Tim Churches wrote:
I am not sure about other States and Territories but that is not true in NSW. The NSW Health Records Information Privacy Act 2002 (see http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lawlink/privacynsw/ll_pnsw.nsf/pages/PNSW_03_hripact ) provides for penalties up to 2 years in gaol for public sector employees who unlawfully disclose personal health information (or who through negligence or omission allow that to happen).
Yes, that's fine for Health Dept. staff,and I assume the definition of public sector covers AHS staff?
Complaints against public sector agencies can be lodged directly with the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, after first raising them with the agency concerned - they do not need to go through the NSW Privacy Commissioner.
That's probably just as well, as when I rang the NSW Privacy Commissioner I got an answering machine with a message that suggested they were only interested in public sector matters. Getting an answering machine mid-morning suggested to me that they condcuted their business with very limited staffing, so my expectation of action from them was greatly diminished.
It is not perfect, and not as strong as it some would like, but better than nothing.
I'm not sure that it is better than nothing outside the public sector arena. Do they issue an annual report outlining how many cases they've acted in, the results they've achieved, their recommendations for improving the law, their recommendations for procedures to ensure adherence in a range of circumstances, etc.? These are the sorts of things consumer watchdog organisations routinely do, and so should government privacy bodies.
Interesting to know if Victoria has a similar legal framework covering their public hospitals, as it doesn't seem to have been referenced, though I've assumed the Austin message was referring the the federal Commissioner, but it may have been the state equivalent in Victoria.
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