The Australian Parliament has passed a Bill on My Health Record information sharing so people’s key health information will automatically be added to their record unless they specifically opt out.
The Health Legislation Amendment (Modernising My Health Record Sharing by Default) Bill 2024 moves the information sharing system from “sharing by exception” to “sharing by default”.
Audiology Australia CEO Ms Leanne Emerson said: “This will ensure consumers can access all their personal health records.
“It will also provide easy access for health professionals to all relevant health information, ensuring high quality care.
“The first stage of the implementation involves pathology and diagnostic imaging only; other areas of health including audiology will follow.”
The Australian Government said the Bill “amended the My Health Records Act 2012, Health Insurance Act 1973 and five other Acts to establish a framework which requires key health information to be shared with the My Health Record system, subject to certain exceptions”.
The Bill passed the House of Representatives and the Senate on 12 February 2025.
When introducing it on 21 November 2024, the Minister for Health and Aged Care Minister Mr Mark Butler said the reforms introduced a framework that would require key health information to be shared to patients’ My Health Record.
“We’re starting with pathology and diagnostic imaging. However, this framework will position the My Health Record system to deliver access to key information and become a routine, central part of our health system,” he said,
“We’re enhancing the My Health Record framework to provide better access to Australians’ health information to reduce the fragmentation and duplication that currently exists and also to deliver better health outcomes.”
He said that where Medicare rebates were claimed for key services, there would be a requirement to share information about that service to My Health Record.
Puts patients first
It also requires healthcare corporations to share health information about their patients to their patients’ My Health Record.
The framework will not affect a patient’s Medicare benefits, he said.
“It will empower patients to actively engage as partners in their own health care,” Butler said. “The Bill complements the existing consumer-controlled nature of My Health Record and continues to put patients first.
“Patients will have access to their information so that they can have informed discussions with their healthcare providers, if they choose to.”
“Patients desire and deserve access to their own health data and agency over how it is used and how it is shared. They should not have to rely on the goodwill or the good management of private providers to be able to access their own health data.”
He said individuals could continue to choose not to have a My Health Record if they wished or choose for certain records not to be shared.
“The changes will also make healthcare professionals’ lives easier, by helping them to be more efficient and more effective,” Butler said.
They would also be better for the bottom line of healthcare providers, as money and time would be saved in not duplicating tests and scans, searching for results or manually entering patient data.
Can elect not to upload
“The framework puts patients first and is designed with patient safety in mind,” Butler said.
“We heard during consultation that it will not always be in an individual patient’s interests for them to access their information before discussing it with their healthcare team.
“If a healthcare provider is concerned that it may not be in a person’s interest to access information via My Health Record without the support of a qualified healthcare provider, a healthcare provider can elect for an individual record not to be shared.
“Electing not to upload should not be the norm. But, where a healthcare provider has a reasonable concern for an individual’s safety or wellbeing so as to warrant not uploading, this exception will provide an appropriate safeguard so that the right supports are in place for patients when they are needed.”
A clinical reference group, chaired by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care and the Australian Digital Health Agency, was established to advise on this proposal and ensure safe implementation reforms.
This group, with representatives from government, peak bodies and consumers, will develop guidance materials to support healthcare providers with the new framework for sharing to My Health Record.
