Guidelines for Australian Privacy Principles about health information
Overview (1) This section allows the Commissioner to approve for the purposes of the Australian Privacy Principles guidelines that are issued by the CEO of the National Health and Medical Research Council or a prescribed authority. Approving guidelines for use and disclosure (2) For the purposes of paragraph 16B(3)(c), the Commissioner may, by notice in the Gazette, approve guidelines that relate to the use and disclosure of health information for the purposes of research, or the compilation or analysis of statistics, relevant to public health or public safety. Public interest test (3) The Commissioner may give an approval under subsection (2) only if satisfied that the public interest in the use and disclosure of health information for the purposes mentioned in that subsection in accordance with the guidelines substantially outweighs the public interest in maintaining the level of privacy protection afforded by the Australian Privacy Principles (disregarding subsection 16B(3)). Approving guidelines for collection (4) For the purposes of subparagraph 16B(2)(d)(iii), the Commissioner may, by notice in the Gazette, approve guidelines that relate to the collection of health information for the purposes of: (a) research, or the compilation or analysis of statistics, relevant to public health or public safety; or (b) the management, funding or monitoring of a health service. Public interest test (5) The Commissioner may give an approval under subsection (4) only if satisfied that the public interest in the collection of health information for the purposes mentioned in that subsection in accordance with the guidelines substantially outweighs the public interest in maintaining the level of privacy protection afforded by the Australian Privacy Principles (disregarding subsection 16B(2)). Revocation of approval (6) The Commissioner may, by notice in the Gazette, revoke an approval of guidelines under this section if he or she is no longer satisfied of the matter that he or she had to be satisfied of to approve the guidelines.
Sourced from the Federal Register of Legislation at 17 May 2026. For the latest information on Australian Government law please go to https://www.legislation.gov.au. Verify the current text against the official source before relying on it.
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