Australia to mandate health ID number

The Australian government has said it will mandate a new national e-health number for all citizens.

The move to mandate the unique 16-digit health ID number, to be introduced from July, comes despite an earlier Government promise the new "e-health" system would be on an opt-in basis.

While the new health ID number will not hold information, it is intended to form the basis of a planned new system of electronic health records.

Patients will be able to decide whether they have an e-health record that will give doctors around the country access to information on medical tests, operations and other health information of a patient.

This will revolutionise the health system, make it faster and easier for doctors to get test results and improve patient safety by making medication mix-ups less likely.

The Australian public appear to be sceptical of national ID schemes, and have long memories of previous attempts. Most notably, in l987, the then government was forced to scrap a project for a national identity system called the Australia Card after it proved deeply unpopular.