Site Changes

On 1 November 2010 the Office of the Privacy Commissioner was integrated into the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner and a new website established at www.oaic.gov.au.

Note 1: Major changes to the Privacy Act 1988 will come into effect in March 2014. Agencies, businesses and not for profits need to start preparing for these changes. For more information go to our privacy law reform page at www.oaic.gov.au
Note 2: From 12 March 2013 content is no longer being added to, or amended, on this site, consequently some information may be out of date. For new privacy content visit the www.oaic.gov.au website.

What is an individual healthcare identifier?

An individual healthcare identifier (IHI) is a unique 16 digit number used to assist health providers communicate health information about an individual. An IHI provides a reliable and accurate way of uniquely identifying a person to provide healthcare and manage healthcare records. For example, an IHI provides a more reliable way of referencing patient information, particularly in healthcare providers’ electronic information management systems.

A unique IHI was automatically allocated to most Australian residents on 1 July 2010 and can be allocated for any other person seeking healthcare in Australia. They are issued by the Healthcare Identifier Service (HI Service) which is part of Medicare Australia.