Family Law. My Health Record.

If you have a family law matter and you haven’t opted out of My Health Record, you might want to think about doing so.

What is My Health Record?

My Health Record is a database storing information about the medical history of Australians.  If you have a Medicare number and you haven’t opted out, you get a My Health Record – whether you actually want one or not.

Much has been said about the privacy and data security concerns around My Health Record, but not a lot has been said about the safety concerns for individuals.

If you are a victim of family or domestic violence – or even simply concerned about what your former partner might be able to see online – you need to get interested in My Health Record, and fast.

Australians have until 31 January 2019 to opt out of the Federal Government’s My Health Record.

How could My Health Record cause a Family Law concern?

Children have My Health Records created and generally, both parents can access those records.

You might be concerned about your ex accessing personal information about you during your family law matter – or even after it has finished.

But the situation can be more serious than that.

Consider a situation where a parent has left the family home due to domestic violence.  By default, if Medicare considers them both to be parents, the perpetrator of the violence could look up My Health Record and see information – such as the child’s location or what doctors the child has attended – to locate the other parent.

There are steps that can be taken to protect yourself if you don’t want to opt out of My Health Record but want to protect yourself in situations of domestic violence including using a pseudonym.

Concerned about family law, My Health Record or family and domestic violence?

Contact the My Health Record Help line on 1800 723 471 to discuss your options and discuss suspending or cancelling your child’s My Health Record.

If you need advice about a Protection Order, contact us to discuss your situation with one of our Brisbane family law lawyers. For more information about domestic and family violence, contact 1800 Respect.

If your safety is in immediate danger, call 000.