Health

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This section contains information for health service providers regarding their obligations under the federal Privacy Act.

From 21 December 2001 health service providers covered by the federal Privacy Act have needed to comply with ten National Privacy Principles that allow for individuals to exercise new rights and choices about how their personal and health information is handled in the private health sector.  The Act also gives people these rights over personal information held by other private sector organisations.

To assist health service providers in the private sector to understand their new obligations the Office of the Privacy Commissioner has produced Guidelines on Privacy in the Private Health Sector and a Short Guide for the private health sector. 

The Office has also produced tailored information specific to doctors and pharmacists in conjunction with the Medicare Australia.   

Privacy considerations relating to the handling and protection of human genetic information can be found in the Office's submissions to the 2003 report by the Australian Law Reform Commission and the Australian Health Ethics Committee titled Essentially Yours: The Protection of Human Genetic Information in Australia.

So that research can continue to inform and improve Australians' health while complying with the Privacy Act, the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) has issued guidelines (s.95 and s.95A), approved by the  Privacy Commissioner.  These guidelines balance the protection of an individual’s health information with the need for ethically approved research using individuals' health data without consent.

There are many important privacy questions and considerations for Australians when dealing with health information.  For more information, a series of information sheets, FAQs and health publications are available within this web site.