Evaluation of the Utility and Sustainability of the PanelApp Australia and Shariant platforms
Overview
Purpose of this survey
Genomics Australia within the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing is seeking input from the genomics sector across Australia on the utility and sustainability of the PanelApp Australia and Shariant platforms.
Your feedback will help inform us on the benefits, opportunities and challenges associated with these platforms, as well as the potential risks if these platforms were no longer supported.
Most survey questions are optional. We understand that not all respondents will be able to answer every question, but we encourage you to complete the survey as comprehensively as possible.
You can share the survey link with other people within your network.
Background to the PanelApp Australia and Shariant platforms
PanelApp Australia and Shariant are two distinct platforms developed by Australian Genomics. PanelApp Australia was developed in collaboration with Genomics England. Both platforms have been integrated into clinical and research workflows across the Australian genomics sector.
These platforms were funded by Australian Government grants to Australian Genomics until 30 June 2025, when the initiative concluded. They are currently supported through a 12-month contract between the Commonwealth and the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI), ending 30 June 2026.
PanelApp is a publicly available online knowledge base that documents gene-disease associations and virtual gene panels related to human disorders. It includes a crowdsourcing tool that allows genes to be added or reviewed by experts, providing an opportunity for the standardisation of gene panels, and a consensus on which genes have sufficient evidence for disease association.
Shariant has been designed to enable the real-time sharing of clinically curated variants with structured supporting evidence between Australian National Association of Testing Authorities (NATA) accredited clinical genetic testing laboratories. It supports a process to automatically identify and promote resolution of discrepancies in variant interpretation between laboratories. Shariant also streamlines submission of resolved variants to the international database ClinVar.
What happens next?
A thematic analysis of the survey responses will be conducted to identify key insights regarding the benefits, opportunities, challenges and risks associated with PanelApp Australia and Shariant.
Individual responses will not be shared with the platform providers or with state and territory health departments. However, aggregated themes may be shared to inform future planning.
A high-level summary of the feedback will be available to all participants.
Thank you for taking the time to share your views.
What happens next
Audiences
- Health professionals
Interests
- Health technology