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From 12 March 2013 content is no longer being added to, or amended, on this site, consequently some information may be out of date.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

Who owns my medical records?

The Privacy Act doesn't deal with questions of copyright or ownership of medical records.

Generally, the health service provider who creates a medical record owns that record. This doesn't interfere with your right to access your record, because ownership and access rights are separate.

Under the National Privacy Principles (NPPs) in the Privacy Act, you have a right to access health information about you that is held by a private sector health service provider. Even though a provider may own the record, they can only refuse you access to it if an exception under NPP 6 allows this.

Generally the Privacy Commissioner considers that access should be given in the form requested by the individual, such as a copy or an accurate summary.

For detailed information on denial of access, see Information Sheet 4 and Information Sheet 21

I think my doctor has charged me too much to give me access to my medical records. What can I do?