My Health Record protections pass the Senate as opt out option extended to January 31 2019

More privacy and security protections for the controversial My Health Record have sailed through the Senate as the opt out period for all Australians was extended.

Extra privacy and security protections for the controversial My Health Record have sailed through the Senate after the government yesterday agreed to extend the opt out period for all Australians until January 31.

Under the extra measures, which passed without opposition today, law enforcement agencies will be blocked from accessing any My Health Records without a warrant and Australians will be able to delete part or all of their record permanently.

Hefty penalties have also passed, which include up to five years’ jail for misuse of a My Health Record or fines for individuals up to $315,000.

Senators also agreed to stronger protections against the misuse of records in domestic violence situations, and blocking employers from accessing potential employees records.

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Screen grabs from the My Health Record government website. Picture: Supplied

It comes after the government bowed to pressure yesterday to delay the opt out deadline for another 10 weeks amid fears the privacy and security provisions wouldn’t be legislated in time before records began to be created for 17 million Australians.

Every Australian had been due to get a My Health Record from Friday unless they opted out by 3am on Friday morning.

Health Minister Greg Hunt yesterday agreed to extend the deadline to January 31 after the Senate voted to delay the rollout.

In a statement after the amendments passed today, Mr Hunt said the additional measures would “ensure Australians have their health information protected under law in an already secure system”.

Greg Hunt has extended the deadline. Picture: Gary Ramage

“My Health Record was designed to save lives,” he said.

“It can help prevent medication misadventures that see more than 230,000 people end up in hospital each year. This is almost four times the annual number of people who are hospitalised as a result of motor vehicle accidents.”

The hotline to opt out went into meltdown and the online portal crashed yesterday as Australians rushed to opt out before the original deadline.

The Australian Digital Health Agency denied the system had crashed however saying it was still operational but a high volume of calls had “slowed the system down”.

Originally published as My Health Record protections pass the Senate as opt out option extended to January 31 2019