What legislation applies to patient privacy in Australia?

What legislation applies to patient privacy in Australia?

The Privacy Act 1988
The Privacy Act 1988 (the Privacy Act) outlines the privacy responsibilities that most healthcare providers have to comply with in managing health and personal information. The key requirements are contained in the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs).

Are medical records confidential in Australia?

‘Medical confidentiality’ obliges a health professional to protect (limit access to) the information discussed in confidence between themselves and a patient or client. There is no specific confidentiality legislation in Australia, so in a strict legal sense it’s governed by the ‘common law’.

When can a doctor break confidentiality Australia?

24. A doctor may disclose information from a patient’s medical record without consent if the doctor reasonably believes the patient may cause imminent and serious harm to themselves, an identifiable individual or group of persons.

What are the 7 Australian privacy principles?

Australian Privacy Principles

• the collection, use and disclosure of personal information.
• an organisation or agency’s governance and accountability.
• integrity and correction of personal information.
• the rights of individuals to access their personal information.

What is the privacy rule in healthcare?

The Privacy Rule protects all “individually identifiable health information” held or transmitted by a covered entity or its business associate, in any form or media, whether electronic, paper, or oral. The Privacy Rule calls this information “protected health information (PHI).”

What is an example of privacy in healthcare?

Patient privacy encompasses a number of aspects, including personal space (physical privacy), personal data (informational privacy), personal choices including cultural and religious affiliations (decisional privacy), and personal relationships with family members and other intimates (associational privacy).

When can medical confidentiality be breached?

Doctors can breach confidentiality only when their duty to society overrides their duty to individual patients and it is deemed to be in the public interest.

What are the limits of patient confidentiality?

He or she cannot divulge any medical information about the patient to third persons without the patient’s consent, though there are some exceptions (e.g. issues relating to health insurance, if confidential information is at issue in a lawsuit, or if a patient or client plans to cause immediate harm to others).

What are the exceptions to doctor-patient confidentiality?

Other legal exceptions to a breach of doctor-patient confidentiality include: Medical treatment of injuries that could relate to criminal conduct (e.g., gunshot wounds, drunk driving, hit and run). Disclosures to the patient’s health insurance company for the purposes of getting insurance coverage for treatment.

What are the 13 topics of the Australian privacy principles?

Australian Privacy Principles quick reference

What is patient right to privacy?

The Privacy Rule, a Federal law, gives you rights over your health information and sets rules and limits on who can look at and receive your health information. The Privacy Rule applies to all forms of individuals’ protected health information, whether electronic, written, or oral.

What are the privacy laws in Australia?

Privacy laws regulate the handling of personal information about individuals (what can and can’t be done with someone’s personal information). Privacy is a right enshrined in law (Privacy Act 1981, Cth) and in the Australian Privacy Principles (‘APPs’). The Act and APPs apply to individuals and Commonwealth Government agencies.

Do you have a legal right to privacy in your health?

You have a legal right to this privacy, and there are laws that guide health service providers in how they collect and record information about your health, how they must store it, and when and how they use and share it.

Are You covered by the Privacy Act 1988?

You are covered by the Privacy Act 1988 for all your activities. People commonly regard health information as one of the most sensitive types of personal information. The Privacy Act provides extra protections around the handling of health information. For example, you generally need to get consent before you collect a person’s health information.

Are public hospitals and health services covered by the Privacy Act?

State and territory public hospitals and health services are not covered by the Privacy Act, but may be covered by relevant state or territory legislation.