Announcement
The National Health Literacy Framework
A national direction for health literacy in Australia
Find, understand and use health information
The Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing has released the National Health Literacy Framework. The Statewide Health Literacy Hub helped shape the Framework as part of the Expert Advisory Team.
What the Framework says
Health literacy is not only about a person's own skills. It is also shaped by how we design systems, services and information. It depends on whether people can find what they need, understand it, use services, take part in decisions and act with confidence.
The Framework asks for health information that is safe, trustworthy and culturally appropriate. It also asks us to build people's digital, artificial intelligence (AI) and critical health literacy. Critical health literacy is the ability to judge health information and act on it.
The Framework does not set one model. It gives governments, health services, communities and researchers a shared language and direction they can adapt to their own setting.
The four national aims
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Systems and policies enable a strong and responsive health literacy environment
In practice: health literacy belongs in leadership, governance, policy, planning, service design and evaluation, not in one-off projects.
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Health information and services are trustworthy, culturally safe, accessible and easy to understand
In practice: plain language, accessible formats, culturally responsive communication, co-design and trusted channels.
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The workforce and communities are supported to build health literacy skills and capacities
In practice: train staff to communicate clearly, and support people to navigate health services and digital information.
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Health literacy needs are addressed equitably, with a focus on priority populations
In practice: work in partnership with communities to remove structural barriers and build solutions that are culturally safe and useful.
What NSW Health is already doing
NSW Health has invested in The Statewide Health Literacy Hub and a research partnership with the University of Sydney. Work is under way across all four aims.
- Aim 1, systems and policies. Health literacy is built into the NSW Health Accessible Communications Policy and into governance through the Statewide Advisory Network.
- Aim 2, trustworthy and accessible information. The electronic Patient Communication Portal (ePCP) is a co-designed online platform that helps staff write clear, accessible health information. It will roll out across NSW.
- Aim 3, workforce and community capability. Statewide training, research masterclasses, seminars and Shared Knowledge Networks.
- Aim 4, equity and priority populations. Research with priority populations, digital inclusion and community-led approaches.
What happens next
The Statewide Health Literacy Hub will keep translating the Framework into practice through the systems that already shape care in NSW: strategy and policy, quality and safety, patient experience, workforce development, digital transformation, service design, consumer partnership and equity.
Seminar 3 in the Health Literacy Online Seminar Series will look at what the Framework means in practice. A panel will cover the national Framework, NSW Health leadership, implementation and workforce capability. Registration details will be shared soon.