Russell Broadbent (McMillan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I've been listening to the debate this afternoon and into this evening about the My Health Records Amendment (Strengthening Privacy) Bill 2018. To some on the other side, this has been a case of some humour where they have proffered that they can joke about this issue—and they have. Ha ha. To me, this could not be more serious. In every community that I've ever served, one of their basic priorities has been the health and wellbeing of the community—both physical and mental health. What's this bill all about? This bill, for those who are listening to this debate, is all about having a healthier and happier, therefore, Australian community that is looking after wellbeing. It absolutely has a clear intention of having a better health system.

I don't care which government is in power in this nation; they all have a responsibility for the health and wellbeing of their community. That's why any misinformation around health annoys me. Not many things annoy me, as you all know. I don't get annoyed. I don't get angry. I don't get upset. But I do get annoyed around the issue of health—and that is the important issue that we've been talking about today—being used to perhaps divide our nation and divide people's thinking on how important issues like we are discussing this evening are to the people of Australia. Why was it that somebody had the intention of drawing all the information they possibly could from all people's health records—just because they thought it was a good idea? I don't think so. I think they did this because they believe it would have a health outcome that's beneficial to the people of Australia. I think they did this because they know that, if they have the opportunity, if they have the wherewithal and if they have the facilities—that is, the mechanisms—so we can implement this, we can make a difference to the lives of thousands and thousands of people across Australia.

Why do I say that? We have not been in the casualty ward when someone comes to you as a hospital admission because the medicine that they've taken has reacted badly in their system or in relation to another medicine they've taken because the practitioner didn't know, when prescribing, the full information held by the clinician who was looking after the patient originally. There are hundreds and hundreds of hospital admissions because of legal drugs that people have taken or had prescribed to them. It came home to me only recently when a dear friend who has passed away now was given during his treatment—you are not going to believe it—a drug he was allergic to. And so, at a crucial time in the protection of his life, he just happened to get a drug that he was allergic to. We had no idea why he wasn't responding in the way that he should have been with the drugs he'd been given. Sadly this went on for too long until he was left in a position where not a lot would work. We are not blaming anybody for that. My mate was sick. It's one of those things that happen. It was reversed as quickly as possible, but it was too late, so it's personal for me when we talk about how an issue like this can directly affect a patient.

How can we reduce those hospital admissions? The only way we are going to do that is through shared information, which will come only from those like myself that are willing to share their health information. We do it as a collective. I understand that the member for Goldstein immediately raised concerns about this issue when it was announced. He said to his community and to the leadership that he'd be an opt-out and wouldn't be participating, because he felt there was a risk that people's health records 'could be hacked'—I think those were his terms. Therefore this legislation endeavours to go as far as we possibly can to protect individual health records.

If we can achieve this, we'll have fewer drug related adverse events. It's similar to what I've just been talking about. If we can have similar outcomes in prescription drug events and not cause the detriment, it's a win-win situation, but only if we have information on record that a clinical practitioner can access very quickly. Recently a friend on holiday fell ill. No-one knew what was going on. There was no reason for the illness, but it was severe, it was chronic, it was happening and there was no answer for it. The first thing you'd want to reach for is the individual records from their GP or My Health Record. If you can access that very quickly then it doesn't matter whether you are in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria or Tasmania; you are virtually protected on the road.

I happen to be of an age where I know thousands of people—they call them grey nomads—who are on the road for more than half the year before they park their caravans and come home to Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania or wherever. A whole cohort of people are now moving around this nation unlike we've ever seen before, needing their health records to follow them to get treatments as they go around so that their lifestyle is not inhibited and they can keep doing what they want to, so they can go to a Brisbane hospital and My Health Record will say, 'This is what this person's been having, this is what works and this is what doesn't work.'

Another advantage is when they are on the road and get to Brisbane, they don't have to go through the whole process again of referral, blood test, examination, information to the doctor, doctor reads blood test and then represcribes, hopefully, what they were receiving before, when that information could have been derived from My Health Record. That's how I understand it anyway. You reduce duplication and churning within the health system. That has to be a benefit, because that opens up opportunities for other people to be using those benefits and using them faster, getting quicker application for the drugs that they need, the health care that they need, the doctor that they need, the hospital that they need and the care that they need.

So it's a matter of common sense that has driven this whole process. There's not just one person looking after an individual; there are a team of healthcare providers managing the overall health of an individual. I heard the member for Bennelong say, 'I'm glad I live in a country where people come first.' I'm living in a country where there could be at any given time a number of professionals looking after me or my family—perhaps one of my grandchildren—at the same time. You'd want all of them to know what's going on with the program that they are dealing with. You would want every one of them to know that it was a coordinated approach to whatever was happening with your child, your grandchild or, in some cases, your great-grandchild. Suppose you're seeing multiple healthcare providers and you're here in Canberra. I can tell you: I've been crook in Canberra. I've been so crook I ended up at a hospital. I thought I was going to die. They decided that I wasn't going to die, which I was very relieved about, and I got amazing care at that hospital. It took a long time for them to see me. I thought I'd die before they did, but I didn't die before they did. It turned out it was just one of these things that you catch here in this building or on planes. I don't know where you catch it, but it certainly can be difficult. We can all handle it, but I think we take away more than we bring in. So I would like to think that, when I walk into that hospital, they can immediately go to My Health Record and say: 'Yes, we've got you on record. We know what's happening here. This is what we need to give you. This is how you'll be attended to.' The advantages of that are ongoing, so I can see that.

The other thing is that healthcare practitioners benefit from being able to derive information, because you're going to get better treatment if they all know what's going on. If you've got professionals dealing with you and they all know what's going on, you are going to get better treatment and you're going to get it faster. There have been detractors in the move to this, but we have to understand that we've got the facility and the opportunity. That's why I'm supporting this bill, because I think there are health benefits for the Australian people.

I know that, if we were not in government today and the opposition were in government today, they would be arguing for exactly this, and we might be arguing, 'Oh, you mucked this up and you mucked that up, and the rollout of this has been a disgrace,' but we'd only be arguing for the sake of arguing. I'm putting to the House tonight that the My Health Records Amendment (Strengthening Privacy) Bill 2018 is a bill that should be supported. It shouldn't be amended. It should pass this House unanimously with the support of everybody, because it's going to be your child or grandchild that we will be dealing with one day, and this can benefit them. I think we all know that. Already six million Australians have access to My Health Record. It's not enough. It's a bit like immunisation: you need everybody in the system if you're going to get the best out of the system and the best outcome for whoever you are. A lot of people, as I said before, might not move out of their general area for most of their lives, but more and more Australians are moving. There are six million Australians already signed up for this. If we can double that, the amount of monetary savings to the outlays of local, state and federal governments, could be quite amazing. That's money we can pour back into hospitals, back into GPs—who are our front line—back into state services, such as the ambos that come and address difficult situations and triage you on the spot and back into the opportunities to have greater healthcare opportunities at a local level. So, there are only pluses, all the way through this bill. There are only benefits to this community.

So, I commend the bill to you. I hope we take this opportunity to pass it with enthusiasm and give people the freedom to opt out if that's what they want to do. I accept that. But I encourage everybody to participate in the My Health Records program, which will make a huge difference to all those people who are getting to that time when they need help. Whether you're of a very young age, whether you're in midlife or whether you're in old age, this is of benefit to you.

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