Privacy laws in Australia may give the right to fifteen year old children to withhold health information from their parents:

“The parents of children as young as 15 could be barred from seeing their health information under proposed changes to privacy laws.

The Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) said in a discussion paper released today that people aged 15 and over should usually be capable of deciding who sees such material.”

link: Health privacy proposed for 15yo’s

While American legislators are thinking of opening up the access to personal information for parents, Australia seems to be heading in the opposite direction. To entitle a fifteen year old such privacy rights means that the government sees children in their mid teens as capable of making decisions for their own health and welfare. It seems that this legislation works counter to the children’s best interests and undermines parental input.

Catherine Forsythe

Tags: privacy, legislation, children, health information, australia