HL7 AU FHIR Test Data

HL7 AU FHIR Test Data contains sample FHIR instances for testing purposes, and to support developers. This repository includes synthetic (realistic but not real) data that conforms to HL7 AU FHIR Implementation Guides (IGs). The synthetic data covers a broader and expanded content scope over that in the FHIR instance examples included in published HL7 AU FHIR IGs.

Synthetic Data Properties

• Conformance: The synthetic data generated aims to conform to the structures and constraints defined in the corresponding HL7 AU FHIR Implementation Guides, as indicated. Some data may be intentionally non-conformant to support negaitve testing scenarios.

• Anonymity and Realism: All data is synthetic, containing no personally identifiable information (PII) or protected health information (PHI). It is generated to approximate real-world properties and relationships found in actual healthcare data to support testing and development. The dataset includes Patients, Practitioners, PractitionerRoles, Organizations, Healthcare Services, and clinical resources such as AllergyIntolerance. Any resemblance to real entities is purely coincidental. Specifically,

  • Names are randomly generated.
  • Addresses are valid addresses based on publicly available address data from Australia Post.
  • Australian phone numbers are from the reserved set provided by the Australian Communications and Media Authority for use in creative works.
  • Email addresses use the following domains set aside for development and testing: 'example', 'myownpersonaldomain domain', and 'my-own-personal-domain domain'.
  • Resources with an IHI, HPI-I, or HPI-O have been provided by Services Australia and are present in the HI Vendor Test Environment. These resources may be in tests within that environment.
  • IHIs, HPI-Os, HPI-Is are provided by Services Australia for test purposes and will pass Luhn check.
  • Medicare Card Numbers and DVA numbers are provided by Services Australia for test purposes.
  • Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) Registration Numbers are provided by Services Australia for test purposes.
  • ABNs present in the data for fictious organisations are not valid ABNs, i.e. they will not pass validity checks.

• Unbiased: The dataset is intended to avoid biases in data representation.

• Variation: The dataset aims to exhibit sufficient variation to effectively test different aspects of HL7 AU FHIR IGs, helping to validate a range of expected behaviours and constraints.

• Data Integrity: Relationships between different entities are maintained as accurately as possible. For example, PractitionerRoles are appropriately linked to Practitioners and Organizations, reflecting real-world associations.

How to navigate this repository

Synthetic FHIR test data (JSON) files are available in the following directories:

• au-fhir-test-data-set
  • Includes sample FHIR instances for testing purposes, covering AU Core 1.1.0-preview, eRequesting 0.3.0-preview, and AU Base 5.1.0-preview.
  • Patient, RelatedPerson, Practitioner, PractitionerRole, Organization, HealthcareService, and Location instances are generated from Services Australia (SA) provided data then enriched with additional elements for AU Core Must Support elements and some extra AU Base elements.
  • A limited set of non-SA personas created to test where an IHI is not present in the data.
  • Includes test data for verifying missing data and suppressed data test cases (for details see MissingAndSuppressedData_TestData.md).
• generated
  • contains test data generated from the testdata-csv and uses tooling that includes mappings and utilities for conversion to FHIR (JSON format) and validation. These generated instances are included in the au-fhir-test-data-set directory.

Documentation on Confluence for the HL7 FHIR Test Data project details the development process. It outlines the role of CSV-to-FHIR mappings located in the Sparked.Csv2FhirMapping/Maps directory, and GitHub workflows found in the .github directory, some of which depend on utilities from the hl7au/au-fhir-test-data-utils repository. These workflows are part of a CI pipeline that validates FHIR data, supporting contributors and reviewers in identifying and resolving validation errors before merging changes, and can automate the upload of test data to a target server. The documentation also explains the approach to managing quarantined instances — test data instances that are assessed as valid but report errors that can be justified (such as tooling or terminology service issues). These instances are listed in the quarantine directory to avoid confounding subsequent QA/validation report reviews, with justifications provided via inline comments.

To support HL7 AU Connectathons, Postman collection import files containing a selection of AU Core and AU eRequesting Test Data, along with sample Postman environment import files, are available in the Postman directory.

