Our legal obligations
We aim to be as transparent as possible about the MSAC process while meeting privacy laws and confidentiality requirements.
Our secretariat manages information in line with the relevant laws. These include the:
- National Health Act 1953
- Health Insurance Act 1973
- Privacy Act 1988 – this includes the Australian Privacy Principles
- Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act)
- Copyright Act 1968
- Archives Act 1983.
The information our secretariat manages includes:
- completed application forms, assessment reports and other documents from applicants
- PICO confirmation documents, commentaries and other documents by health technology assessment (HTA) groups
- consultation input on applications
- agenda items, meeting minutes and briefings
- other correspondence that our committee, our subcommittees, our secretariat or the relevant policy teams send and receive.
How we manage MSAC information
For information sent and received as part of the MSAC process, our secretariat and the relevant policy teams:
- maintain records to show:
- what happened
- when it happened
- how it happened
- who was involved
- what was decided or recommended
- what advice or instruction was given
- the order of decisions or events
- maintain policies and procedures to manage records in a consistent, accurate, and appropriate way
- store records in the Department of Health and Aged Care’s IT system.
They also manage information in contracts and deeds in line with the requirements set out in the contract or deed.
For how information in the Health Products Portal (HPP) is managed, see the HPP terms and conditions.
Access to MSAC records by government officers
Access to the content in MSAC records is limited to officers who need it to perform their duties. This may include:
- departmental officers in the Office of Health Technology Assessment
- departmental officers in the relevant policy area, for example:
- the Medical Benefits Division, for applications that relate to Medicare Benefits Schedule services
- the Blood Policy and Programs Section, for applications that relate to blood or blood-related products
- officers outside of the Department of Health and Aged Care. For example, officers in the National Blood Authority for applications that relate to blood or blood-related products.
The content in MSAC records may also be accessible:
- where authorised or required by law. For example, under the FOI Act
- through requests from parliament
- by the Australian National Audit Office when they conduct an audit.
Confidentiality requirements
Individuals who are not Australian Government employees must sign a deed of confidentiality to receive information related to MSAC applications. The deed includes text about:
- not disclosing any information to a third party
- maintaining the confidentiality of MSAC documents and information.
They are also advised of the requirements to securely manage and dispose of confidential material. These individuals include:
- employees and subcontractors of health technology assessment (HTA) groups
- our committee, subcommittee and working group members
- experts on technical or consumer matters
- state and territory health officials.
The contracts with HTA groups also set out how they must store, manage and dispose of MSAC documents.
Identifying confidential material
In information you submit
You may consider some of the information you submit as part of the MSAC process to be confidential. For documents we publish on this website, our secretariat will:
- give you an opportunity to identify material you think is confidential and explain why
- consider your claims in line with government policy
- if agreed, redact the material before publishing.
In documents our secretariat shares with you
Before our secretariat shares documents with you as part of the MSAC process, they will redact any committee-in-confidence material. Confidential material can include:
- information from another MSAC application
- confidential data supplied by our secretariat.
Redactions will apply to a range of documents, including:
- department-contracted assessment reports
- consultation summaries
- commentaries and overview papers.
Commercial-in-confidence material – access under FOI
Under the FOI Act, our secretariat may need to grant access to documents that have commercial-in-confidence material. In these cases, the department will:
- consult with the author of the documents
- take the author’s views into account when deciding whether to grant access to the documents.
Publishing applications for transparency
Our secretariat publishes an application page for each application found suitable for the MSAC process. To find out which documents will be available to the public on the application page, see transparency of applications.
Lodging an MSAC application means you agree to our secretariat:
- publishing documents (redacted) related to your application and its assessment on this website
- making the final decision on what is redacted in these documents.
Conflicts of interest
Find out how we manage actual and perceived conflicts of interest.
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