Our enhanced access to services during ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred
Published: 19 August 2025
As ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred headed towards the Queensland and northern NSW coasts in March 2025, Healthdirect was part of a coordinated response to ensure people could continue to access health services.
We worked closely with the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, the NSW Ministry of Health, Queensland Health and local Primary Health Networks (PHNs) to use our national infrastructure to meet the needs of local communities.
This crisis highlighted how virtual services can support communities when physical healthcare is risky to attend, or unavailable.
Bettina McMahon, Healthdirect CEO, says: “We’re committed to ensuring people have access to the healthcare they need. They can’t just put their health on hold — even in times of severe weather events. For people to have access to the care they need during storms, floods, and fires, it’s often as simple as being able to find out which local services are still operating.”
Healthdirect provided information on staying safe in flood-affected areas, practical information on health risks, and other tips like storing essential medicines.
Leveraging the National Health Services Directory and coordinating with PHNs at a local level
Part of the coordinated response centred on the National Health Services Directory, a core piece of national digital health infrastructure, which lists Australian health service providers. The Directory is accessed by consumers through its public interface, the healthdirect Service Finder.
To ensure we provided consumers up-to-date information via the Service Finder, such as the availability of impacted services, and the accuracy of real-time booking appointments, we worked closely with local health service coordinators, including Healthy North Coast PHN.
The collaborative response involved daily updates on which local services were operating, including GPs, pharmacies, allied health and hospitals. This information was updated in the National Health Services Directory which was then immediately available through the Service Finder, meaning local residents could find the most up-to-date services information for their area.
We provided clear messaging to help consumers understand that service availability may be impacted in their area and to use the Service Finder for the most current and trusted information.
Expanded access to virtual services across borders
As residents in Queensland and NSW anticipated the effects of Alfred both on them and physical services in their areas, Healthdirect worked with Health Departments to expand access to existing virtual services.
In NSW, the newly established virtualADULTS service, available by calling the healthdirect helpline, extended the times and locations from which callers could be referred to a virtual emergency department to reduce the need for people to venture outdoors into extreme weather.
We worked with Queensland Health to support access via the Symptom Checker to their Virtual Emergency Care Service (VECS) which expanded access to 24/7. By coordinating service infrastructure for VECS and Symptom Checker we supported an increase in consumers selecting VECS over the cyclone weekend, which rose from a usual rate of 35%, to 50%.
Read more about this new care pathway here.
We also worked with Queensland’s 13 HEALTH service to remove state-based geo-blocking between the 13 HEALTH and healthdirect helplines to ensure callers from Queensland could get through to either helpline, regardless of where they were located or which number they called. We received 150 calls a day from Queensland during the emergency.
Access to a consultation with a healthdirect virtual GP was expanded to 24/7 for callers to 13 HEALTH for the duration of the disaster.
Thankfully, the full force of the cyclone was never felt on land, but the uncertainty created by these events can be heightened when health services are needed. Healthdirect’s services can be scaled at a local level to provide trusted information, advice and connection to care for those in need.
Last reviewed: August 2025