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From 12 March 2013 content is no longer being added to, or amended, on this site, consequently some information may be out of date.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

Are there restrictions on how the Medicare number can be handled by health service providers?

Yes. National Privacy Principle 7 (NPP 7) prohibits the adoption of Commonwealth identifiers, such as the Medicare number, except in limited circumstances. NPP 7 also prohibits the use or disclosure of Commonwealth identifiers, except where this is necessary to fulfil the provider's obligations to the Commonwealth Government agency that issued the identifier, or in other restricted circumstances (for example in an emergency, or for law enforcement purposes or, in the future, for other uses prescribed in Regulations issued by the Attorney -General). Visit NPP 7 for the wording.

In the case of the Medicare number, while a health service provider could not adopt the Medicare number as its own identifier, it can use a Medicare number to determine an individual's eligibility to receive health services funded under Medicare.

For more information on NPP 7, see Guidelines on Privacy in the Private Health Sector.