Changes to consent guidance

The Department of Health and Aged Care (DoHAC) has made changes to the consent guidance for the Primary Mental Health Care Minimum Data Set (PMHC MDS). These changes will allow DoHAC to share data with State and Territory Governments as part of bilateral funding agreements.

In 2023 DoHAC undertook a privacy impact assessment to support the implementation of data sharing commitments outlined in the National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Agreement. Updating the current consent guidance was one of the recommendations that came from this assessment.

Data added to the PMHC MDS previously had the option for the PHN to share anonymised data with DoHAC. DoHAC has made updates to PMHC MDS policies to allow consented, anonymised activity data to be shared with State and Territory Governments as part of the bilateral funding agreements.

It is important that clients give informed consent for their anonymous PMHC MDS data to be shared with DoHAC and third parties as part of the data sharing commitments in the National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Agreement. This data allows for granular monitoring and evaluation of funded programs.

As a Commissioned Service for HNECC, please ensure that client consent is obtained at commencement of an episode of care. It is important to ensure that clients are asked to provide consent for HNECC PHN to provide their anonymous data to DoHAC.

Suggested wording to obtain client consent should include the following lines:

“I consent to my personal information being provided by HNECC to the Department of Health and Aged Care, and state and territory health departments/agencies to be used for statistical and evaluation purposes designed to improve mental health services in Australia. I understand that this will include details about me such as date of birth and gender but will not include my name, address or Medicare number.

I understand this includes the use of personal information to generate a unique key, which can be used to link my de-identified data to other de-identified data to facilitate research. I understand that my personal information will not be provided to the Department of Health and Aged Care or state and territory health departments/agencies if I do not give my consent.

I also understand that my consent is not required for the Department of Health and Aged Care and state and territory health departments/agencies to include data about my use of services, combined with information about other clients, in summary reports about the activities funded by HNECC because these do not require personal information.

For more information on how the Department of Health and Aged Care and state and territory health departments/agencies use your data please refer to the consumer FAQ."

The FAQ developed for PHNs and their commissioned service providers to share with clients to explain the Primary Mental Health Care Minimum Data Set (PMHC MDS) and how data are collected, stored and used is available to download HERE. Additional guidance relating to client consent for the provision of PMHC MDS data to DoHAC and state and territory health departments/ agencies Version 2, updated 30 April 2024 is available HERE.