Australian Medical Association

The AMA has developed a Privacy Resource handbook to help doctors comply with the Privacy Act 1988.

The Resource handbook is based on the Privacy Act 1988 in force as at 1 July 2010.

The AMA intends to update this Resource Book if the proposed changes become law.

AMA Submission to the Community Affairs Legislation Committee on the Healthcare Identifiers Bill 2010 and Healthcare Identifiers (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2010

The AMA considers healthcare identifiers are an essential building block towards the implementation of electronic health records, and we are therefore a strong supporter of their introduction. Healthcare identifiers will facilitate the secure access to, and appropriate sharing of, electronic patient information by healthcare providers.

We support the passage of the Healthcare Identifiers Bill 2010 and the Healthcare Identifiers (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2010.

Establishment of the Healthcare Identifier Service was agreed to by the Council of Australian Governments in 2006 as part of the national approach towards accelerating work on electronic health records to improve the safety of patients and improve efficiency for healthcare providers.

In July 2009, the Department of Health and Ageing released a discussion paper on legislative proposals to support the establishment and implementation of unique identifiers for healthcare purposes and the privacy of health information.

The AMA submission on the discussion paper is supported by the AMA Position Statement on Unique Healthcare Identifiers in 2008.

Government is taking a bold step in legislating to gain access to the private health records of all Australians.

An exposure draft of legislation quietly released on the Thursday night before Easter will give government the right to access all information recorded by doctors on individual patients records.

The legislation reverses current legal protections for patient privacy, ensuring no part of the patient record is protected.  The patient record will be completely exposed, extracts obtained, copied, retained and potentially submitted in court for all to see.

AMA President, Dr Rosanna Capolingua, described the legislation as “deeply disturbing”. 

The AMA Joint Submission highlights concerns that the proposed arrangements will impose additional requirements on registrants to provide information, including workforce data, to the relevant board as a condition of registration, and extend existing arrangements for information sharing about registered medical practitioners between various government agencies.

AMA comments on the Review of Australian Privacy Law, Discussion Paper 72

The AMA welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Access Card Consumer and Privacy Taskforce's second discussion paper on Voluntary Medical and Emergency Information.

AMA Submission to the Office of the Federal Privacy Commissioner's Review of MBS and PBS Privacy Guidelines (February 2005)

AMA Position Statement: Personal Safety and Privacy for Doctors - 2005

The AMA has lodged a submisison to the Senate's Inquiry into the Privacy Act 1988.