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THE HON NICOLA ROXON MP

Former Minister for Health and Ageing

eHealth Records Legislation Introduced

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Legislation has been introduced into Parliament for Australia’s national eHealth records system, with the rollout starting from July 2012.

PDF printable version of eHealth Records Legislation Introduced (PDF 28 KB)

23 November 2011

The Minister for Health and Ageing, Nicola Roxon, today introduced legislation into Parliament to introduce Australia’s national eHealth records system, with the rollout starting from July 2012.

“Electronic health records have the potential to save lives, time and money and make the health system more efficient,” Minister Roxon said.

“There’s no doubt that Australia needs to drag the management of health records into the 21st century.

“Medication errors currently account for 190,000 admissions to hospitals each year. Up to 18% of medical errors are attributed to inadequate patient information.

“For doctors and health care providers, the ability to quickly access clinically relevant patient information will save time and help deliver better, safer and more efficient care for patients,” said Ms Roxon.

From 1 July 2012 Australians will be able to register for an eHealth record.

“Patients will have the choice as to whether they wish to opt into the system.

“And Australians will have unprecedented control over their health information, including who can access their record and which documents can be viewed.

“Records will have the capacity to contain summary information such as conditions, medications, allergies and records of events such as hospital stays.”

“Our legislation will also allow records to be connected to the existing information from Medicare systems.

The Personally Controlled Electronic Health Records Bill 2011 includes provisions for:

  • Strong penalties for breaches of privacy, such as inappropriate access;
  • The ability for patients to nominate authorised and/or nominated representatives to have rights in regard to their eHealth records;
  • An Independent Advisory Council to advise on operational and policy matters;
  • Audit logs available for consumers to see on the access to health records; and
  • The Australian Information Commissioner to become the key system regulator.
“The legislation will strike the right balance between security and access. Two rounds of consultation were held on this legislation prior to its introduction, Ms Roxon said.

“It is disappointing that the Opposition have continued to say ‘no’ to eHealth records, including a pledge to cut all of its $467 million funding at the last election.”

Details of the Personally Controlled Electronic Health Records Bill 2011 are available from the Parliament House website.

For more information, please contact the Minister's Office on 02 6277 7220




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