VIC Infringement Court Sent Private and Confidential Information to VicRoads

[Rod]

Hi guys,

Someone I know was granted revocation of fines by the Victorian Infringements court on medical grounds.

The information given to the court had a cover letter that contained the following clause:

"The contents of these medical reports are extremely confidential and are only to be used by you in determining our request for the revocation of all {name} fines and enforcement orders. As you can appreciate the information we are providing to you is of a very sensitive medical nature and therefore any other use of the information in this fax and its attachments is expressly prohibited by us."
​

This person has now received a letter from VicRoads saying VicRoads has become aware that the person's health may be affecting their driving. The only way VicRoads could have received this information is from the Infringement court.

FYI, none of the medical conditions affect driving ability.

Questions:
1. Is VicRoads allowed to demand that medical records or a medical report be prepared and sent to them?
2. Has the court broken a law in sending private and sensitive details to VicRoads? If yes, which law? (Privacy Act?)
3. If yes to Q2, how does someone sue the court for releasing private and confidential details to another government department?

 

[Sarah J]

Hi Rod,

I am not too familiar with this matter, however, my two cents are:

- VicRoads may have become aware of the fact that this person has a medical condition serious enough to warrant a revocation to the particular fine VicRoads issued. Obviously, the ground for revocation will need to be sent to VicRoads (the entity issuing these fines) by the court when informing VicRoads that such fines have been revoked.
- This does not mean that the nature of the medical condition (i.e. the content of the medical reports or even the general nature of the medical condition) had been released to VicRoads. The court should only have released enough information to justify the decision. Hence, is the person sure that the contents of the medical report have actually been released to VicRoads?
- Has VicRoads actually made a decision regarding the licence of this person? (i.e. is the person's driving permission restricted or removed due to these "medial conditions"?) What is the loss here, apart from the fact that VicRoads is aware the person has medical conditions that affect driving?

 

[Rod]

They are concerned that medical details have been given to someone they never authorised to receive them. This person does not want anyone knowing their medical history. I can sympathise with this person and wouldn't want others knowing my complete history either. Discrimination can often be subtle and hard to prove so keeping confidential medical records confidential is important to this person. They are concerned by what Vicroads may have seen.

It is possible you are right in that the court may have just used the term 'medical grounds' to Vicroads.