How does a health service provider proceed when they have privacy obligations...

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Question: How does a health service provider proceed when they have privacy obligations under the Commonwealth Privacy Act 1988, as well as under State or Territory privacy law and/or their profession’s ethical code of practice?

Answer: The Australian Constitution says that when a law of a State is inconsistent with a law of the Commonwealth, the latter will prevail. Across Australia, all private sector health service providers are required to comply with the provisions of the Commonwealth Privacy Act 1988. Most often, the privacy protections required by Commonwealth and State or Territory privacy laws will be similar.

In the private health sector, the National Privacy Principles (NPPs) are intended to complement the professional and ethical obligations of health service providers. In some cases, these codes and standards may require a higher standard of privacy protection in the handling of health information. For more information on these issues, see Guidelines for Privacy in the Private Health Sector.