What is Digital Maturity and why is there a focus on it now?
The Australian Government’s Aged Care Data and Digital Strategy 2024-2029 (hereafter, the “Strategy”) aims to improve aged care through better use of data and digital systems. Digitisation, modernisation, automation and connectivity are the 4 central tenets of the plan.
The 5-year plan lists 23 actions and initiatives, with work commencing in 2024-2025. Now coming into its second year (2025-2026), only 1 of the 23 actions is still in the planning phase (addressing AI and innovation frameworks) while the rest are underway in various capacities.
‘Digital maturity’ measures how effectively an organisation uses and incorporates digital technologies and practices to achieve its goals and be future-ready. Organisations are rated on a scale from nascent/basic through to optimised/leader. You can see how this ties into the Strategy and a vision for the future of the aged care industry.
What does this mean for Aged Care Providers and workers?
For providers, the Strategy aims to assist with managing operations for quality care provision, information security, and automated data collection and reporting. You can read more about this here.
For workers, simpler and more secure ways to share care recipients’ data across health, aged care and other sectors are necessary. Instant access to current and accurate information about a person’s needs and care history should be available to their care team, and reduced duplication of administrative and reporting tasks will provide some relief.
The Strategy aims to use qualitative and quantitative measures to track:
- increased digital capabilities;
- streamlined workflows;
- effective cross-disciplinary communication;
- reduced administration;
- facilitation of new technologies.
Why is Digital Maturity a big deal in aged care?
Who is your organisation being measured against?
Starting from March 2026, Australian Public Service (APS) entities are now required to complete the Government’s Digital Maturity Assessment every 2 years in order to assess, plan and improve their standing over time.
Aged Care service providers can independently complete the same Digital Maturity Assessment as APS entities with an offline version of the assessment, which can be found on digital.gov.au.
Who is your organisation being measured against?
Primarily, every provider should be interested in measuring their digital maturity because the Aged Care Data and Digital Strategy is aligned with the Australian Government’s digital transformation vision. This means all of the benchmarks and standards for private aged care providers will be measured against the same metrics used for APS entities like the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing.
Secondly, it’s good governance. Completing an assessment will show you where any gaps are so that your organisation can recognise areas for improvement, and track progress in the future. Cybersecurity risks, operational bottlenecks and hidden strategic gaps can all be identified with an assessment.
Thirdly, if they haven’t done so already it’s only a matter of time before your Board asks the question. Most providers we speak to don’t have a clear picture where they sit on the maturity scale.
Measuring your digital maturity is not just about compliance; it is about ensuring your technology investment actually delivers on its promise, saving administrative time so your team can focus on care.
Salesfix helps organisations assess their Digital Maturity and provides guidance around the best next steps.
We can help you review or develop a roadmap to drive the most effective use of scarce resources to enable your front line workers to have more time to care.
Let us know when it would suit you to catch up and explore how we have helped others like you.
Get in touch with our Aged Care team below
If you would like to learn more about streamlining compliance, reporting and care delivery with Salesforce and SalesFix, you can read more here.