The Individual Healthcare Identifiers legislation was passed in the Parliament last night with the support of the Coalition. 

Unique individual healthcare identifiers are an important part of the overall architecture for e-health.  They will help ensure patient safety and more efficient medical communication.

The Coalition recognised that the legislation was too broad and needed amending.   We referred this legislation to a Senate Committee for inquiry.  As a result of this inquiry the Coalition drafted eight amendments to this legislation. The Government adopted the concerns of six of these in their own amendments. After discussions with stakeholders we decided not to proceed with the final two amendments on the basis they would have been too restrictive for routine clinical practice.

In particular, these amendments seek to improve parliamentary oversight of the laws governing e-health. 

The Coalition is supportive of e-health and welcomes the Government’s acceptance of our amendments and the passage of the legislation.