A report in The Age discusses Labor Sen. Kim Carr’s plans to make government information available to researchers in the name of improving social services. Carr aims to share data stored in a database possessing Centrelink payments, Medicare payments, pharmaceutical benefits payments, rehabilitation support and child support. Researcher Fiona Stanley has been given access to anonymised data from the Perth government for 35 years and says in all that time, “we have never once had a privacy breach.” Executive Director of the Australian Institute Richard Denniss recognises there are privacy concerns but says safeguards can prevent risks.
Full Story