Parliament of Victoria | Legislative Council | Questions Without Notice
12 August 2026
David ETTERSHANK (Western Metropolitan Region):
My question is to the Minister for Health, and it relates to the electronic patient health information-sharing platform that was established through the Health Legislation Amendment (Information Sharing) Bill 2023.
During the debate on that bill I asked about an individual’s ability to access their own health data free of charge in a generally available, machine-readable form. I was assured, and it is recorded in Hansard, that the government would work with public health services so that patients would be able to obtain their own health information in an accessible manner without the need for an FOI application.
It is now more than two years since the passing of the information sharing bill. Can the minister update the house on the implementation of the health information-sharing project?
Ingrid STITT (Western Metropolitan Region – Minister for Health):
Thank you very much, Mr Ettershank, for your question. As I am getting across the details in the vast health portfolio, of course I know that the CareSync Exchange program is very important in terms of providing a Victorian patient information-sharing system.
Currently I am advised that it operates across 19 Victorian public health services and it enables that secure clinical information sharing between a number of health services, including Austin Health, Bayside Health, Eastern Health, Gippsland local health service network, Monash Health, the Northern Health network, Peter Mac and the Royal Children’s, the Royal Melbourne and the Royal Women’s hospitals.
That program will continue to expand through a phased rollout to all of the remaining Victorian public health services, planned for completion around 2028.
The rollout is being progressed in a fairly measured and sustainable manner, aligned to whether those health services’ readiness is there. Together, EMR and CareSync Exchange support safer transitions to care by improving access to relevant clinical information when patients with complex or chronic conditions receiving care from multiple providers need to benefit from that arrangement.
Patient privacy and data security are obviously important and fundamental to Victoria’s digital health approach, and the CareSync Exchange operates within that robust privacy management framework, which sets clear rules for access, use and oversight of shared health information.
In terms of your question in relation to patients being able to request information, I am advised that patients may request a user activity report from their treating health service, outlining when and where their information has been accessed, through CareSync Exchange, supporting transparency and accountability.
And of course another important factor, Mr Ettershank, that you will probably recall from the bill that came through the Parliament is the independent oversight arrangements that are in place to support that transparency, compliance and public confidence on how the information is shared and used. I would be very happy, as I get across the details of this complex but important program of work, to keep you updated about the progress.
David ETTERSHANK (Western Metropolitan Region):
Thank you, Minister. Unfortunately I could not actually hear a lot of what you were saying due to what might be best described as friendly fire. As noted in my substantive question, cost-free access to a patient’s own health records was promised as part of the rollout of the electronic patient health information-sharing platform.
In our consultations at the time of the bill we were inundated with patients who found accessing their own medical records frustrating. What they got was sometimes illegible, and it was always time consuming and really, really expensive, especially for patients already dealing with chronic diseases and others with litigation.
Minister, could you please expand on when patients can expect to be able to access the totality of their own health records in the manner I have described previously and what information will be captured by public health services in relation to drug use and how it will be shared?
Ingrid STITT (Western Metropolitan Region – Minister for Health):
I thank Mr Ettershank for that supplementary question. As I already indicated in the answer to your substantive question, I am happy to keep you updated, including on the issues that you have raised about access and cost.
In relation to how drug use is captured in the system, the advice I have got is that information relating to alcohol and substance use is not captured as a specific clinical domain within CareSync Exchange.
However, it may be included within clinical information shared by health services, such as through discharge summaries and pathology results. But all information in the CareSync Exchange is obviously subject to privacy, security, audit and access controls, which is absolutely appropriate when you are talking about sensitive patient information.
