Turnbull responds to My Health Record privacy concerns

The Government in Canberra is trying to reassure Australians that the My Health Record system will protect the privacy of their medical information.

There has been growing concern recently that there are huge privacy flaws in the My Health Record system. In response, Federal Labor has called for the rollout to be temporarily suspended whilst issues are addressed.

Regular Australians have 3 monthsā€™ time to opt out of the federally-managed scheme that puts all medical records online.

Many MPs, including Laborā€™s Ed Husic and Liberal Tim Wilson, have said that they were personally opting out of the system. Issues have also been raised by the Australian Medical Association (AMA) and the College of General Practitioners.

Regarding those concerns, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has said that they will all be addressed.

He cited that doctors that ā€œsupportā€ the scheme have cited ā€œsome issuesā€ and that those issues were being ā€œdiscussed with the Health Ministerā€.

Mr Turnbull went on to insist that the policy has had ā€œbipartisan support for a long timeā€.

Greg Hunt, the Federal Health Minister, is expected to meet next week with the AMA head to discuss the issues raised.

The Prime Minister, seeking to put concerns to rest, said that any adjustments that were needed ā€œwould be madeā€.

He has not provided and specifics on what changes would take place but it is likely to address the primary concern of who has access to the health records. Mr Turnbull reaffirmed that the Government was committed to the security of the scheme.

Christian Woods
Christian Woods
Christian is a morning reporter and technology columnist for Best in Australia. Christian has worked in the media since 2000, in a range of locations. He joined Best in Australia in 2018, and began working in Melbourne in 2019.
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