Luke Howarth (Petrie, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm really pleased to be able to participate in the debate tonight on the My Health Records Amendment (Strengthening Privacy) Bill 2018. It's always good to follow the member for Bowman, a doctor himself—an ophthalmologist. I'm really pleased to have Dr Andrew Laming, the member for Bowman, in this parliament and work alongside him, because he knows a lot about health, as you heard from his speech just then. It's very good to have him in this parliament.

This is important legislation that will indeed strengthen our health system. I congratulate the minister for his leadership and dedication to ensuring Australians benefit from the My Health Record. This legislation is about consumers having control. I planned to speak on this legislation yesterday, but unfortunately I was unwell. I actually had to go to emergency yesterday because I had high blood pressure and had to get that sorted out and checked out. But, if I had had the My Health Record, when I was at emergency I would have been able to say: 'Look, here's my history. This is my medical history. These are the doctors I've seen. This is the medication I've taken before.' It certainly would make it a lot easier for people in my electorate and for patients right around Australia. When they're seeing a doctor interstate or going into emergency at a hospital interstate or even outside the city where they live, in a different part of their state, it would make it a lot easier than having to repeat their health records over and over again. Of course, as a consumer and the person who can run the My Health Record, you can decide what goes into it and what is not in it. So I say to the people in my electorate: as a consumer, you have control, and I would encourage you to sign up. The My Health Record benefits each and every consumer in three ways. Firstly, there is access to your key health information in an emergency, as I've just described. Secondly, it is a convenient snapshot of your health. You can go in and check and see exactly what's in there. You can print it out and carry it with you, if you want to, or it's there online. Thirdly and most importantly, it gives you control over your records. You decide what goes into your record.

The first benefit of eHealth, of course, is access to records in an emergency, and that will ensure that, if you are in an emergency, your medical records can be accessed very quickly. And, if you look at what happens, our healthcare costs across the board—not only as a federal government but for different state governments and through private health insurance—continue to go up. Obviously, there is a lot of paperwork and a lot of record keeping involved, and, as you can imagine, this system working properly with all Australians that want to be in it signing up to it will save a lot of red tape and time for health professionals in emergency wards. We know that state government hospitals have quite busy emergency wards. Often the doctor can spend half an hour with a patient, but then they can spend another half an hour doing the paperwork, whereas if they've got these My Health Records and they have a snapshot of what medication you're being prescribed by your home GP or what previous surgery you've had done, that would save a lot of time and may actually bring down costs, not just for governments but in the private health sector as well.

Unfortunately, even the healthiest of us, as we approach middle age, seem to be on a myriad of drugs, and each time we go to a GP, there is a new or improved version of that drug. If you were admitted to hospital unconscious, would your partner or your family know what drugs you were on or, importantly, what dosage of drugs you were taking? All of these things can take time when time might be of the essence. In a medical emergency, authorised healthcare providers will be able to check your health information, such as allergies, medicines and immunisations. This will save time, and that time just might save your life. The eHealth records will ensure that you don't have to have extra tests and that medical practitioners can focus on giving you the medical assistance you need. That's the first benefit.

The second benefit is that these records are a convenient snapshot of your health. Fortunately, emergencies don't happen every day for most of us, and it is that everyday access to your records that is important. When you go to see a GP, the GP needs to be aware of your medical history. Not all of us always see the same doctor, and each time we see a doctor we have to go through and talk about our medical history. Again, we have to know what drugs we are on and what the dosage is. We also have to go through our history of what operations we had and when. Fortunately, in my own case, I've actually been seeing the same doctor since I was a baby. Not many Australians would be able to say that, but my doctor, Dr Kerry Curtin, had his own practice in Bracken Ridge in my electorate where I grew up. He's now moved to SmartClinics at Carseldine, just near the Bald Hills Bunnings, and I followed him there, so I've been going to the same doctor since I was a child, and now I'm in my mid-40s. Dr Curtin is very good, and I want to take this opportunity to thank him for the great health service that he has given not just me but also many people in my electorate. Dr Curtin would probably be around 70 years of age now, and I would also say to doctors who want to continue to work into their 70s: thank you for the wisdom that you provide and also for passing on your knowledge to younger doctors who are coming through. Because of the experience that I've had with my own doctor, I think health ministers need to make sure that doctors who are older—over 60—stay in the workforce should they choose to do so, because they have an important role to play.

