Does my health agency need to have a privacy officer?

All health agencies must have privacy officers. Privacy officers are responsible for dealing with access requests and other privacy matters. No special training or qualification is required to be a privacy officer, but you do need to understand the Health Information Privacy Code, as the privacy officer is responsible for:

• ensuring that the health agency complies with the Code;
• dealing with requests made to the health agency for access to, or correction of, personal information (in large agencies, the privacy officer may do this by ensuring there is a process in place for responding to such requests. In a smaller agency, the privacy officer might deal with such requests directly).
• working with the Privacy Commissioner during the investigation of complaints.

For basic training on the Privacy Act, you can check out our free online learning modules(external link), especially our Health 101 and Health ABC modules.

(external link)Privacy Officers are always welcome to contact us on 0800 803 909 with general enquiries from 10am to 3pm.