We spend over $200 billion in our health system each year, but with worker shortages 4 and population growth, this system is under increasing pressure. This pressure impacts the triple aim of healthcare 5 and can have real consequences on the lives of workers, health consumers and carers.

A Royal Commission, 6 a Senate Select Committee 7 and Human Rights reports 8 have all painted a damning picture of our mental health system, and the way it cares for those of us who are most vulnerable. COVID-19 has extended the strain on a complex system, 9 with not enough services to meet the needs of patients.

In this challenging context, “co-design is emerging as a leading framework to guide the design and implementation of new services.” 10 By bringing people with lived experience together with clinicians and experts, we can reimagine how mental health care is delivered to be more holistic, connected, and give people more agency over their care.

Health and wellbeing isn’t something that happens in hospitals and GPs offices; it’s part of our everyday lives. This includes healthcare, with 2.65 million Australians in unpaid caring roles, 11 a burden carried disproportionately by women.

By growing people’s knowledge and autonomy in health and wellbeing, we can help them care for themselves and each other.

COVID-19 has changed the way we use health services, 12 and helped speed up the health tech revolution. With AI, genomics, telemedicine, and wearables, healthcare is becoming more predictive, more personal, and could even become more equal. 13

As we explore the role of technology in improving our health system, we need to ensure that humans are at the heart of the design process, so we launch solutions that are scalable, ethical, and accessible to all.