Wednesday, 11 May 2022

Health Legislation Amendment (Information Sharing) Bill 2021

Petition

Mr QUILTY (Northern Victoria) (17:21): I rise to speak on behalf of the 3398 people who signed a petition that I tabled here yesterday asking the government to withdraw its upcoming Health Legislation Amendment (Information Sharing) Bill 2021. This petition is about consent. It is hard to think of any information that any of us might have that is more private than our medical information. If MPs were compelled to read out our medical records here in Parliament, I expect we would be rightfully outraged—or perhaps not, given we did this last year and we inflicted it on the rest of the population. But we should be outraged.

To compel all Victorians to put anything they may have told a doctor or psychiatrist over the last five years on a database so it can be shared is equally outrageous. In fact it is extra shameful because it is retrospective—no consent. The Hippocratic oath, which dates back to antiquity, was a contract of patient-doctor confidentiality. Even though the oath has now been officially discarded for doctors in Australia, many still hold to it. To many signatories of this petition who are medical professionals, it is a sacred contract. They are upset not only that the government plans to rip up the contract but that their own work will be up for scrutiny. It is also another breach of principles set out in the Victorian human rights charter, which is supposed to protect our privacy. But, as we know all too well, it does not.

Nobody who gave private information to a doctor or psychiatrist over the last five years had any clue this information could be shared, and neither did the healthcare professionals who recorded the information. There is no consent. Maybe people told their psychiatrist about their family breakdown or their strangest fantasies and they wrote them down. Personal details about mental state, use of birth control, fertility, abortions or any disabilities would be there. All the data will be open to users of the system. There has been no consent.

Maybe the government will keep your private information secure, but do not bet on it. The Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner reported 159 data breaches in its most recent annual report, up more than 60 per cent from the previous year. The government proposal means that many people will be able to see your records. The database will become a honey pot for organised crime and international intelligence—or even for jilted lovers in relationships that have gone wrong. All it takes is one breach for this information to be all over the internet, and the internet is forever. In this case sharing is anything but caring.

This proposal must surely be one of the greatest infringements on the privacy of Victorians in our history, because there has been no consent. Without more consultation and the creation of a mechanism allowing people to opt out, this database violates consent, is a security risk and risks becoming a tool of oppression. Consent is the core to everything. 3398 people signed this petition. I urge the government to listen to them and abandon this proposal. Those of you who support the proposal, I urge you to demonstrate your commitment by reading out your own personal medical records in the house.