More than $40 million is being invested to expand and improve telecommunications services throughout the Northern Territory as part of a three year agreement between the Northern Territory Government and Telstra.
Under the agreement, remote communities across the Northern Territory will benefit, with the territory’s Chief Minister Adam Giles saying that said Telstra and Governments at all levels were working to expand and improve telecommunications.
Read more: AU: Telecommunications for NT remote communities on the improve
Australia is revamping its personalized My Health Record system for patients and doctors as part of a $485-million package to deliver a new electronic medical record system.
“A functioning national electronic medical records system is essential to ensure doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other healthcare providers across the country had instant access to the information needed to treat patients safely and efficiently without having to gamble on unknowns in their medical history,” said Minister for Health Sussan Ley.
Read more: Australia developing 21st century electronic health record system
New laws to give doctors and pharmacists instant access to medical records may pose a risk to human rights by violating privacy.
A parliamentary joint committee on human rights has called on Health Minister Sussan Ley to explain what safeguards are in place to protect Australians' privacy when their health records are uploaded onto a central electronic database, under the new myHealth Record system.
Read more: AU: 'Significant privacy concerns' over myHealth Record system
Parliamentary committee details issues with My Health Record bill.
A joint parliamentary committee has written to Health Minister Sussan Ley to express concerns about the "significant" effect the government's planned introduction of opt-out e-health records could have on an individual's privacy.
In September the government introduced a bill that would amend the existing personally controlled electronic health record (PCEHR) law to enable it to boost its stalled e-health records scheme by creating a record for every Australian by default.
Read more: AU: Opt-out e-health records may violate privacy: MPs
Australia’s new prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, has announced what he calls a “21st century government”. This article is part of The Conversation’s series focusing on what such a government should look like.
When discussing the digital economy it’s easy to focus on technology, and its exponential uptake.
In reality, there’s been a shift from an “economy of corporations” to an “economy of people”. While previous technologies were largely dedicated to automating and streamlining business processes, digital technologies allow active citizen contributions.
Read more: AU: What a ‘digital first’ government would look like