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The Andrews Labor government’s Health Legislation Amendment (Information Sharing) Bill 2023, currently before the Victorian Parliament, aims ”to establish a centralised electronic system to enable public hospitals and other specified health services to share specified patient health information”.
The Bill makes it mandatory for specified health services to adopt this new health information sharing system, including ambulance services, denominational hospitals, metropolitan hospitals, multi-purpose services, public health services, public hospitals, registered community health centres, the Victorian Institute of Mental Health, public aged care facilities, and the Victorian Collaborative Centre for Mental Health and Wellbeing.
“Patient health information” includes medical treatments including for things like mental health conditions, pregnancy terminations, illicit drug addiction, family violence, sexual assault and sexually transmitted diseases that many patients may regard as personal and private.
The sharing of patients’ information will occur without their knowledge or consent and there is no option for patients to opt out of the system as the Bill stands. Also, the Bill does not allow for Victorians to access their own sensitive information being held by the Government.
Further, in light of the recent Medibank Private hack, where private and personal details of patients’ medical treatments were made public, it is not even possible for the Andrews Labor government to guarantee its proposed centralised electronic patient medical record sharing system will be appropriately secure.
Your response to the following questions will assist in improving the Bill.