Australian Privacy Foundation health spokeswoman Juanita Fernando was appalled a national identity scheme had been announced one day before polling.
"We repeatedly warned of the risk of function creep in relation to healthcare identifiers," she said. "No wonder the legislation received bipartisan support in the Senate.
"The Coalition plans to make use of the HI scheme to achieve cost savings in health and welfare despite the risks to citizens' privacy, not to mention the danger of identity fraud." (more)