Guidelines for private sector practitioners implementing the new provisions in the Privacy Act
Every health care practitioner must respect confidentiality. Patients reasonably expect that private information offered or identified during an episode of care will not be divulged without their consent. The fundamental importance of confidentiality finds formal expression in the National Privacy Principles. Practitioners in the private sector must comply with the National Privacy Principles, which are embodied in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cwlth).1 Public sector employees are obliged to comply with the relevant legislation in each jurisdiction.
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- 8. Suthers GK, Armstrong J, McCormack J, Trott D. Letting the family know: balancing ethics and effectiveness when notifying relatives about genetic testing for a familial disorder. J Med Genet 2006; 43: 665-670.
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- 10. Australian Government Office of the Privacy Commissioner. Private sector information sheet 29 — Use or disclosure of genetic information in the private health sector. Canberra: OPC, 2009. http://www.privacy.gov.au/materials/types/download/9447/7008 (accessed Nov 2010).
We were on the NHMRC committee that drafted the guidelines for practitioners about using the provisions of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cwlth) to disclose genetic information without consent, and received travel support from the NHMRC to attend committee meetings; Samantha Wake also received a sitting fee.