Patient controls

Once a My Health Record is cancelled, it is permanently deleted. It can no longer be viewed or accessed by anyone and information that was held within the record cannot be recovered.

If a patient who is a nominated representative for another My Health Record holder deletes their own record, some identifying information will be kept so that they can continue to exist on the record of the person that they are a representative for.

Healthcare providers are not notified when a My Health Record of a patient they are providing care for is cancelled.

A nominated representative is a person invited by a patient (or the patient’s authorised representative) to access and help manage their record.

Nominated representatives can include a patient’s family members, close friends or carer. No matter who the nominated representative is, they must act in accordance with the patient’s preferences.

Nominated representatives can be removed from a record at any time and will no longer have access to the record.

A My Health Record may be managed by an authorised representative where a person is not able to manage their own record and make decisions for themselves. An authorised representative may be a parent, carer, family member, legal guardian or someone with enduring power of attorney. Most authorised representatives are parents who are managing a record for a child under 14.

Representatives can be added to a My Health Record via the ‘Privacy & Access’ tab. For more information on authorised representatives, visit the Australian Digital Health Agency’s Authorised representatives webpage. 

Record access code (RAC)   

A RAC can be used if the patient wants to restrict access to their entire record. Where a RAC has been set, the patient will need to give you this code in order for you to see their record. Once the patient has shared their RAC with you, you will be listed on their provider access list and won’t need the patient’s RAC to continue accessing their record.  

Limited document access code (LDAC)   

Where a patient has restricted access to particular documents within their record, they can set a LDAC. They can then grant you access to the document by providing you with the LDAC. Once your practice has entered the LDAC into your clinical information system or National Provider Portal, you will be able to view their restricted documents.  

RACs and LDACs can be set up by consumers in the ‘Privacy and access’ section of their My Health Record. 

Patients can hide documents from view, meaning that they cannot be seen by any healthcare provider accessing their record. These documents can be reinstated at any time. 

Each time a patient’s My Health Record is accessed or updated by a healthcare provider, nominated representative or authorised representative, their details and information on what they did in the record is added to the ‘Access history’ section of the My Health Record. 

Details displayed in the ‘Access history’ section include:

• the time and date of access
• which healthcare organisation or authorised person accessed the record
• the action that was taken on the record (e.g., retrieve medicines information)
• details of the consumer’s access to their own record. 

Patients can choose to receive notifications by email or via SMS when:

• their My Health Record is accessed
• certain records are updated
• their immunisation information changes
• a new myGov account is linked to their record.

If patients are concerned about something in their access history, they can contact the My Health Record help line on 1800 723 471.