The Registry publishes regular reports showing numbers of cases and rates of different types of cancer in summary form. These reports do not disclose names or other identifying information of cancer patients. They are available to anyone. More detailed information that does not include names of cancer patients is also made available to the NSW Department of Health, health care institutions, health professionals and health researchers. Bonafide health and medical researchers can apply to obtain information about identified cancer patients.
Access is given when certain stringent criteria are met.
The NSW Cancer Council's Ethics Committee must review the proposal and approve access to the information. This approval will only be given if the Committee is satisfied that the proposal contains adequate safe guards for the rights of the patients identified and the confidentiality of their information. The researchers sign a form committing themselves to use the information only for the purposes approved by the Ethics Committee and to protect the confidentiality and privacy of the information in ways no less stringent than those used by the Cancer Registry itself. Identified information may also be released to the doctor or health institution who originally provided it and it is given to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare for the compilation of national cancer statistics. 1 Australian Bureau of Statistics.