Bringing the voice of the consumers into our work through our Consumer Engagement Group

Consumer perspectives are central to how we plan, design, deliver, and evaluate virtual health services. We believe that consumers affected by decisions about the services we offer have a right to contribute to the service development process.

To strengthen this commitment, we’ve expanded our Consumer Engagement Group (CEG) to provide more opportunities for consumers to be involved in our services. We are proud to continue embedding this principle in everything we do.

Over 200 people have signed up to the CEG. Participants represent a broad cross-section of the community, including people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, older Australians and those living in regional and rural areas. Over 50 consumers have shared their feedback on initiatives such as:

• Changes to helpline greetings
• A new online health tool
• How emergency departments are labelled in the healthdirect Service Finder

Anyone in the community can apply to join and share their insights. Details on how to join the Consumer Engagement Group are available on our website.

How consumer perspectives shape our services

The CEG plays a key role in shaping health services, policies and decisions by ensuring consumer voices are consistently heard. A dedicated Consumer Engagement Manager coordinates activities to maintain strong relationships and meaningful participation.

Consumer feedback:

“The environment was welcoming, supportive and safe. I really valued the facilitator looking out for the consumers and ensuring they were allowed to finish what they were saying without interruptions”.

“I’ve been in quite a few of these over the years. I would pretty much have to go back a few years before I could think of one that was conducted as well as this”.

Opportunities for involvement

Consumers can choose how they engage with us — from governance committees to workshops. Upcoming opportunities include:

• Reviewing website content for clarity and accessibility
• Testing new online tools
• Suggesting ways to make services more inclusive
• Providing ideas to increase use of virtual care pathways

We share updates with the CEG on how their input drives service improvements.