Feedback on the draft National Health Genomics Policy Framework 2026 to 2030

Overview

Purpose of this survey

The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing is seeking your feedback on the draft National Health Genomics Policy Framework and Implementation Plan 2026 - 2030 (the draft Framework and Implementation Plan). Your input will help refine the draft Framework and Implementation Plan, prior to finalisation later in 2025. Feedback from all perspectives is welcomed and encouraged.

The draft Framework and Implementation Plan is provided towards the bottom of this page, and you are encouraged to read this in full before completing the survey.

A document containing the survey questions is also provided towards the bottom of this page, to support organisations to collate input from multiple members. In this circumstance, a contact person should submit the consolidated input on behalf of their organisation via the online survey.

Many of the questions in the survey are optional. We recognise you may not be able to answer some of the questions but encourage you to complete the survey as comprehensively as possible.

We encourage feedback that is constructive and respectful. Please ensure all responses are free from discriminatory and racist language. We may exclude inappropriate responses from analysis.

Purpose of the draft Framework and Implementation Plan

The draft Framework and Implementation Plan aims to provide a national and intergovernmental approach to embed genomics into the Australian health system to maximise health and wellbeing outcomes for everyone in Australia. The draft Framework and Implementation Plan also aims to minimise fragmentation and unnecessary duplication of effort. It sets out how the Australian Government and all Australian state and territory governments will collaborate and coordinate to embed genomics into the health system.

The vision for the draft Framework and Implementation Plan is that all people living in Australia benefit from appropriately embedded genomics within the health system.

To achieve this vision, the draft Framework and Implementation Plan focuses on four Strategic Priorities:

• Person-, Family- and Community-Centred Approach
• Dynamic and Sustainable Genomics Ecosystem
• Genomic Samples, Data and Information Management
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led Genomics

Background to the draft Framework and Implementation Plan

In 2016, the Australian Health Ministers Advisory Committee (AHMAC) (now the Health Chief Executives Forum (HCEF)) agreed on the need to better integrate genomics into the Australian health system.

This resulted in the publication of the National Health Genomics Policy Framework 2018–2021 (the previous Framework). The previous Framework presented a shared commitment and coordinated intergovernmental approach to embedding genomics in the Australian health system.

In 2023, the Health Technology and Genomics Collaboration (HTGC), which reports to HCEF, committed to review and update the previous Framework, which led to the development of the draft Framework and Implementation Plan.

The development of the draft Framework and Implementation Plan has been led by the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing in close collaboration with representatives nominated by state and territory health departments, and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Group on Health Genomics.

What happens next

Thank you for sharing your views. These views are being collated and will be taken into account while we refine the draft Framework and Implementation Plan.