Health Legislation Amendment (Improving Choice and Transparency for Private Health Consumers) Bill 2026

Senator RUSTON (South Australia—Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) (18:52): by leave—I move opposition amendments (1) and (2) on sheet 3773 together: (1) Schedule 1, item 1, page 5 (after line 19), at the end of section 124ZZA, add: Note: Nothing in this section confers protection from civil proceedings on an entity other than the Secretary or a delegate of the Secretary.

(2) Schedule 1, item 2, page 9 (after line 21), at the end of section 324-15, add: Note: Nothing in this section confers protection from civil proceedings on an entity other than the Secretary of the Department or a delegate of the Secretary of the Department. These amendments seek to remove the provisions relating to the protection from civil proceedings for the department as a whole.

Sufficient recourse exists in provisions for damages arising from false or misleading data displayed on a website, and courts will decide on the merit of individual cases, as per standard legal proceedings. The idea that the government would regulate or legislate itself out of a liability in relation to damages for action that the department has taken is, we believe, inappropriate, given that every other member of our society cannot legislate to remove their obligations in relation to their responsibilities and obligations.

We believe that there is already plenty of recourse that exists within the normal proceedings to enable the department to be protected in any manner, and we do not believe that they should be using the powers of this chamber or the government in order to remove their being subject to the same provisions that every other business or person in this country is subject to.