Page 2751 - Week 08 - Thursday, 11 August 2016
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(Privacy and Access) Act 1997. The rationale for these amendments is simple. Like the Children and Young People Act 2008, the Health Records (Privacy and Access) Act 1997 already provides a mechanism for access to these sorts of records. This mechanism is the result of carefully considered policy which the Assembly has recognised and endorsed.
The FOI regime should not be used to subjugate existing well-thought-through and clearly articulated rights of access or protection for information. And we also need, I think, to appreciate that the health records of all of us are extremely sensitive, private and personal and access to those records should not be subject to the balancing test prescribed by the bill. Residents are entitled to know that their health records will be absolutely protected, and that is what these amendments will do.
MR RATTENBURY (Molonglo) (12.08): I am happy to support these amendments. It was certainly not the intention to create the sort of straw man that Mr Corbell put up before about people’s personal health records being released. And I do believe that there were sufficient protections in the legislation to ensure that that was the case.
The public interest test and the deeming of this information to be contrary to the public information test were designed to provide sufficient protection but, given a concern raised by colleagues, I believe there is no harm in the alternative method that the Labor Party proposes to achieve this and I will be supporting Mr Corbell’s amendments today.
MRS DUNNE (Ginninderra) (12.08): The Canberra Liberals will be supporting these amendments.
Amendments agreed to.
It being 60 minutes after the commencement of Executive Members’ business, the debate was interrupted in accordance with standing order 77. Ordered that the time allotted to Executive Members’ business be extended by 30 minutes.
MR CORBELL (Molonglo—Deputy Chief Minister, Attorney-General, Minister for Health, Minister for Police and Emergency Services and Minister for the Environment and Climate Change) (12.10): I seek leave to move amendments Nos 4, 5, 8, 21, 31, 37, 40, 41 67, and 71 circulated in my name together.
Leave granted.
MR CORBELL: I move amendments Nos 4, 5, 8, 21, 31, 37, 40, 41, 67, and 71 circulated in my name together [see schedule 2 at page 2854]. They deal with removing the terms “information officer” and “principal officer”.
The bill uses a number of different terms including “principal officer”, “respondent”, “information officer”, “agency” and “decision-maker”. These terms, which sometimes refer to the same person, add to the complexity of the bill for the reader. These amendments aim to streamline the bill by removing the unnecessary terms “principal officer” and “information officer”. With this change the responsibilities that were on
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