What should doctors do if the Privacy Commissioner investigates them?
What are the Privacy Commissioner’s powers? The enforcement process is generally complaint driven. The Federal Privacy Commissioner has no judicial powers. However, that office has wide powers of investigation. The approach is one of conflict resolution. At first instance the individual complaint is to be made to the organisation or doctor. If it is not resolved at that stage, a complaint can be made to the Federal Privacy Commission and the Commissioner may investigate. The Commissioner can dismiss a complaint at any stage. If the Commissioner finds that a breach has occurred, he can make an enforceable determination that the conduct is not to be repeated, that the respondent should do ‘any reasonable act’ to redress loss or damage suffered, and that a specific amount of compensation be paid. The inconvenience, embarrassment and cost of investigation to a doctor that arises from an investigation should not be underestimated. Does my MDO provide cover for representation and/or compensa
