Consultation On Guidelines on e-Health Privacy By Australian Information Commissioner.

I had this nice e-mail today from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.

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I wanted to draw your attention to some guidelines on ehealth privacy that the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner has released for consultation.

(here is the link: http://www.oaic.gov.au/news/consultations.html#enforcement_guideline )

We are conducting a public consultation on the ‘Personally Controlled Electronic Health Records System – Enforcement Guidelines for the Information Commissioner 2012’.

As you would know, the PCEHR Act provides that the Information Commissioner is the independent privacy regulator for the ehealth record system and gives the Commissioner the power to investigate alleged contraventions of the Act and pursue enforcement mechanisms that are appropriate in the circumstances of the case. The Act also requires the Commissioner to make guidelines relating to the exercise of his enforcement powers under the PCEHR Act.

The draft Guidelines set out the Commissioner’s general approach to the exercise of enforcement and investigatory powers under both the PCEHR Act and the Privacy Act.

We are seeking public comments on the Guidelines by 18 September 2012.

Next week we will also be releasing for public comment ‘Mandatory Data Breach Notification in the eHealth system: A guide to mandatory data breach notification under the PCEHR System’. We are expecting that this document will be available on the OAIC  website next week.

If you think these matters are something that your readers would find interesting please pass the information on. Details on how to make a submission can be found on our consultation webpage above.

Kind regards

Leila Daniels | Deputy Director Corporate and Public Affairs |

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Can I encourage all readers to have a look at what is proposed and comment as per the webpage.

David.