There’s a point in every industry where things stop feeling stable. Not because the system has failed, but because it’s shifting beneath the surface. That’s exactly where healthcare is right now.
In this episode of Innovation Insider, I sat down with Terry Cornick to unpack what’s really happening across Australia’s digital health ecosystem. His perspective is shaped by building the Digital Health Festival into one of the most influential gatherings in the country, which gives him a front row seat to how the industry is evolving. One theme kept coming up throughout our conversation, and it’s a word that captures the moment perfectly: chaos.
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The rise of something bigger than an event
What Terry has helped build is more than just a conference. The Digital Health Festival has become a signal for where healthcare is heading, who’s showing up, and what conversations are starting to matter.
Importantly, the value is not just on stage. While the speakers and exhibitors are strong, much of the real impact happens between sessions. It’s in the unplanned conversations, the chance encounters, and the follow up meetings that extend well beyond the venue. People are just as likely to make a meaningful connection at the airport or over dinner as they are on the exhibition floor.
“It’s two days of frenetic networking, like literally bumping into people even by planned and not planned.”
That kind of energy doesn’t happen by accident. It tends to emerge when an industry is beginning to move, and when more people are actively looking for what comes next.
Australia’s paradox: capability versus complexity
One of the tensions we explored is the contrast between what Australia is capable of and how the system actually operates. On paper, we have a high quality healthcare system, strong talent, and access to capital. In practice, innovation often slows as soon as it hits the structural realities of regulation, fragmentation, and legacy processes.
Terry’s view was that we are, in many ways, making it harder than it needs to be. The challenge is not a lack of ideas or capability, but the number of barriers that sit between a good idea and real world implementation. Many innovators can get part of the way, building strong products and gaining early traction, before running into a wall of complexity that is difficult to navigate.
“I am still dumbfounded that we haven’t nailed a really efficient system.”
That doesn’t mean progress stops, but it does mean it often takes longer, costs more, and requires a different level of persistence than in other industries.
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The funding gap hiding in plain sight
Another theme that stood out was how capital is distributed across the ecosystem. Australia is not short on capital, but healthcare does not always receive its share of attention.
Startups in this space are not just competing with each other. They are competing with every other sector for funding, and healthcare is inherently more challenging. It comes with longer timelines, more stakeholders, and a level of regulatory scrutiny that many investors are less comfortable with. As a result, capital can flow more easily into sectors where growth is faster and risks are easier to quantify.
The outcome is a gap between what is possible and what is funded. There are strong ideas and capable teams, but not always the level of backing required to scale them effectively.
From telehealth hype to fragmented reality
Looking back a few years, telehealth felt like the defining shift in healthcare. COVID accelerated adoption almost overnight, removing barriers that had existed for years and opening the door for a wave of new services.
What followed, however, was not consolidation. Instead, the market became increasingly fragmented. Rather than a few dominant platforms, we now have a large number of niche solutions targeting specific problems or cohorts. Mental health platforms, direct to consumer services, AI driven tools, and highly specialised offerings have all emerged.
This fragmentation creates opportunity, but it also creates complexity. For consumers and clinicians, navigating this landscape is not always straightforward. The system has expanded, but it has not necessarily become more connected.
AI is reshaping the operating layer of healthcare
One of the more subtle, but important, shifts is where AI is actually delivering value. While much of the attention is on clinical applications, a lot of the real impact is happening in the operational layer of healthcare.
Tools that automate documentation, streamline administration, and reduce the burden on frontline staff are gaining traction. These are not always the most visible innovations, but they address some of the most persistent pain points in the system. In an environment where workforce shortages and inefficiencies are ongoing challenges, removing friction can be just as powerful as introducing something entirely new.
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The shift in who controls access
Another important change is happening around access to care. Historically, primary care has acted as the main entry point into the system, acting as the gatekeeper for most patient journeys. That role is starting to evolve.
Consumers now have more ways to engage with healthcare directly, whether through digital platforms, pharmacy services, or tools that provide insights into their own health data. This increased access gives individuals more control, but it also changes how the system is navigated.
“I have more power than ever and more access than ever to access healthcare without a clinician.”
That shift creates new opportunities for innovation, but it also raises questions about coordination, quality, and how different parts of the system work together.
Why this phase matters
Terry shared a perspective that feels particularly relevant right now. Healthcare innovation does not move in a straight line. It moves in cycles, and we are currently in a phase that feels messy and uncertain.
There are more solutions than ever, but they are not always connected. Funding is available, but not always directed where it could have the most impact. Regulation is trying to keep up with changes that are happening quickly and unevenly.
This is what the early stages of transformation often look like. It’s not clean, and it’s not coordinated, but it is moving.
Final thought
Healthcare in Australia is not standing still, even if it sometimes feels that way. The change is just uneven, and at times, difficult to see clearly.
Right now, it is fragmented and evolving, with multiple forces pulling in different directions. But beneath that, there is real momentum building. The challenge, and the opportunity, is making sense of it early enough to act.
If you want to hear Terry’s full story, including his journey from recruitment into digital health and what he’s seeing across the ecosystem today, listen to the full episode of Innovation Insider.
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