Photographer : Department of Human Services
On 26 April 2006, Prime Minister John Howard announced the government had decided to proceed in principle with a new access card for health and welfare services. The Access Card will replace all existing government health and social services cards (like Centrelink and Medicare cards) by 2010.
So what?
Best case scenario: your wallet is lighter, your day easier, and your personal details secure.
Worst case scenario: Your personal information is easy prey for conmen; the government uses your personal information irresponsibly; and, if you’re a young person 16–18 years old, you have to give up your privacy when accessing basic health services.
The government’s push for the Access Card
According to the federal government, the Access Card will improve the security of our private details, as well as increase the efficiency of government services. Joe Hockey, ex-Minister for Human Services, believes that our private details are too vulnerable to fraud, especially when it comes to Medicare cards. He also expects the Access Card to reduce welfare fraud by $3 billion dollars over the next decade. The thinking that underpins the Access Card is that a good government has a responsibility to use technology to improve the way it distributes services to its citizens.
The face of the card will have less private information on it than a driver’s license, with information being held on an encrypted chip. This information will be protected by existing laws on data-sharing and privacy, which means there won’t be an increase in what corporations can find out about us. Laws are going to be introduced that make it a crime for banks, pubs or other bodies to ask for the card as proof of ID. Also, it won’t be compulsory for people to carry the card on them.
Possible privacy problems
Despite the government’s assurances about privacy protection, there is a lot of skepticism about the new system. The Office of Access Card received 120 submissions from people and organisations in response to the exposure draft of the Human Services (Enhanced Service Delivery) Bill 2007, which will make the Access Card part of Australian law if it is introduced and passed by federal parliament.
Civil Liberties Australia (CLA) commented that there is no provision in the draft legislation to stop public or private enterprises accessing, storing, using or selling our private information without our individual approval. In light of this and other concerns, the CLA recommends the legislation be referred to the Australian Law Reform Commission for an 18 month investigation and report and recommendations.
Electronic Frontiers Australia (EFA) questions the technological security of the card, and believes that the Access Card system has a high potential for “function creep”, which means it could change over time to serve quite different purposes and usages from its originally stated purpose. The EFA wholly rejects the Access Card system.
The University of Sydney’s Student Representative Council also rejects the Access Card proposal, arguing that the incidence of welfare fraud in Australia is so low that it doesn’t warrant the restriction on people’s right to privacy and the billions of dollars that will be spent implementing the new system.
The Minister for Human Services, Ian Campbell, has said that all submissions will be taken into account in the planning and development of the Access Card proposal.
The Access Card: inaccessible to some?
The Australian Medical Association (AMA) is worried that under-18s won’t automatically be eligible for the card. This means young people will have to justify their case for receiving government services like Centrelink payments or Medicare benefits. For people aged 16–18 years this means applying to a senior bureaucrat or getting a parent’s permission to access to Medicare benefits. The AMA and others, including the NSW Commission for Children and Young People, and the Youth Coalition of the ACT, see this as an unnecessary restriction of young people’s privacy and control over their health. For example, according to the exposure draft of the Bill, a teenage girl seeking the birth control pill without the $55 doctor’s fee would need to apply to the government, or get their parent’s permission.
Joe Hockey has dismissed the AMA’s criticisms, saying that under-18s who are eligible for Medicare will be able to granted access by authorised Medicare staff, without having to ask their parents’ permission.
How do I know this?
ABC News Online 2007, ‘AMA, privacy task force concerned over Access Card’,
ABC News Online, 23 January
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200701/s1831688.htm
Calvert, G 2007, ‘Letter to Hon Joe Hockey MP’,
NSW Commission for Children and Young People, 12 January
http://www.kids.nsw.gov.au/uploads/documents/CCYP-Letter-AccessCardBill.pdf
Dunlevy, S 2007, ‘Card could deny teen girls pill’,
The Daily Telegraph, 24 January,
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21107930-421,00.html
Electronic Frontiers Australia 2007,
Access Card/National ID card,
http://www.efa.org.au/Issues/Privacy/accesscard.html
Hockey, J 2007, ‘Access Card about improving services’,
ABC News Online, 12 January,
http://www.abc.net.au/news/opinion/items/200701/s1825641.htm
Hockey, J 2007,‘Your privacy is assured’,
The Age, January 17,
http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/your-privacy-is-assured/2007/01/16/1168709750637.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
Office of Access Card,
http://www.accesscard.gov.au
Youth Coalition of the ACT,
http://www.youthcoalition.net
