The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) has published a series of documents to assist private healthcare practices, such as GP clinics and dental surgeries, with specific information about how to manage their obligations under the Privacy Act.
The first in this series is ‘Handling health information under the Privacy Act: a general overview for private sector health service providers.
It outlines what private sector health service providers need to know about handling their patients’ health information. It provides a general overview of this guidance series and summarises the range of obligations that apply to providers under the Australian Privacy Principles(APPs) in the Privacy Act 1988(Cth).
Most people consider their health information to be highly personal. Knowing their privacy will be respected when they use a health service helps give people the confidence to access the health services they need.