I also would say to people that, as the years pass, for operations that we thought we might have had five years ago it suddenly becomes 10 years. It is important that the GP has a chronological list of operations and when a particular disease or condition was discovered. Many in the community don't have a long list of chronic or acute conditions. However, it is just as important for them when they see the GP to ensure that they don't leave anything out of their history.

As I said before, not everyone sees the same GP every time. A lot of people go to a clinic. It might be a large bulk-billing practice where they attend the same clinic but see a different doctor each time, or they may even attend a different clinic as they change addresses and so forth. Again, this access is about control. You know that e-health has your records and you have security in knowing that your records are there when you need them, either during a GP visit or in an emergency. The third benefit I mentioned was the control over your record, and I come back to the issue of control. You do indeed have control over your record. You, the consumer, have the power and control over your personal medical information. And you can cancel your My Health Record whenever you like. You have the power to decide.

Today I had a young couple from my electorate of Petrie who were visiting Canberra, Robert and his wife. They were enjoying a bit of a break for the week and came into parliament today. I was able to show them around a little. I invited them to come in and watch question time and I met with them beforehand. I said to Robert that I was going to speak on this legislation in the House tonight, and I asked him what he thought about My Health Records. Without a hesitation he said: 'It's great. I'm a pretty healthy person, Luke, but I have been to many GPs. I go to the local clinics near to me, and if it's a clinic I haven't been to before, I have to go through my medical history.' Robert continued—and these are his words—'I think it's great. It's about control. I have control over my records, not some suburban doctor who might not have the most up-to-date IT system. My records might just be in a filing cabinet, for all I know. My Health Record will all be together and I can view it and restrict the information where I deem necessary. Yes, it is about control.' So, that was some good personal feedback from constituents in my electorate. And Robert is right: he will have control of his own health records.

Apart from the three benefits I've mentioned tonight, there is an also important aspect of this legislation that I will touch on while I have the time, and that is security of the e-health records. Security, of course, can be an issue around IT, not just in the Public Service but in the private sector as well. In terms of the private sector, I received an email from one of my own doctors whom I had been to for a check-up, a specialist, and got an email to inform not just me but other patients that records had been accessed. So, it is important. It wasn't anything that I was particularly worried about, but security is important.

I've also heard the debate about the fact that people might have been worried about the Big Brother approach to the information being held by government. Some members who have spoken on this bill tonight spoke about 900,000 Australians who decided to opt out, once it was changed from opt-in. It's good that there are almost six million people who have opted into My Health Record. But 900,000, to me, in a population of 25 million, doesn't sound unreasonable. I would expect that 10 per cent or even 20 per cent of people in my electorate would say: 'Well, I'd rather not have my records there. I'm concerned about what the government's doing or what people will have access to.' As someone who has now worked in government as a member of parliament, I'd say, 'Look, don't worry about it. The health minister doesn't have time to worry about what John Smith is doing or about his records.' But I do understand that people do want to opt out, and I think that's perfectly reasonable for the people who want to do that. It is up to them. I would encourage people to join, opt in and take advantage of the My Health Records. But, if they choose to opt out, then they have that option. People should always have the choice.

Members opposite have also raised concerns about partner separation, which is valid. In my experience, judging by the number of people who I've spoken to in family breakdown who have come into my office, it seems that ex-partners who want to can always easily find addresses, which isn't a good thing. But I think that this system is quite secure and I would encourage people not to be concerned about that in particular. It's interesting that members opposite also want us to spend millions on a government advertising scheme. I'm happy to raise that with the health minister, the Hon. Greg Hunt. He may want to run an Australian government funded advertising scheme for this, but, because there have been quite a few members from the Labor Party tonight who have encouraged us to run a government funded scheme on this issue, I say to members opposite: if we do that, then don't say, 'Oh, no. That's all about political advertising.'

In conclusion, as I've said, almost six million people have signed up. Only three per cent of the population have opted out. I encourage people in my electorate to get onto the my.gov.au website and create an account. There'll be some ID questions there. You'll need a user name, an email and a password. I encourage you to do that and take control. It's not that hard to do, but, if you do have an issue and you live in my electorate, feel free to call or email my office. I'd be very happy to assist. If you live outside my electorate, contact one of the 12 senators in Queensland, and it is the same throughout every state. I'm very pleased to be able to support this bill.

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