New South Wales Consolidated Acts

HEALTH RECORDS AND INFORMATION PRIVACY ACT 2002 - SECT 28

28 Form of access

(1) Access to health information relating to an individual is to be provided to the individual:

(a) by giving the individual a copy of the health information, or

(b) by giving the individual a reasonable opportunity to inspect and take notes from the health information.

(2) If an individual has requested that access to health information be provided in a particular form, the private sector person is to provide access in that form, and in accordance with any guidelines issued by the Privacy Commissioner for the purposes of this section.

(3) Despite subsection (2), a private sector person may refuse to provide access to health information in the form requested if providing the information in that form:

(a) would place unreasonable demands on the organisation’s resources, or

(b) would be detrimental to the preservation of the information or (having regard to the physical form in which the information is contained) would otherwise not be appropriate, or

(c) would involve an infringement of copyright subsisting in matter contained in the information.

If access is refused under this clause, the information is to be provided in another form.

(4) Despite anything to the contrary in this Part or HPP 7, a private sector person who receives a request for access to health information collected before the commencement of this section need only give the individual an accurate summary of the health information.