My Health Record amendments must protect children from DV
20 September 2018
The Law Council of Australia’s President, Morry Bailes, the Chair of the Privacy Law Committee, Business Law Section, Olga Ganopolsky, and the Chair of the Family Law Section, Wendy Kayler-Thomson and Director of Policy, Dr Natasha Molt appeared before a Senate inquiry into the My Health Records system on Monday.
They told the inquiry amendments were needed to the definition of parental responsibility under the My Health Record Act to ensure a child’s My Health Record could not be accessed by a parent subject to a domestic violence, restraining order, personal protection order or any other ordering requiring they spend supervised time with that child to stop the My Health Record of children being used to track-down victims of family violence.
The Law Council also took issue with a number of other aspects of the proposed My Health Record system – however welcomed amendments which:
- Remove the ability of the My Health Record System Operator to disclose heath information in My Health Records to law enforcement agencies and government agencies without an order by a judicial officer or the healthcare recipient’s consent; and
- Require the System Operator to permanently delete health information stored in the National Repositories Service for a person if they have cancelled their registration with the My Health Record system.
The issue received significant media attention throughout the week, Law Council President Morry Bailes sharing the Law Council’s concerns over privacy and calls for tighter definitions and protections.
Last Updated on 20/12/2019