1. Campaign re MyHR
The ‘personally controlled’ electronic health record (PCEHR) has been a 5-year-long failure.
The latest attempt to breathe life into the (so far, $1.5bn) lemon involves switching from a consent-based approach to an ‘opt-out’ model – and making it extremely difficult to opt out. APF is conducting a campaign to ensure that the public and the media are fully informed about how appallingly misconceived the project is.
2. Campaign re the 2016 Census
APF is conducting a campaign against the massive breach of trust inherent in the changes proposed by ABS to the Census. ABS has declared its intention to keep name and address associated with the data, to expropriate personal data from other sources and to linked data from successive Censuses.
3. Focus on Outcomes
The Chair Group has adapted the Board’s longstanding policy focussed on large numbers of evidence-based and carefully-argued policy statements and submissions. This has produced large volumes of quality outputs, but not enough of them have had the desired outcomes. The Board is reducing the number of issues that it will address at any one time, and investing more of its effort in ensuring that its statements and submissions have the desired impact.
4. Your Contributions to APF
The Board and Committee Chairs welcome contributions from members. This can take many forms, including:
- membership of Committees (currently Health, Telecomms and Internet, International and Surveillance)
- drafting of a policy statement or a submission on any relevant privacy issue
- monitoring of the media, and contribution of resource into the APF’s media archive
- tweeting, re-tweeting, and posts on other social media on privacy issues
- assistance with web-site re-design
- donations, whether general or for specific campaigns
- life membership (which is preferable to annual membership because it reduces the admin. load)
For more details, see the ‘What Can I Do?’ page
5. Sydney Writers’ Festival, 16-22 May, Sydney
Two of APF’s Advisory Panel are speaking:
- Julian Burnside on ‘Writers in Danger’, with 3 such authors, and Anna Funder
Thu 19 May, 11:30-12:30, Pier 2/3 Club Stage - Anna Funder on ‘Coming Home’ (Welcome back, Anna!)
Sun 22 May, 16:30-17:30, Pier 2/3 Main Stage