Victorian AMA seeks to allay privacy concerns as lower house passes contentious health database bill

Victoria’s medical records database would include information such as a patient’s health conditions, allergies, medication and medical images and lab results. Photograph: Dmitrii Dikushin/Alamy

Victoria’s peak medical body has sought to quell privacy concerns over a bid to centralise all medical records across the state’s public health systems, saying the benefits outweigh the risks “99 to 1%”.

Civil liberty groups have argued the centralised database – which would come with no ability to opt out – removes people’s autonomy over their health information, while the stalking survivor Di McDonald pointed to data breaches at Medibank and Optus as examples of how hackers might access personal details.