Category: Healthcare law
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ABC v St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust: a new duty at the intersection of healthcare confidentiality and harm to others
The duty of confidentiality is crucial to building relationships of trust and confidence between patients and healthcare professionals, and to effective healthcare systems more broadly. However, the law recognises that the duty of confidentiality is not absolute and sometimes needs to yield to other public interests. A recent UK case, ABC v St George’s…
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Some recent cases on s 5O of the Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW)
Section 5O of the Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW) (CLA) introduced a modified version of the Bolam principle into the law of civil liability in NSW, extended to professionals other than medical professionals (the original subject of the principle). The effect of s 5O(1) is that a court is prevented from making a finding of…
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My brain made me do it: will neuroscience change the way we punish criminals?
Australian law may be on the cusp of a brain-based revolution that will reshape the way we deal with criminals. Some researchers, such as neuroscientist David Eagleman, have argued that neuroscience should radically change our practices of punishment. According to Eagleman, the courts should give up on the notion of punishment altogether and instead focus…
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Central Queensland Hospital v Q: Access to abortion in Queensland and children’s ability to consent to medical treatment
The decision in Central Queensland Hospital and Health Service v Q raises interesting issues in relation to the criminalization of abortion in Queensland and children’s ability to consent to medical treatment. Q was a pregnant 12 year old girl who was referred to medical staff at the Central Queensland Hospital after asking her GP for…
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NBOT Annual Workshop – Call for Papers
Date: 10 March 2016 Venue: Sydney Law School, University of Sydney In March, the Network for Bodies, Organs and Tissues (NBOT) will host its annual multi-disciplinary workshop on bodies and tissues. The event provides a forum for discussions of moral, ethical and regulatory issues relating to the access and control of tissue. The Network welcomes papers that…
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Children with gender dysphoria and consent to treatment: time for a change in the law?
Gender dysphoria is a condition where a person feels that their biological sex is deeply incongruent with their perceived gender, causing him or her significant distress. Stage 1 of treatment involves the administration of puberty-suppressant hormones. Stage 2 involves the administration of cross-sex hormones that promote the development of physical characteristics of the opposite sex.…
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Immigration department breaches the privacy rights of asylum seekers
An article in The Guardian today claims that the Department of Immigration has sought access to confidential medical records of asylum seekers for ‘political purposes.’ The article reports on a briefing document written by a senior clinician at International Health and Medical Services (which delivers health services at mainland and offshore detention centres), which appears…
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Muzzling health and welfare professionals in the name of national security: Australia’s Border Force Act 2015
As law professors employed by one of Australia’s oldest law schools, we live and breathe law, and care about the rule of law. Frankly, however, we don’t care about it enough to stand by while government tries to muzzle dedicated professionals working in difficult conditions to protect the safety and dignity of children.
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Upcoming Conferences: Emerging Health Policy Research Conference 2015
The Menzies Centre for Health Policy is hosting its 10th annual Emerging Health Policy Research Conference on Tuesday, 21 July 2015, at the University of Sydney. The Conference showcases the work of current masters, doctoral and early career research workers, as well as those new to the field of health policy research. This year’s keynote…