As a health professional, can I disclose health information about someone to their family?

If, for whatever reason, you wish to disclose health information about someone to a member of their family while acting in a professional capacity, best practice would be to get that person’s consent before doing so.

For example, you can release information to a particular family member if that person has been nominated as a representative by the individual concerned.

However, if you are not able to get the patient's consent, you may still be able to justify releasing information to a family member in certain circumstances − for example, if that disclosure of information is necessary to prevent or lessen a serious threat to the life or health of any individual. 

The Health Information Privacy Code (HIPC) sets specific rules for agencies in the health sector, including when it is okay to disclose information about a person. The HIPC covers health information collected, used, held and disclosed by health agencies and takes the place of the information privacy principles for the health sector. Rule 11 in the HIPC has a full list of the exceptions which allow you to disclose health information.

Where the family is already aware that the individual suffers from a certain medical condition for instance, you may be able to assist the family by providing them with general information about that condition. Keep in mind that you need to be very careful you aren’t telling the family information they don’t know about the individual.