1 Feb 2012, 09:00

A man requested a copy of his medical file from a former healthcare provider. The healthcare provider gave the man most of the information from his file, but withheld some information from him.

Rule 6

Rule 6 gives individuals the right to request access to the health information an agency holds about them.

An agency cannot refuse a rule 6 request unless it has a proper basis to do so under sections 27-29 of the Privacy Act ("the Act").

The healthcare provider advised us that it had withheld comments the man's mother had made about him. The man's mother had since passed away.

The healthcare provider relied on section 29(1)(a) to withhold this information.

Section 29(1)(a)

This section permits an agency to withhold personal information if releasing it would involve the unwarranted disclosure of the affairs of another individual or of a deceased individual.

The healthcare provider believed that, given the nature of the comments made by the man's mother, and the fact that the mother was unable to explain or justify the comments as she had passed away, it would be unwarranted to release the information.

Generally speaking, once a person dies, they no longer have rights under the Privacy Act.

This is because the Act defines personal information as information about an identifiable individual. Under the Act the term individual is defined as meaning a natural person, other than a deceased natural person.

However, section 29(1)(a) expressly states that it also applies to information about the affairs of deceased individuals.

In this case, based on submissions from the healthcare provider, we were satisfied it could rely on section 29(1)(a) to refuse to release comments that had been made by the man's mother.

We advised the man of our view and closed our file on this complaint.

December 2012

Access of health information - mixed information - information about a deceased individual - Health Information Code 1994; rule 6 - Privacy Act 1993; sections 2 and 29(1)(a)