The Sparked story

As part of funding in the 2023-24 Federal Budget to implement new initiatives to improve digital health information sharing, the Australian Government provided $15.7 million over two years to progress national health information sharing priorities. 

This included $9.3 million over two years for the CSIRO to work with all Australian Governments, the Australian Digital Health Agency and the health technology industry to develop and adopt national Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) standards. An additional $1.9 million of funding was given in the 24-25 Federal Budget.

CSIRO is responsible for coordinating the community to deliver an Australian-first FHIR Accelerator, Sparked.

Sparked aims to deliver a core set of FHIR standards for use in Australian settings over three years, developed by and for the community.

Community participation is critical for the success of Sparked. We strongly encourage the community to support Sparked, with details on the program and how to participate available on HL7 Australia and the CSIRO’s websites. 

CSIRO coordinates the Sparked AU FHIR Accelerator on behalf of the consortium of the Department of Health and Aged Care, the Australian Digital Health Agency and HL7 Australia.  

Sparked operates within the following governance structures.

The Sparked program commenced in July 2023 and is slated for completion by 30 June 2025. The following roadmap shows the major milestones during the program.

The following roadmap shows the major milestones, activities and deliverables for Year 2, FY 24/25.

Register here to join the Sparked initiative