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Artificial Intelligence Transparency Statement
Effective as of Jun 2026
Introduction
At Healthdirect Australia, we are committed to delivering virtual and digital health services that meet consumer care needs and contribute to a sustainable health system. Healthdirect relies on technology to support over 85 million interactions with the community every year. This includes the safe and responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI).
The aim of this Statement is to be transparent about how we use AI, and how we go about ensuring it is safe.
In this Statement, we describe:
why we use AI
how we use AI
how we ensure quality and safety
the different types of AI
Services covered by this statement
While we do not use AI across all our services, this Transparency Statement covers our approach to considering and using AI across our operations, which includes:
Helpline services
healthdirect helpline (also known as 1800MEDICARE, and NURSE-ON-CALL helpline in Victoria)
1800MEDICARE (GP)
healthdirect GP helpline
Pregnancy, Birth and Baby
health alert lines
Digital services
healthdirect website
Pregnancy, Birth and Baby website
Digital products (available in some of our digital services)
User account
Symptom Checker
Service Finder
Question Builder
BMI calculator
National digital infrastructure
National Health Services Directory (NHSD)
Why does Healthdirect use AI?
To improve quality and safety
Healthdirect has a strong history of using technology to provide Australians with high quality advice and information. AI presents an opportunity, along with other new technologies, to help us achieve our mission. We are committed to helping Australians actively manage and improve their health by providing trusted information and virtual services anywhere and at any time.
The AI tools we use inform the health advice we give to consumers every day by drawing on a large knowledge base of evidence that is clinically validated by qualified people. This means advice is reliable and consistent, contributing to the quality and safety of advice we provide.
To increase our productivity
AI provides opportunities for us to be more productive in how we provide virtual health services. This means we can support the growing number of Australians who need access to free, 24/7 health advice and connection to care.
As Healthdirect is government and taxpayer funded, finding efficiencies in our day-to-day work contributes to a sustainable health system. We are also aware of pressures on the Australian healthcare workforce. We seek to use technology including AI to reduce the time spent by our healthcare professionals on administrative and manual processes. This ensures they spend their time on the highest value work such as engaging with consumers.
How do we use AI?
Healthdirect uses AI for the following purposes.
Service delivery
To support the decision-making of our nurses who provide advice to consumers on the healthdirect helpline , also known as 1800MEDICARE , and NURSE-ON-CALL helpline in Victoria (using Infermed ica triage tool) .
To make tailored recommendations as to what healthcare you should seek when using the healthdirect Symptom Checker (using Infermedica triage tool) . Recommendations are responsive to the information you have provided about yourself, and your health concern.
To analyse and improve service delivery quality and efficiency (using Microsoft CoPilot and Claude Enterprise) .
To translate some information on our website into languages other than English (using Google T ranslate) .
To assist t he GPs on 1800MEDICARE (GP) to record details about the consultation in our system by using an AI- scribe (using either Heidi or Lyr e bird)
Visual content generation
We sometimes use generative AI technologies to produce visual content, such as illustrations and graphics, that may appear in our reports and on our websites (using Adobe Firefly).
All AI-generated visuals are reviewed by humans to make sure they meet our standards for accuracy, appropriateness and alignment with our brand values. We remain committed to the transparent use of AI in all aspects of our creative and operational processes.
Corporate and enabling activities
To assist with how the large volume of information published on our websites is organised and referenced.
To write software routines that automate data management activities before testing and assurance by our technical team (using Microsoft Copilot and AWS Kiro).
This classification of how we use AI is based on guidelines developed by the Commonwealth of Australia’s Digital Transformation Agency.