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From 12 March 2013 content is no longer being added to, or amended, on this site, consequently some information may be out of date.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 a health service provider required to do when an individual asks for his or her medical records to be corrected?

Under National Privacy Principle 6.5 (NPP 6.5) a health service provider must take reasonable steps to correct the record, if the individual establishes that it includes incorrect health (or other personal) information. Where there is disagreement about the accuracy of the information, the health service provider will need to take reasonable steps to associate a statement (containing the individual's claims) with the information in question, if the individual requests this.

What are 'reasonable steps' will depend on the circumstances. For example, if the health information is of poor quality, inaccessible and unlikely to be used, then it may be unreasonable to correct that information. Where correction is necessary, it is generally preferable for the provider to amend the information or add a correction to the record, instead of permanently deleting information. For more information, see Guidelines on Privacy in the Private Health Sector, 6.10 Amendments to individual's health information.

For more detail on NPP 6 generally, see Information Sheet 4 - Access and Correction.