1800ARMAJU

3rd Party Requests for Access to Medical Records Health Information

Requests for access to the medical record and associated financial details may be received from various 3rd Parties including:

  • Subpoena/court order/coroner/search warrant
  • Relatives/Friends/carers
  • External doctors & Health Care Institutions
  • Police/Solicitors
  • Health Insurance companies/Workers Compensation/Social Welfare agencies
  • Employers
  • Government Agencies
  • Accounts/Debt Collection
  • Students (Medical & Nursing)
  • Research/Quality Assurance Programs
  • Media
  • International
  • Disease registers
  • Telephone Calls

Requests for 3rd Party access to the health record should be initiated by either receipt of correspondence from a solicitor or government agency or by the client completing a Client Request for Personal Health Information Form.

We only transfer or release client information to a third party once the consent to share information has been signed and in specific cases informed client consent has/may be sought.

Where possible, de-identified information is sent.

  • Police and solicitors must obtain a case specific signed client consent (or subpoena, court order or search warrant) for release of information.
  • A client may authorise another person to be given access if they have the legal right and a signed authority.
  • A client can sign consent to release information for a pre-employment questionnaire or similar report.
  • Depending on the specific circumstances, information may need to be provided to government agencies – Medicare; Department Veterans Affairs; Centrelink.
  • While formal research has a role to play in developing appropriate services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, it is essential that any research involving Armajun AHS falls within accepted ethical guidelines.

       Any research involving humans must be cleared by a Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) and follow the principles espoused by the National Health and Medical Research Council.       

       Formal, written applications for health-related research projects involving local residents must be submitted to the Board of Directors and will be assessed by relevant staff prior to research commencing.