Test Data Coverage of HL7 AU FHIR Implementation Guides

The test dataset is developed on a best-effort basis, aiming to provide broad coverage of HL7 AU IG profiles and extensions. The extent of coverage evolves iteratively, shaped by the maturity of the IGs, shifting priorities of HL7 AU projects, available resources, and community contributions. For example, in the case of the AU Core IG, the dataset includes coverage of Must Support elements within AU Core profiles and extensions. The current coverage is documented in AUCoreTestDataCoverage.md.

Versioning

The versioning approach follows a modified Semantic Versioning (semver) strategy aligned with HL7 AU conventions:

Version Format: MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH

• MAJOR (X.0.0) – Indicates a major milestone or significant changes, often aligning with a HL7 AU FHIR Test Data Project Release.
• MINOR (X.Y.0) – Used for incremental releases within a major version.
• PATCH (X.Y.Z) – Represents small fixes, technical corrections, and refinements to existing test data without introducing breaking changes.
• Pre-release (X.Y.0-beta) may be used for testing purposes before an official release.

Tags are used to mark releases, and repository states such as for HL7 AU Connectathons and Sparked Test Events, supporting consistency across testing environments and the reproducibility of test results.

Did you find an error?

We appreciate your contributions to improving au-fhir-test-data. If you encounter any bugs or defects, please follow the steps below to report them:

1. Search for Existing Issues

Before submitting a new issue, please search the GitHub Issues list to check if your issue has already been reported. If you find an existing issue, you can add your comments or additional information to it.

2. Open a New Issue

If you do not find a similar issue, you can open a new one. Click on the New Issue button and provide the following details:

Title: A brief and descriptive title for the issue.
Description: A detailed description of the issue, including:
1. Steps to reproduce the issue.
2. Expected and actual behaviour.
3. Screenshots or another related information (if applicable).

3. Labelling

Help us categorise the issue by adding relevant labels (e.g., bug). This helps us prioritise and address the issues more efficiently.

Resolving Issues

To support effective issue resolution, reporters may be engaged in the review process to help confirm that resolutions address their concerns. This can involve notifying the reporter when a fix is implemented and inviting them to validate the solution or provide feedback before the issue is formally closed.

Questions?

If you have a question, the best place to start is Zulip e.g. the https://chat.fhir.org/#narrow/stream/179173-australia/topic/AU.20FHIR.20Test.20Data topic

How to Contribute to HL7 AU Test Data

We value contributions to au-fhir-test-data. Here’s how you can help:

1. Communicate Before You Start

• Before contributing, open a GitHub issue to discuss your plans. This helps *avoid duplication of effort, align with project priorities, and ensure your contributions fit within the project's scope. Refer to the HL7 AU Test Data Project Scope Statement for guidance.
• Some test data instances are linked to Services Australia–provided data and cannot be modified without governance oversight.
  • The following resource types require consultation with the HL7 FHIR Test Data project team before making changes:
    • Patient
    • Practitioner
    • PractitionerRole
    • Organization
    • HealthcareService
    • Location
• Changes to quarantined files also require careful review.
• Join the fortnightly HL7 AU Infrastructure and Tooling Community Meetings (register here) where we discuss and triage issues. Feel free to add your issue to the meeting agenda and we'll aim to discuss your issue/ proposed contribution when you are present at the meeting.
• Use Zulip to connect with the team and community asynchronously:
  • Specific topic for the HL7 AU Test Data project: AU FHIR Test Data
  • General: Australia Stream

2. Contribute

1. Fork this repository.
2. Create a branch and use the GitHub issue number followed by a meaningful description as the branch name for your test data contribution, sticking to lowercase and hyphens to separate words. For example, the following is a branch for GitHub issue #123 for adding resources with logical references: 123-logical-refs
3. Make your contributions/ changes.
4. Submit a pull request (PR) for review.
5. Once the PR has been reviewed and feedback addressed collaboratively, it will be merged into the master branch.