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From 12 March 2013 content is no longer being added to, or amended, on this site, consequently some information may be out of date.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.

Do healthcare providers need my consent to collect my healthcare identifier?

No. Healthcare providers will be able to automatically access your IHI from the HI Service when providing healthcare to you. This access does not have to occur simultaneously with the provision of the healthcare.

IHIs can only be retrieved from the HI Service operator (Medicare Australia) by authorised employees of healthcare providers who are registered with the HI Service.

Once retrieved, healthcare identifiers can only be used and disclosed by healthcare providers for specific healthcare related purposes.