Commonwealth legislation

Privacy Act 1988 - Approval by the Privacy Commissioner of guidelines issued under section 95AA

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This Act has been repealed and is no longer in force. It is retained for historical reference.

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Commonwealth

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legislative instrument

Plain English Summary

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These approved NHMRC guidelines let private‑sector doctors, in limited circumstances, disclose a patient’s genetic risk to blood relatives when there is a serious threat to their life, health or safety, the doctor has first tried to obtain the patient’s consent, and disclosure is necessary to prevent harm. Approved by the Privacy Commissioner under the Privacy Act 1988, they balance patient confidentiality with protecting at‑risk relatives.

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Privacy Act 1988 - Approval by the Privacy Commissioner of guidelines issued under section 95AA

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Approval by the Privacy Commissioner of guidelines issued under section 95AA of the Privacy Act 1988

Date of Effect: 15 December 2009

I, Karen Curtis, Australian Privacy Commissioner, pursuant to section 95AA of the Privacy Act 1988, hereby approve guidelines issued by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) for the use and disclosure of genetic information to a patient’s genetic relatives (‘the guidelines’). The NHMRC issued the guidelines on 27 October 2009.

Under section 95AA, for the purposes of subparagraph 2.1(ea)(ii) of the National Privacy Principles, I may approve guidelines that relate to the use and disclosure of genetic information for the purposes of lessening or preventing a serious threat to the life, health or safety (whether or not the threat is imminent) of an individual who is a genetic relative of the individual to whom the genetic information relates.

The guidelines issued by the NHMRC set out how health practitioners in the private sector may use and disclose genetic information about a patient to the patient’s genetic relatives, in circumstances where the patient has not consented to such use and disclosure. They also set out how health practitioners should first discuss with the patient the need for the use or disclosure and attempt to obtain the consent of the patient.

This approval shall take effect on 15 December 2009.

Karen Curtis

Australian Privacy Commissioner

10 December 2009

Source text

Sourced from the Federal Register of Legislation (legislation.gov.au), CC BY 4.0.

1 Privacy Act 1988 - Approval by the Privacy Commissioner of guidelines issued under section 95AA