Jakob’s story

Jakob contacted us to raise concerns about Ahpra’s handling of their request to correct or remove personal information that it held. Jakob did not agree with Ahpra’s decision to refuse to correct or remove the personal information about them that was contained in correspondence from health practitioners in relation to a notification. Jakob said that Ahpra’s failure to correct or remove this information could cause them reputational damage if it was accessed or reviewed by others.

Our office undertook preliminary inquiries into Jakob’s concerns. We confirmed that Australian Privacy Principle 13.4 provides that if an entity refuses to correct personal information as requested by an individual, the individual can request the entity associate a statement that the individual believes the personal information to be inaccurate, out-of-date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading.

We suggested that to reach an effective resolution, Ahpra could agree to accept a statement from Jakob to keep on record as part of the notification that explained their concerns about the information. Ahpra confirmed that Jakob was welcome to make a request to associate their statement with the notification. We shared this information with Jakob, along with guidance on how to make the request and statement to Ahpra.