E-health privacy blueprint - robust legislation is needed says Privacy Commissioner

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15 August 2008

The Australian Privacy Commissioner, Karen Curtis, has called for legislation for the proposed national Individual Electronic Health Records (IEHR) system.

"The National E-Health Transition Authority (NEHTA) has identified some valuable privacy considerations for the proposed IEHR system," said Ms Curtis.

"The suggestion that individuals should be able to opt-in to an IEHR system is welcome, as this promotes genuine choice.

"It is also important that there is specific legislation for the system to ensure there are robust privacy protections in place."

Ms Curtis' recommendations were made in a submission by her Office in response to NEHTA's Privacy Blueprint, which will feed into a business case NEHTA will deliver to the Council of Australian Governments in late 2008.

Another key point made in the Office's submission was the importance of having "sensitivity labels" in place at the start of the system to restrict access to certain information within the IEHR.

"My Office argues strongly in favour of sensitivity labels being in place at the start of the project," Ms Curtis said. 

"This would be of prime importance to, say, a patient who is suffering a sensitive condition, such as a mental or sexual illness.

"The sensitivity label would prevent a healthcare worker in an area unrelated to the patient's illness from accessing this information."

Ms Curtis has also called for individuals to be able to see who has accessed their records through the availability of audit logs.

"This is an important accountability and transparency measure," Ms Curtis said.

The submission is available at http://www.privacy.gov.au/publications/sub_nehta_0808.doc.