recognises it is not what broadband ‘is’ but what it can deliver that is important for Australia. Through the $113 million Clever Networks program the Government is stimulating the creation of broadband-enabled technologies and applications that have the potential to improve in a very significant way the health and education outcomes in rural and remote Australia,” Senator Coonan said.

Consortium partners will match the funding from the Australian Government.

More information about Clever Networks is available at www.dcita.gov.au/clevernetworks

Media Contact: Katherine Meier 0417 441 141