{"id":"F2018L00452","name":"Epidemiological Studies (Confidentiality) Regulations 2018","slug":"epidemiological-studies-confidentiality-regulations-2018","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":439575,"registerId":"F2018L00452-fast-fetch-1775955550069","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Epidemiological Studies (Confidentiality) Regulations 2018","content":"---\nmeta-content-style-type: text/css\nmeta-content-type: application/xhtml+xml; charset=utf-8\n---\n\n?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"utf-8\" standalone=\"no\"?>\n\n![Commonwealth Coat of Arms of Australia](image.001.jpeg)\n\n \n\nEpidemiological Studies (Confidentiality) Regulations 2018\n\nI, General the Honourable Sir Peter Cosgrove AK MC (Ret’d), Governor‑General of the Commonwealth of Australia, acting with the advice of the Federal Executive Council, make the following regulations.\n\nDated 29 March 2018\n\nPeter Cosgrove\n\nGovernor‑General\n\nBy His Excellency’s Command\n\nGreg Hunt\n\nMinister for Health\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nContents\n\n1 Name\n\n2 Commencement\n\n3 Authority\n\n4 Schedules\n\n5 Definitions\n\n6 Prescribed studies\n\nSchedule 1—Repeals\n\nEpidemiological Studies (Confidentiality) Regulations 1982\n\n \n\n1  Name\n\n  This instrument is the Epidemiological Studies (Confidentiality) Regulations 2018.\n\n2  Commencement\n\n (1) Each provision of this instrument specified in column 1 of the table commences, or is taken to have commenced, in accordance with column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect according to its terms.\n\n \n\n- Commencement information\n- Column 1 Column 2 Column 3\n- Provisions Commencement Date/Details\n- 1. The whole of this instrument The day after this instrument is registered. 30 March 2018\n\n\nNote: This table relates only to the provisions of this instrument as originally made. It will not be amended to deal with any later amendments of this instrument.\n\n (2) Any information in column 3 of the table is not part of this instrument. Information may be inserted in this column, or information in it may be edited, in any published version of this instrument.\n\n3  Authority\n\n  This instrument is made under the Epidemiological Studies (Confidentiality) Act 1981.\n\n4  Schedules\n\n  Each instrument that is specified in a Schedule to this instrument is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned, and any other item in a Schedule to this instrument has effect according to its terms.\n\n5  Definitions\n\nNote: A number of expressions used in this instrument are defined in the Act.\n\n  In this instrument:\n\nAct means the Epidemiological Studies (Confidentiality) Act 1981.\n\n6  Prescribed studies\n\n  For the purposes of paragraph (b) of the definition of prescribed study in subsection 3(1) of the Act, each of the following Commonwealth epidemiological studies is declared to be a study to which the Act applies:\n\n (a) the Commonwealth epidemiological study on those persons who were employed, whether in Australia or not, in relation to the Atomic Weapons Test Programme conducted by the United Kingdom in Australia at the Monte Bello Islands, Western Australia, and at the Emu Claypan and Maralinga, South Australia, between 1 January 1952 and 31 December 1967, being the study that commenced in 1981;\n\n (b) the Commonwealth epidemiological study in relation to acquired immune deficiency syndrome, conducted by the National Health and Medical Research Council, being the study that commenced in 1983;\n\n (c) the Commonwealth epidemiological study in relation to motivations for illicit use of cocaine, conducted by the Research into Drug Abuse Program of the National Campaign against Drug Abuse, being the study that commenced in January 1986;\n\n (d) the Commonwealth epidemiological study in relation to drug indicators in the Australian Capital Territory, conducted by the Research into Drug Abuse Program of the National Campaign against Drug Abuse, being the study that commenced in 1986;\n\n (e) the Commonwealth epidemiological study in relation to heroin distribution, conducted by the Research into Drug Abuse Program of the National Campaign Against Drug Abuse, being the study that commenced in February 1987;\n\n (f) the Commonwealth epidemiological study in relation to a survey of illicit drug users on patterns and predictors, conducted by the Research into Drug Abuse Program of the National Campaign Against Drug Abuse, being the study that commenced in May 1987;\n\n (g) the Commonwealth epidemiological study in relation to cocaine usage evaluation in high‑income groups, conducted by the Research into Drug Abuse Program of the National Campaign Against Drug Abuse, being the study that commenced in July 1987;\n\n (h) the Commonwealth epidemiological study in relation to the extent and nature of cocaine use by illicit drug users and upper economic strata individuals and the assessment of recruitment and supply factors and attitudes of identified users, conducted by the Research into