The AMA's submission to the Attorney General's Department suggests a nuanced approach rather than 'one size fits all' strategy.
Last week the AMA provided a submission to the third iteration of the Privacy Act 1988 review consultation by the Attorney General's Department. The AMA submission responded to the Privacy Act Review Report published by Attorney General's, compiling the feedback received in the previous two iterations of the review in 2020 and 2022 as well, while putting forward proposals for Privacy Act amendments to improve privacy protections for Australians.
While the report includes some good proposals based on data regulation in the EU and UK, the AMA submission expresses concern over how these potential changes, aimed at tackling the deliberate profiling and targeting of consumers by big data companies, could potentially have a negative impact on healthcare, especially smaller practices. The AMA has argued a 'one size fits all' approach may have some unintended consequences in the form of increased cost, increased administrative burden and increased compliance requirements for practices, without providing them with sufficient tools to be able to manage this new environment.
The AMA submission can be viewed here: https://www.ama.com.au/articles/ama-submission-privacy-act-1988-review-report
