Events

Digital Futures: Rethinking Health and Care

Digital Health Week is an opportunity for anyone interested in digital health to share research and ideas.

Digital Health Week 2026 is a collaboration between The University of Sydney, The University of New South Wales, The University of Queensland and The University of Melbourne. Back for its sixth year the 2026 theme is ‘Digital Futures: Rethinking Health and Care’. As digital innovation accelerates, the future of health and care is being redefined. The Melbourne instance of the event will be face-to-face at Melbourne Connect.

It is designed to be informative, provocative, and a showcase of the innovative work being undertaken in digital health in NSW, Victoria, and Queensland. This conference invites researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and technologists to explore how emerging digital technologies—AI, data analytics, remote monitoring, virtual care, social media, and more—are reshaping healthcare systems, professional practices, and patient experiences. Join us for critical conversations, cutting-edge insights, and collaborative opportunities that will shape the next era of health and care.

By fostering discussions around Digital Futures: Rethinking Health and Care, the conference seeks to drive positive change in the digital health landscape, ultimately leading to improved health outcomes for everyone, regardless of their background or circumstances.

Keynote Speakers

Digital Health Week 2026 will feature an exciting lineup of keynotes and panel discussions. Find out more about our confirmed speakers, panellists and program on the DHW website - https://www.digitalhealthweek.com.au/

Revered American novelist Percival Everett discusses his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel James, a bold and transformative response to Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

In his reimagining of an American classic, Percival Everett flips the script on Mark Twain’s Huck Finn, placing Huck’s enslaved companion Jim – here renamed James – at the centre of the narrative and granting him the voice he’s been long denied. The resulting novel is gripping, funny and strikingly relevant: a sharp reckoning with American identity, the dehumanising legacy of slavery and the enduring absurdity of racial supremacy.

In this special event, Everett joins host Osman Faruqi to discuss what drew him to this act of literary reclamation and why he views his work as being in conversation with Twain’s. He will also reflect on his decades-spanning literary career and the recent adaptation of his novel Erasure into the Oscar-winning film American Fiction.

Don’t miss this rare opportunity to hear from one of the most inventive and incisive voices in contemporary American literature in Everett’s only Melbourne appearance.