Government's Response to Suggestions for Privacy Law Reforms will impact Heath Services and Research Sector

Government's Response to Suggestions for Privacy Law Reforms will Impact Health Services and Research Sector

On 14 October 2009, the Federal Government released its first stage response to the Australian Law Reform Commission's (ALRC) review of Australian Privacy Law (For Your Information: Australian Privacy Law and Practice), announcing that it will implement the vast majority of the ALRC's recommendations.

The key reforms will have a significant impact on many Australian businesses including for health services and research. 

In particular, the Government has agreed to amend the Privacy Principles to:

•     allow individuals to have their health records transferred between health service providers; and

•     clarify that health information can be shared between providers when this is necessary for the individual's healthcare and is within an individual's reasonable expectations.

The Government has also proposed that the National Health and Medical Research Council, in conjunction with other bodies such as the Australian Research Council and Universities Australia, prepare one set of rules to replace the Guidelines under Section 95 of the Privacy Act 1988 and the Guidelines Approved under Section 95A of the Privacy Act 1988, which will allow non-consensual handling of personal information to facilitate research in the public interest, not just for medical and health research.

The Government maintains that the public interest in the research must "substantially outweigh" the protection of privacy.