The Australian government will invest over $400 million to enhance the national digital health record system, My Health Record, as it works to require the sharing of more key health information by default and develop a new National Digital Child Health Record.In Budget 2026-2027, the federal government set aside A$598.3 million over two years for My Health Record's continued operations and enhancement, including targeted system improvements to support expanded sharing-by-default requirements under the Modernising My Health Record (Sharing by Default) Act 2025.In a media release, the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing said further improvements in My Health Record will allow patients and healthcare professionals to "access more reliable and timely health information."The Australasian Institute of Digital Health, peak body for digital health in Australia, said that this year's budget "reinforces the trusted and safe development and use of digital health in Australia.""We welcome the legislative reforms that will expand sharing by default requirements, which the government says will provide over 24 million Australians with better access to My Health Record," it said in a statement. The National Digital Child Health Record in My Health Record is part of a string of national programmes that were allotted A$99.5 million ($72 million) over five years to equip parents, carers, and kin with skills to support children with developmental concerns. The Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) will receive A$19.1 million ($14 million) over two years under Thriving Kids to develop this record, which is intended to help families and health professionals track a child's development and share information.Other digital health allocationsThe My Health Record allocation forms the bulk of a four-year investment in Medicare systems and infrastructure, which also includes A$146.8 million ($106 million) to expand Medicare integrity capabilities. According to the Health Department, this will help crack down on fraud and non-compliance under Medicare and the PBS, "saving hundreds of millions of dollars that can be better spent on supporting patients." Meanwhile, the government set aside A$259.9 million ($188.4 million) to sustain aged care ICT system. The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, national regulator of aged care services, was also provided with A$33.7 million ($24.4 million) funding to improve ICT governance, delivery processes, and internal cybersecurity capability.States and territories are expected to receive A$79.2 million ($57 million) over three years to implement national digital health reforms in public hospitals under the National Health Reform Agreement.The government is also investing A$13.3 million ($9.6 million) over two years in Sparked, the national FHIR Accelerator Program led by CSIRO. Moreover, the National Disability Insurance Agency will get A$358.5 million ($260 million) over five years to develop a new digital enrolment and payment system to improve payment integrity and reduce fraud.THE LARGER CONTEXTFollowing Royal Assent in February last year, amendments to the My Health Records Act mandating the sharing of written pathology and diagnostic imaging reports took effect in July.As more Australians have been accessing and sharing their digital health records from the national system, the ADHA set out to upgrade the data architecture behind My Health Record. A $21 million contract for this work was awarded to Telstra Health in August. Meanwhile, it was announced in February that the Australian government is building a National Medicines Record that will make updated medicines information consistently available in one place.The government is expected to require online prescribers to make medicines-related information available by default via My Health Record, with the first phase of that work expected to be completed by December.