Response to public health emergencies

Our scalable telephony infrastructure allows us to rapidly provide solutions for federal and state governments in response to public health emergencies.

Through our management of contact centres and an in-house clinical team, we are well positioned to tap into existing processes and workforces to quickly develop and implement a clinically and operationally robust helpline.

We have the clinical capacity and capability to handle health emergency helplines that can triage callers and provide clinical advice on managing symptoms. Call operators can also provide approved general advice for callers and transfer calls to appropriate health services.

These helplines can be set up in conjunction with our healthdirect service and link into other local services as required. Our digital channels reinforce health messages and provide additional channels for current information as required.

In January 2020, we supported the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing's early response to COVID-19, establishing the National Coronavirus Helpline, a 24-hour clinical and information line to answer questions from the public. At its peak, the helpline received over 30,000 calls a day and evolved over its four years of operation to support priority groups and support continuity of care for high risk COVID-positive callers by connecting them with their GP.