AI ADOPTION IN AUSTRALIAS HEALTH CARE AND SOCIAL ASSISTANCE INDUSTRY: AN EXPLORATORY QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF ABS SECONDARY DATA

This article profiles reported artificial intelligence (AI) use among Australian businesses in the Health Care and Social Assistance industry using secondary data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). It compares the sector with the national business estimate and other industry divisions, then fits a small exploratory regression using the ABSs published industry-level rates. In 2024-25, 17% of businesses in Health Care and Social Assistance reported using AI, compared with 12% nationally. The sector ranked fifth among 17 industry divisions and reported a 49% innovation-active rate, three percentage points above the national rate. Across the 17 divisions, a one percentage-point higher innovation-active rate was associated with a 0.33 percentage-point higher AI-use rate in an unweighted ordinary least squares model (R2=0.130, p=0.156). The models fitted value for the health division was 14.5%, compared with the observed 17%. This difference is descriptive: the ABS data are rounded industry aggregates and do not identify clinical AI, implementation intensity, patient outcomes, or a health-sector-specific causal effect. The findings provide a concise baseline for business and policy discussion and highlight the need for measures of adoption stage, governance, workforce readiness, and evaluated outcomes.