HLA/Telstra Health Digital Health Innovation Award

The HLA/Telstra Health Digital Health Innovation Award is funded by Telstra Health and maintained by the ALIA Health Libraries Australia group.

Award is Now Open

Applications Close: 31 July 2026

 

About the Award

If your library has introduced an innovative technology solution, we invite you to share your great idea with us, receive accolades and $3,000 to implement or further your idea.

The Award focuses on innovation projects in health care information delivery with practical outcomes. The submission must fall into one of the following categories:

  1. The innovation is proposed (and the funds will be used to implement the innovation)
  2. The innovation has already been achieved (and the funds will be used to further develop the innovation, or for the professional development of the team)

 For more information, contact [email protected].

Congratulations to the 2025 Winners

Winners: Cherish McDonald and Julia Gollan, HNE Health Libraries – Hunter New England Local Health District
Project: The Changing Face of Medicine - Oral History

The Application

The application should focus on the innovation and available evidence that the innovation has improved or will improve access to health information and health care (i.e. practical outcomes). Nominees must address each of the following selection criteria against which applications will be assessed:

  1. Contribution to, and enhancement of, the health library/information profession/industry
  2.  Outstanding project work, whether by an individual or a team
  3. Collaboratively working within or between organisations
  4. Originality/innovation regarding services or solutions
  5. Excellence/innovation in terms of best practice
  6. Implementation and evaluation of the project (actual or intended methods and, where available, results)

The Award

The Award is presented annually at a relevant HLA (ALIA) event. The recipient/s will be presented with a certificate and $3,000 to:

  • To implement the innovation or
  • To further their (or their team’s) professional development in the area of the innovation,

All arrangements are to be undertaken by the awardee/s after approval of the award and funds must be expended within 12 months of receiving advice of the award.

Selection Criteria

The Award focuses on innovation projects in health care information delivery with practical outcomes. The submission must fall into one of the following categories:

  1. The innovation is proposed (and the funds will be used to implement the innovation)
  2. The innovation has already been achieved (and the funds will be used to further develop the innovation, or for the professional development of the team);

The application should focus on the innovation and available evidence that the innovation has improved or will improve access to health information and health care (i.e. practical outcomes). Nominees must address each of the following selection criteria against which applications will be assessed:

  1. Contribution to, and enhancement of, the health library/information profession/industry
  2. Outstanding project work, whether by an individual or a team
  3. Collaboratively working within or between organisations
  4. Originality/innovation regarding services or solutions
  5. Excellence/innovation in terms of best practice
  6. Implementation and evaluation of the project (actual or intended methods and, where available, results)

Outputs

The awardee/s will:

  1. If the funds have been used to implement the innovation - report on the innovation outcomes via an article in JoHILA
  2. If the funds have been used for professional development- report on the professional development activity in JoHILA and, in addition,

All applicants must supply a title and abstract for their project. An abstract of the winning application will be made available via the Award website. 

The awardee/s will be advised of the latest JoHILA issue and deadline for their article. 

Eligibility

To be eligible to apply for this award:

  • All professional award nominees must be current personal members of ALIA. In the case of an all professional team application, one team member, with the exception of the team leader, may come under the organisation's ALIA institutional membership.
  • Non-professional nominees must work in a library with ALIA institutional membership

Current Health Libraries Australia executive members, Award Administrators and employees of Telstra Health are ineligible to apply but may be nominators or seconders.

 

How to Apply

  • Please direct applications and inquiries to the Secretary via email
  • Endorsement of a seconder is required if self-nominating. 

Decision process

Nominees are considered by a Panel, with 2 representatives of the HLA Executive and 1 member of Telstra Health Management.

The nominations will be emailed to the Panel, which is chaired by an ALIA HLA Executive member.

  • The Panel will vote for their top 3 choices, in order of merit.
  • The 3 choices will be weighted (3 points for first choice, 2 points for second choice, one point for the third choice).
  • The winner will be by a simple majority – if there is a tie, the casting vote lies with the HLA Executive.
  • The ALIA HLA Executive will make a recommendation to the ALIA Membership and Awards Standing Committee to confirm the selected nominee.
  • The judges’ decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
  • The Award was previously known as the HLA/MedicalDirector Digital Health Innovation Award (change occurred due to new sponsor in 2023).

Previous Winners

2024: Saara Kahkonen and A’Mhara McKey (NT Health Library Services) for Project: “Local knowledge informing better health: building a digital collection of Aboriginal health resources for the N.T.”

2023: Alice Anderson and Cassandra Gorton for Library Interactive Digital Information Screen 

2022: John Prentice for Automated interlibrary loan/document delivery (ILL/DD) database for health libraries 

2021: Trish Bennett and Alana McDonald for A Digital Room Booking System - a digital booking system to book the Sydney Children's Hospitals Network Medical Library group study rooms.

2020: Daniel McDonald for Shoosh: a podcast about health libraries

2019: David Honeyman for the System for Automatically Requesting Articles (SARA) – an automation tool to improve the speed of systematic reviews

2018: Justin Clark for The Polyglot Search Translator (PST): a tool for translating search strategies: phase 3.

2017: Helen Skoglund and Cecily Gilbert for Information Prescription program at Barwon Health: A digital health literacy initiative for patients in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) (This project has not been completed and the prize money has been returned to MedicalDirector).

2016: Veronica Delafosse for The evolution of health librarianship in Australia. 

2015: Kate Jonson, Ingrid Tonnison and Rianna Bryant for Preserving the past, looking to the future: a digital repository for the Central Coast Local Health district. 

2014: Lisa Kruesi and Connie Schardt, for Australian Evidence Based Practice Librarians’ Institute, 2011– 2014.

2013: Narelle Hampe and Suzanne Lewis at Central Coast Local Health District who implemented an e-portfolio project

2012: Sarah Hayman at CareSearch who developed a palliative care search filter

2011: Daniel McDonald at Toowoomba Clinical Library Service who introduced clinically-oriented audio presentations to their busy clinicians

2010: Terence Harrison who helped establish CEBPA (Centre for Evidence Based Practice Australasia)

2009: Trudi Maly, inaugural winner, at the Northern Territory Department of Health and Families for her work on the Clinical Practice Guidelines Quality Improvement Program