Australian Election result a win for IT, e-health

The Australian Computer Society has renewed calls for a minister dedicated to an information technology portfolio as industry awaits a new Finance Minister. The call was made as key rural independents Rob Oakeshott and Tony Windsor decided to back Labor, giving Julia Gillard the numbers to form the next government.

ACS chief executive Bruce Lakin hopes the Gillard government will consider consolidating IT into a single portfolio. He lamented the fact that in the past there have been instances where the ACS had to deal with several ministers to resolve a single IT issue. Regional health resources are bound to get a boost, including through health IT investments. In particular, the Gillard government will be under pressure to deliver on its $467m promise to deliver personally controlled e-health records to all Australians in less than two years.