LABOR’S PLAN TO FIX THE MY HEALTH RECORD

Labor will seek changes to the My Health Record to better protect the privacy of employees and women fleeing domestic violence.  We will also seek iron-clad legislative guarantees that the My Health Record will never be privatised or commercialised, and that Australians’ health data will never be made available to private health insurers.  Labor supports electronic health records. But the Senate inquiry we initiated into the My Health Record has exposed a range of deficiencies that must be addressed before this scheme rolls out to every Australian.  Greg Hunt dismissed this inquiry as a “stunt”. But the fact is it has revealed a range of serious flaws in the current legislation that are not addressed by the Government’s woefully inadequate amendments.  These flaws were created by the Government’s rushed implementation of an opt-out model.  The legislation that made sense for Labor’s opt-in model – when informed consent was assured – is not appropriate under the Government’s opt-out model.  While Labor supports the Government’s moves to tighten law enforcement access provisions and enable permanent record deletion, it’s clear these measures alone are simply not enough.  Labor intends to move amendments to the Government’s bill to ensure: The My Health Record can never be privatised or commercialised; Private health insurers can never access My Health Records, including de-identified data; Employees’ right to privacy is protected in the context of employer-directed health care, by including a clause similar to s14(2) of the Healthcare Identifiers Act in the My Health Record Act; Vulnerable children and parents such as those fleeing domestic violence are protected, by narrowing the definition of parental responsibility; and The System Operator (the Australian Digital Health Agency) cannot delegate access to My Health Records to other entities.These amendments seek to address concerns raised by medical professionals, law experts, domestic violence advocates and unions throughout the course of the inquiry.  Labor may also move additional amendments in light of ongoing consultations with concerned stakeholders.  In the meantime, the Government must heed Labor’s call to suspend the opt-out rollout until all remaining concerns are addressed and public confidence in this important reform is restored.