Drug Abuse Program of the National Campaign Against Drug Abuse, being the study that commenced in July 1987;\n\n (i) the Commonwealth epidemiological study in relation to persons who have been charged in a court in Western Australia with an offence relating to the use of illicit drugs, conducted by the National Centre for Research into the Prevention of Drug Abuse of the National Campaign Against Drug Abuse, being the study that commenced in April 1986;\n\n (j) the Commonwealth epidemiological study in relation to human immunodeficiency virus in intravenous drug users, conducted by the Commonwealth AIDS Research Grants Committee Working Party on AIDS in Intravenous Drug Users, being the study that commenced in June 1988;\n\n (k) the Commonwealth epidemiological study in relation to persons affected by the Atomic Weapons Test Programme, conducted by the United Kingdom in Australia at the Monte Bello Islands, Western Australia, and at the Emu Claypan and Maralinga, South Australia, between 1 January 1952 and 31 December 1967, being the study conducted by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs that commenced in July 2000;\n\n (l) the Commonwealth epidemiological study known as ‘A study of the mechanics of cross‑border trafficking of heroin: the experiences of incarcerated high‑level drug importers’, conducted by the Australian Customs Service, being the study that commenced in 2002.\n\nSchedule 1—Repeals\n\n \n\nEpidemiological Studies (Confidentiality) Regulations 1982\n\n1  The whole of the instrument\n\nRepeal the instrument.\n\n \n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"This instrument repeals the Epidemiological Studies (Confidentiality) Regulations 1982 (Schedule 1) and sets out a new list of prescribed studies (s6). It therefore replaces the prior regulatory list; any change in which studies are covered depends on differences between the old and new lists."},"complexity_factors":["Narrow, specific operative effect — lists discrete studies (s6) rather than creating novel substantive rules.","Primary legal effect depends on cross‑reference to the Epidemiological Studies (Confidentiality) Act 1981 (s3, s5), so one must read both instruments to understand obligations and penalties.","Repeal of prior regulations (Schedule 1) requires comparison with the 1982 instrument to assess net change to coverage.","Identification of covered studies uses historical descriptions and dates (s6), which may create ambiguity when matching datasets or institutions to the listed studies.","Standard commencement table mechanics (s2) and formal instrument-making preamble add procedural detail but not substantive complexity.","Amendment or expansion of the list requires regulation-making processes, concentrating discretion at the executive/regulatory level."],"plain_english_summary":"This instrument declares a specific list of Commonwealth epidemiological studies to be “prescribed studies” under the Epidemiological Studies (Confidentiality) Act 1981, bringing those studies within that Act’s confidentiality protections, and repeals the 1982 Regulations. It commenced 30 March 2018.\n\nIt affects study participants, researchers and Commonwealth agencies by restricting disclosure and imposing confidentiality duties (s6; Schedule 1). The regulations were made under the Act (s3); agencies bear the administrative and compliance costs and limits on data sharing."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation maintains its original narrow purpose of prescribing specific epidemiological studies to which the parent Act applies. It is a direct replacement of the 1982 regulations with the same functional scope."},"complexity_factors":["Very short instrument (only 6 substantive sections plus a repeal schedule)","Only 1 defined term ('Act')","No conditional logic or nested exceptions","Straightforward list structure in section 6","No cross-references to other legislation beyond the parent Act","Purely declaratory function (listing studies) with no operational provisions"],"plain_english_summary":"This regulation updates and replaces the 1982 rules by adopting a 2018 list of specific Commonwealth health studies that receive confidentiality protection under the Epidemiological Studies (Confidentiality) Act 1981. It affects study participants, researchers, and agencies holding the data by keeping the Act’s criminal prohibition on unauthorized disclosure in force for those listed studies."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/epidemiological-studies-confidentiality-regulations-2018","history":"/api/acts/epidemiological-studies-confidentiality-regulations-2018/history","analysis":"/api/acts/epidemiological-studies-confidentiality-regulations-2018/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/epidemiological-studies-confidentiality-regulations-2018/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/epidemiological-studies-confidentiality-regulations-2018/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/epidemiological-studies-confidentiality-regulations-2018/documents"}}