Business · The Guardian Technology
Doctors’ soaring tap of AI scribes prompts Australian government warning over privacy
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The federal health department has raised concerns about the use of AI scribes by doctors as the health regulator considers the need for safeguards around the technology.
Key facts
- According to an online poll by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP), use of AI scribes by doctors in Australia nearly doubled from 22% in August 2024 to 40% in November 2025
- AI scribe tools record, transcribe and summarise conversations between doctors and patients for medical notes, and have boomed in popularity in the past 18 months
- In Australia, the oversight of AI scribes is handled by a patchwork of regulators, including the Therapeutic Goods Administration, Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra)
- The department said some suppliers advertised a 30% revenue increase for health professionals with no additional hours or patient consultations, “which has implications for [Medicare Benefits Scheme]
Summary
AI scribe tools record, transcribe and summarise conversations between doctors and patients for medical notes, and have boomed in popularity in the past 18 months. According to an online poll by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP), use of AI scribes by doctors in Australia nearly doubled from 22% in August 2024 to 40% in November 2025. Companies offering the technology to practitioners say it has been used hundreds of millions of times across the globe in the past 18 months alone as doctors seek to ease the administrative burden of patient consultations. The federal health department has identified concerns about the growing use of the technology.