Medicare Australia (Functions of Chief Executive Officer) Amendment Direction  2007 (No. 2)
Medicare Australia Act 1973
I, CHRISTOPHER MARTIN ELLISON, Minister for Human Services, make this Direction under paragraph 5 (1) (d) of the Medicare Australia Act 1973.
Dated 8 August 2007
CHRISTOPHER MARTIN ELLISON
Minister for Human Services
  
  
1              Name of Direction
                This Direction is the Medicare Australia (Functions of Chief Executive Officer) Amendment Direction  2007 (No. 2).
2              Commencement
                This Direction commences on the day after it is registered.
3              Amendment of Medicare Australia (Functions of Chief Executive Officer) Direction 2005
                Schedule 1 amends the Medicare Australia (Functions of Chief Executive Officer) Direction 2005.
Schedule 1        Amendment
(section 3)
  
[1]           After section 34
insert
35            Functions in relation to the unique healthcare identifier program
         (1)   In this section:
health care means care, treatment, advice or service provided for the physical or mental health of an individual.
healthcare provider means:
                (a)    an individual who provides health care, including the following:
                          (i)    a medical practitioner;
                         (ii)    an individual who:
                                   (A)     practises a health care related vocation; and
                                   (B)     must be registered, enrolled or certified under a State or Territory law to practise that vocation;
                         (iii)    an individual who provides a professional service; or
               (b)    an organisation that provides health care.
medical practitioner has the meaning given by subsection 3 (1) of the Health Insurance Act.
NEHTA means National E‑Health Transition Authority Ltd, ABN 18 114 638 336.
organisation means a body corporate, a partnership, an unincorporated association or a trust.
personal information has the meaning given by subsection 6 (1) of the Privacy Act 1988.
professional service has the meaning given by subsection 3 (1) of the Health Insurance Act.
unique healthcare identifier, or UHI, means a unique number assigned to an individual or a healthcare provider.
UHI program means the program for the development, implementation and operation of systems for:
                (a)    the assignment of UHIs to individuals and healthcare providers; and
               (b)    the exchange of information for health care purposes using UHIs to:
                          (i)    identify individuals and healthcare providers; and
                         (ii)    link individuals and healthcare providers with information.
         (2)   For paragraph 5 (1) (d) of the Act, the Chief Executive Officer is to perform the following functions:
                (a)    to enter into a contract with NEHTA for Medicare Australia to provide services for carrying out the UHI program;
               (b)    to scope, develop, build and test UHI program systems in accordance with the contract mentioned in paragraph (a);
                (c)    in performing the function mentioned in paragraph (b):
                          (i)    to copy personal information from the following databases kept by Medicare Australia:
                                   (A)     the Consumer Directory Maintenance System;
                                   (B)     the Provider Directory System; and
                         (ii)    to apply a process to the personal information to create new data that cannot be used to identify the individuals to whom it relates; and
                         (iii)    to use the created data.
         (3)   Performance by Medicare Australia of the contract mentioned in paragraph (2) (a) is limited to the activities mentioned in paragraph (2) (b).