Australian Digital Health Agency — Brand Guidelines

The Australian Digital Health Agency is a federal government entity reporting directly to the Minister for Health and Aged Care. As the primary authority for digital health in Australia, the Agency is tasked with building a healthier future for all citizens through a more connected and efficient healthcare ecosystem. This mandate involves the management and delivery of critical national infrastructure, including the My Health Record system, the my health app, electronic prescriptions, and secure messaging services. Because its work facilitates the movement of sensitive health data across the country, the Agency requires a brand presence that conveys trust, stability, and professional authority.

A primary driver for this project was the need to resolve significant inconsistencies caused by the Agency’s previous, overly brief brand documentation. The original guidelines lacked the necessary detail to govern a complex government organisation, leading to various interpretations by different internal teams and external providers. Because separate departments within the Agency operate with their own budgets, they frequently procured design work from external contractors who, in the absence of strict rules, applied their own creative variations to the brand. Over time, these “off-shoot” designs were approved and grandfathered into the core identity, resulting in a cluttered and “messy” visual landscape burdened by legacy elements that no longer served the Agency’s strategic goals.

To eliminate this ambiguity, I authored a comprehensive set of brand guidelines designed to serve as the definitive manual for all visual and verbal communication. My goal was to leave as little as possible to interpretation, ensuring that my studio team remained the effective custodians of the brand regardless of who was executing the work. The documentation covers foundational elements such as logos, colour systems, and typography, but extends into granular detail regarding the application of the brand across all mediums. This includes specific rules on brand hierarchy in relation to other government entities, the proper use of textures and animations, and a defined tone of voice. To ensure practical usability, the guidelines provide a detailed sample breakdown of outputs ranging from social media and signage to booklets, pamphlets, and sub-brand architectures.

The second major challenge was a structural brand weakness where the Agency’s core identity was being overshadowed by its most famous product. For many Australians, the My Health Record brand was more recognisable than the Agency itself, leading to a widespread misconception that the ADHA was simply an extension of that single service. To rectify this, I worked to separate the two brands into distinct entities, giving the ADHA a strong, independent core identity. I developed specific rules on how the Agency brand should sit alongside the My Health Record brand, ensuring that the relationship between the governing body and its products is clear, professional, and strategically sound.

The implementation of these comprehensive guidelines has fundamentally changed how the Agency manages its visual identity across diverse departments. By establishing a rigorous “single source of truth,” we have significantly reduced the time spent on internal reviews and brand corrections. My studio team, as the primary custodians, can now oversee brand integrity more effectively, ensuring that every piece of collateral, regardless of which team funded it or which external agency produced it. This has eliminated the “design baggage” of the past and prevented the further proliferation of unsanctioned brand variations.

One of the most significant outcomes of this project was the successful elevation of the Agency’s own brand presence. By strategically decoupling the ADHA identity from My Health Record, we have clarified the Agency’s role as a national leader in the healthcare sector. This new brand architecture ensures that while products like the my health app and electronic prescriptions remain highly visible, they are clearly understood as services delivered by a central federal authority. This distinction is vital for maintaining public trust and ensuring the Agency is recognised for its broad spectrum of digital health initiatives beyond a single platform.

While these core guidelines established the definitive rules for the Agency’s corporate identity, the project’s success led to a broader requirement for specialised documentation across the Agency’s suite of digital services.

Detailed documentation for flagship services, including the My Health Record brand identity and the Provider Connect Australia partner toolkit, can be found on the Product Style Guides page.