Australia is building real capability to spot emerging health threats and opportunities, but without national coordination it risks glimpsing isolated snapshots but not the full picture. These are the findings of a new Policy Primer released by the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences (AAHMS).

The Primer maps Australia’s health and medical science horizon scanning landscape for the first time. It is released as the Academy convenes national and international experts in Sydney for its 2026 Annual Meeting, Scanning Horizons: Science, Health and the Decade Ahead.

The Primer finds promising, growing capability across the system, including the new Australian Centre for Disease Control, the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing’s research workforce audit and workforce supply and demand models, Medicines Australia’s annual horizon scanning forum, and CSIRO’s Our Future World megatrends report. It also highlights the National Health and Medical Research Strategy 2026–2036, which includes a recommendation that Australia develop a coordinated national horizon scanning capability.