In Australia’s ever-changing health system, clear communication isn’t just helpful—it’s what keeps people informed, reassured and heading in the right direction.
When Jenni Ellard talks about health communications, she’s not thinking in social media likes or views—she’s thinking in lives made easier, calmer nights for worried parents, and fewer unnecessary trips to the emergency room.
As Head of Strategic Communications at Healthdirect Australia, Jenni leads a small, sharp team that’s rethinking what public health messaging can do. It’s not just about spreading awareness—it’s about shifting behaviour, building trust, and making a national service feel personal, relevant and easy to reach.
Can you share an example where a communications campaign directly led to more people using a health service?
We aim to change the behaviour of those who are unwell enough to seek care (but who are not in a life threatening situation) and we need to help take pressure off EDs. We want people to use the healthdirect service when they don’t know what care they need, or what options are available.
There are two promotional streams. We support state health departments to promote the healthdirect helpline, ensuring messaging aligns with service experience. When campaigns are in market we see call volumes jump by up to 25%—and the uplift often sticks around.
On our own channels, we focus on the online Symptom Checker. It’s fast, free, and especially handy for parents up at 2am wondering if they should head to the ED or wait it out. As it’s a national resource, we have an always on approach and marketing drives 50–60% of usage.
When you have a service goal, how do you build a communications strategy around it?
We start with the data—who’s using the service, when, and how. Then we zoom out: who’s going to ED when they could be helped by a GP or pharmacy? Since most people start their health journey online, we meet them there. Google alone drives up to 70% of our traffic, so we make sure our messaging is clear, helpful, and right where people are searching for information about their symptoms.
If a campaign doesn’t increase service uptake, what’s the first thing you review?
We look at the creative first. Is the message landing? Are the visuals and wording connecting with our audience? If not, we check our understanding of the audience motivators and engagement with the health system. We test new angles—especially ones that speak to real-life moments, like a parent with a sick child. We also check if we’re reaching the right people in the right places.
Read also: Zanda Wilson on the value that former journalists can bring to communications
How do you measure the impact of a campaign when the goal is to change behaviour, not just share information?
It’s all about what people do next. The healthdirect service connects people to a variety of service options—GPs, urgent care clinics, pharmacies, virtual EDs and physical EDs. A key campaign metric is whether fewer people are using the service and being safety referred away from visiting an ED—because that’s a win for both the patient and the system.
Some state campaigns are already showing drops in ED visits, which is a great sign that people are trusting the advice and choosing the right care. Over time, with more awareness of the service, it should start to make a bigger difference.
How can communications influence internal decision-making and build credibility with external stakeholders?
We recently rebranded to Strategic Communications to reflect the broader impact of our work. Internally, it helps position us as more than just content creators—we’re strategic partners driving service usage.
Externally, it aligns us with our health department peers. We back it all up with clear, data-rich reports that get shared at executive meetings and show how marketing is working to reduce the cost per interaction with the service.
What’s one thing you wish more people understood about using communications to support service delivery?
Every campaign has a ripple effect. Our role isn’t just B2C, it’s B2B and B2G.
More visibility of the service means more users, which affects staffing, wait times and costs. We work closely with our ops teams and government partners to get that balance right. Ultimately, our ROI needs to show our contribution to the health system – getting people to the right care, first time.
It’s a big, exciting job—and we love being part of the digital health shift.
For Jenni, success means more than numbers on a dashboard. It’s about knowing that a parent made the right call at 2 am because a digital tool was just a tap away. It’s about showing leaders the power of smart, empathetic storytelling to support public services. And it’s about making sure communications isn’t seen as decoration—but as a vital piece of how we care for people in a complex, changing health system.
Adrianne Saplagio is a Content Producer at Comms Room, where she combines her passion for storytelling with her expertise in multimedia content creation. With a keen eye for detail and a knack for engaging audiences, Adrianne has been instrumental in crafting compelling narratives that resonate across various digital platforms.
