E-health changes ’still not enough’

THE My Health Record rollout should be suspended until women fleeing domestic violence can be sure their privacy is protected, Labor says.

Police and other government agencies will now have to seek a court order to access patients’ digital health data after Health Minister Greg Hunt announced he would change the law.

But Labor says the backdown on e-health doesn’t go far enough and the rollout should be suspended to give more people time to make an informed choice.

“Mr Hunt’s response also does nothing to address new concerns the My Health Record may risk the safety of women fleeing abusive partners,” Labor’s health spokeswoman Catherine King said yesterday. “Labor remains of the view the Government should suspend the My Health Record rollout until this mess can be cleaned up.”

The backdown comes after talks with the Australian Medical Association and Royal Australian College of General Practitioners.

“We can now move forward and have certainty around the protections to the privacy of those medical records that our patients expect,” AMA president Tony Bartone told ABC radio yesterday.

Mr Hunt plans to amend the My Health Record Act in the next sitting of parliament to bring it into line with existing Australian Digital Health Agency policy.

“We will make that ironclad, crystal clear and unbreakable in legislation,” Mr Hunt said. Concerns on privacy and access issues have dogged the system since it was released for national public access last month after a six-year trial.

Under the changes, patients will be able to delete their records permanently from the system. Mr Hunt insisted the reputation of the system hadn’t been damaged after

LABOR REMAINS OF THE VIEW THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD SUSPEND THE MY HEALTH RECORD ROLLOUT LABOR’S CATHERINE KING

thousands of Australians opted out of My Health Record when given the chance. The minister is also considering extending the opt-out, which is set to end in mid-October, by a month.

Labor deputy leader Tanya Plibersek said stronger privacy was a good thing, but criticised the government’s handling of the scheme.

“I’ve certainly got my electronic health record and I hope that when these wrinkles are sorted out, others will have the confidence to join the system too,” Ms Plibersek said.

Lobby group Digital Rights Watch said the changes vindicated the concerns of privacy experts, medical practitioners, concerned citizens and some government MPs.