Telehealth — delivering health care remotely via video, telephone, or digital platforms — has transformed Australian healthcare access, particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated Medicare telehealth coverage. For the one-third of Australians who live outside major cities, and for the 500,000+ people in very remote communities, telehealth can be the difference between accessing specialist care and going without. Grant funding supports telehealth infrastructure, digital health literacy, and the programme innovation that extends quality healthcare to Australia's most underserved communities.
The access problem
COVID-19 telehealth expansion
The 2020 MBS telehealth expansion dramatically increased telehealth use:
- Millions of telehealth consultations provided
- Mental health telehealth particularly expanded
- GP, specialist, and allied health telehealth now part of standard practice
Remaining gaps
Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS)
Medicare telehealth items — expanded since 2020 — for GP, specialist, and allied health telehealth consultations.
NDIS
Telehealth for therapy and support services under NDIS.
Department of Health and Aged Care
Australian Digital Health Agency
The Ian Potter Foundation
Health including rural telehealth.
The Menzies Foundation
Rural and remote health.
The RACGP Foundation
Rural GP and telehealth research.
Paul Ramsay Foundation
Health access for disadvantaged communities.
Various hospital and health foundations
Many hospitals have foundations that fund telehealth programmes.
Rural and remote telehealth
Mental health telehealth
Indigenous telehealth
Chronic disease management
Allied health telehealth
Aged care telehealth
Digital health literacy
Infrastructure
Paediatric telehealth
Not all Australians can access telehealth equally:
- Older Australians: limited digital literacy or device access
- Low-income households: devices and broadband costs
- Remote communities: unreliable internet
- CALD communities: language barriers in digital health platforms
- People with disability: accessibility of platforms
Grant funding that addresses digital health equity — through device access, training, and accessible design — is essential for telehealth to deliver on its equity promise.
Infrastructure before programming
Telehealth doesn't work without reliable internet and appropriate devices. Applications that address infrastructure barriers — internet access, device lending, telehealth room setup — enable sustainable telehealth delivery.
Digital literacy
Many people who would benefit most from telehealth lack the digital literacy to use it confidently. Applications with digital health literacy training — particularly for older adults and CALD communities — enable access.
Appropriate use
Telehealth is not appropriate for all clinical encounters. Applications that are clear about which services are effectively delivered via telehealth, and which require physical presence, demonstrate clinical sophistication.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health
Indigenous communities face the greatest access challenges and stand to benefit most from well-implemented telehealth. Applications with strong community ownership and culturally safe delivery are most compelling.
Tahua's grants management platform supports telehealth funders and digital health organisations — with patient reach tracking, health outcome data, rural access measurement, and the reporting tools that help telehealth funders demonstrate their investment in extending quality healthcare to all Australians.