Dear Department of Health,

Please provide a copy of the Deloitte eHealth Working Group (EHWG) National eHealth Strategy for Australia summary report dated November 2013.

This report is extensively referenced throughout the Review of the Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record, conducted at the request of former Health Minister Peter Dutton and published in 2014.

Yours faithfully,

Karen Dearne

Dear FOI,

I am particularly disappointed that the Department of Health has not responded on time to this request for a copy of the summary report of the Deloitte eHealth Working Group National eHealth Strategy for Australia.

Senior departmental staff are currently holding "consultations" on proposed operational and legal changes to the existing Personally Controlled e-Health Record (PCEHR) system.

These changes are apparently based on the findings and recommendations of the Deloitte eHWG over the past several years, as referenced in the Royle Review of the PCEHR completed in December 2013 and publicly released by Minister Peter Dutton mid-2014.

The Royle report supports the proposed 180-degree change of direction to enforce broad population participation - by switching from voluntary and opt-in for patients to mandatory and opt-out for all citizens (with as-yet unknown mechanisms for opting out.)

In the recent Budget, the Abbott Government committed $485 million over four years to "improving" and "enhancing" this system, which has already cost taxpayers more than $1 billion.

Clearly the government has determined that the program is worth developing well into the future and, accordingly, has entered into a public consultation phase.

Can the Department therefore please advise why it has not been prompt in responding to my FOI request for this key document, to help inform stakeholder discussions?

Yours sincerely,

Karen Dearne