Questions Raised Over New Telehealth Standards in Australia
09 Mar 2026
The document, called the National Telehealth Standards, was published by Patients Australia. While the group says the guidelines were created after wide consultation, some GPs are questioning how legitimate they are.
The standards were prepared by the Australian Telehealth Standards Consortium (ATSC), a group that includes telehealth companies and health insurers such as Medibank, HCF, Bupa, Updoc, Healthengine, Wesfarmers Health, Healthdirect Australia and Eucalyptus.
The 34-page document outlines expectations around clinical governance, patient safety, informed consent, continuity of care, advertising, technology use, data security and accreditation.
However, Rob Hosking, Chair of the Practice Technology Expert Committee at Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP), said the guidelines are not endorsed by the college or any official regulator.
Dr Hosking said it is positive that the industry is trying to regulate itself, but simply calling them “standards” does not make them official. He noted that RACGP standards go through a strict and detailed approval process.
Patients Australia says the guidelines are designed to help clinicians, providers and policymakers understand what safe and trustworthy telehealth should look like in practice. The organisation also plans to work with governments, regulators and health services to promote awareness and encourage the use of these standards as telehealth continues to grow in Australia.
Currently, Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) provides telehealth guidance for individual clinicians, but there are no government-approved standards specifically for telehealth-only providers. The industry has expanded rapidly in recent years.
Some telehealth companies have been calling for official national standards. Last year, Eucalyptus released its own best practice principles for online providers and said clinical governance across the industry remains inconsistent. The company argued that without government-endorsed safety and quality standards, patients may struggle to know if an online clinic is providing safe and high-quality care.
The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care confirmed it is not currently creating separate standards for virtual care. Instead, it pointed to its National Safety and Quality Digital Mental Health Standards and said future updates to national health service standards will include guidance for digital and virtual healthcare.
Dr Hosking also highlighted that many GPs working in traditional clinics provide telehealth every day as part of regular care, following the RACGP’s own telehealth principles.
The Patients Australia document says telehealth providers should support secure information sharing by uploading details to My Health Record and by communicating with a patient’s usual GP. It also states that if a patient refuses to share information, doctors should record the risks, be cautious with prescribing and may refuse treatment if the risks are too high.
Dr Hosking believes this still does not fully solve the problem of fragmented care. He said it is essential that telehealth providers communicate with a patient’s regular GP.
According to him, if medications are prescribed without the GP knowing, it could lead to dangerous drug interactions or repeat prescriptions for medicines that previously caused problems.
Dr Hosking warned that while telehealth offers fast access and convenience, it should not replace high-quality, coordinated medical care.
https://www1.racgp.org.au/
Source: newsGP
