Cathy O'Toole (Herbert, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The NDIS, the NBN, the royal commission into banking and financial services, energy, marriage equality and Medicare are just a few of the areas where a competent government could have done much better for Australians. However, what Australians are witnessing is a government that seems to be so focused on their own self-interest instead of taking these critical areas of policy seriously and dealing with them properly in the best interests of the Australian people.

The concept of e-health and My Health Record should be a positive initiative for the Australian people, as access to our health records in a convenient and timely manner is really important. If implemented by a competent government, e-health could deliver tangible healthcare improvements and save on healthcare costs through fewer diagnostic treatment and prescription errors. However, you can now add My Health Record to the list just like the NDIS, the NBN, the royal commission into banking and financial services, energy, marriage equality and Medicare as a comprehensive list of incompetent handling by this LNP government.

Labor began delivering an electronic health record system when we were last in office. Labor's system was an opt-in system, as we thought that was the right approach by giving people choice and control over their health records. The opt-in system gave anyone who participated the opportunity to give informed consent. Now we see that the LNP government has done the exact opposite by creating an opt-out system. People are entitled to choose whether they want to share their personal details or not. This should not be an unsubscribe option in the junk emails one regularly receives, because these records contain people's private medical health records. This is highly confidential information.

The LNP government has simply selected an opt-out system but has never properly explained why or attempted to educate the public about their approach to My Health Records. Their absolute failure to communicate effectively has fuelled many of the privacy concerns Australians have regarding the My Health Record. To be honest, I'm one of those people. I have tried to opt-out. I know how this government has completely botched the NBN and the NDIS, not to mention the absolute debacle relating to the recent census data collection. How can this government honestly think that I could trust them with my health history?

I went to the website to opt-out. I went through the process only to discover that I can't opt-out as my health record was collected in the trial in Townsville and I could not do anything about changing that online. I was given a receipt number and now I'm expected to sit on the phone to talk with someone to arrange to opt-out. The problem is I just don't have the time to sit on the phone waiting to speak with someone to sort out this mess.

LNP members across the floor barely trust each other yet they are asking the public to trust them with their private health records. Australians are frightened to trust this government with their highly confidential medical health records, probably the most personal information that many of us possess. I am sure that I don't trust this government with my health record.

This bill tries to address some of the public outrage and anger. This includes requiring a law enforcement, and other government agencies, to get a court order to access records and permanently deleting the health information of people who opt-out of My Health Record. But these changes don't go far enough, and as such they do little to allay community fears and my own personal fears about privacy and security.

There are two huge issues with the current My Health Record that the Morrison government is refusing to look at, let alone rectify: one being domestic violence and the other being workers' rights. This bill does absolutely nothing to address concerns that the My Health Record may risk the safety of women fleeing abusive partners or children needing privacy from non-custodial parents. This was evident this week when women across Australia in violent relationships seriously feared that their partner would be able to track their hiding place down through their child's My Health Record.

Legal experts have warned that the system provides a loophole for a violent person to create a record for their child without their ex-partner's consent, potentially allowing them to track down their estranged family's location. The Australian Digital Health Agency's default position is to allow those parents access to their children's My Health Records, which could contain information such as a residential address or the pharmacy or GP that they use. Where there is a dispute between separated parents over who can access the child's record, the ADHA will suspend both parents' access to the record until it investigates and decides which parent should have access. This is not a satisfactory solution, as the child's records may be needed in the time they are waiting. But the rigmarole and the time taken to opt out still leaves women and their children vulnerable, and this is simply unacceptable.

Then there are the significant issues and concerns for workers. Workers have raised concerns that doctors who perform pre-employment or workers-compensation assessments may pass health information on to employers, and employers could use this information to discriminate against employees—for example, a pre-existing medical condition preventing a person from getting a job. Maurice Blackburn have said doctors who examine employees have access to their medical health records unless the worker changes their privacy settings. Maurice Blackburn has stated:

… it is very clear that a doctor performing an assessment for an employer or insurer could access My Health Record without there being any further consent process.

Right now we have a royal commission into banking and financial services that is examining insurers. With the evidence being heard, how many in this place or across Australia honestly feel that they can trust an insurance agency, especially with their medical health record? Little to no-one, I would suspect.

If you are a fly-in, fly-out worker working in the mines, where you're required to undergo medical testing; a transport worker who is claiming workers compensation, and you are required, as part of the process, to undergo a medical examination; a pilot; a train driver; a truck driver; a heavy-machinery operator; or in certain trades, then the LNP government's My Health Record should scare you. Your privacy is potentially at risk and open to your employer, open to other insurers and potentially open to third parties. Don't think that an insurer won't try to wriggle out of a claim because of the information contained in one's medical history or that an employer will be so gracious as to ignore your medical history if you're trying to apply for a job that requires medical testing, because, quite frankly, they won't. These are serious and genuine concerns, and the LNP Morrison government should suspend the opt-out period until these and other issues can be thoroughly addressed.

Labor is supporting these measures but more must be done, and Labor will be referring it to a legislative inquiry in the Senate. The Senate inquiry will test whether this bill adequately responds to privacy and security concerns and will develop possible amendments. After numerous demands from Labor, the Senate has also agreed to Labor's proposal for an inquiry into the My Health Records system as a whole. This will focus on elements of the system that are beyond the scope of this bill, such as the government's decision to shift to an opt-out system, its communication of this fundamental change and the default settings within My Health Record. The LNP government has a woeful track record on IT security and privacy. This is the same government that completely and incompetently managed the census data collection. This is the same government that gave us the Centrelink robo-debt debacle. There are way too many ifs and too much bad history for me to trust this LNP government with my medical history. It is not a matter of if but a matter of when the data will be breached. The best possible system must be in place, and we are all very concerned that this will not be achieved under this LNP government. The Australian people deserve a quality system when it comes to digitally securing our health records, and it is only a Labor government that will deliver this crucial outcome. For all of us, there is nothing more important than the security of our health records.

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