Health Data Governance (LAWS90152)
Graduate courseworkPoints: 12.5On Campus (Parkville)
About this subject
Contact information
March
Teaching staff:
Mark Taylor (Subject Coordinator)
For current student enquiries, contact the Law School Academic Support Office
Overview
| Availability(Quotas apply) | March |
|---|---|
| Fees | Look up fees |
Data relating to an individual’s physical and mental health and condition can reveal extremely sensitive information. Valuable health data also underpins improvements in health care and can be useful for other government and commercial purposes. How can the law protect the principle of medical confidentiality and enable the data flows necessary for a modern learning healthcare system, public health, and other public interest purposes?
Health privacy and data protection expert Mark Taylor considers the relevant law and governance in Australia and comparable jurisdictions. This subject will provide students with an advanced and specialised knowledge of health data governance, including relevant privacy and data protection law. It will invite critical consideration of relevant law benchmarked against the European Union General Data Protection Regulation and other international standards, such as the Recommendation of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Council on Health Data Governance.
Indicative list of principal topics:
- Legal concepts of ‘personal health data’, ‘identifiability’, and ‘public interest’
- Transparency, informed consent, and respect for individual objection
- Confidentiality and third-party access, including family members, researcher, public health and government
- Feedback of incidental findings and the ‘right not to know’
- Oversight and approval mechanisms, with consideration of issues raised by increasing use of new techniques of machine learning and analysis of big data
- International and cross-border transfer
Intended learning outcomes
A student who has successfully completed this subject will:
- Have an advanced and integrated understanding of legal rules, concepts and principles relevant to health data governance in the context of privacy and data protection law in Australia and comparable jurisdictions
- Be able to critically examine, analyse, interpret and assess the effectiveness of the legal rules, principles and concepts
- Be an engaged participant in debate regarding emerging and contemporary issues in the field, such as appropriate third party (including family member) access to health data, changing boundaries regarding individual care and indirect care (eg. research) uses, feedback of incidental findings, and algorithmic accountability in the health care context
- Have the cognitive and technical skills to independently examine, research and analyse existing and emerging legal issues relating to health data governance in Australia and other comparable jurisdictions
- Have the cognitive and technical skills to generate critical and creative ideas relating to health data governance and to critically evaluate existing governance frameworks
- Have the communication skills to clearly articulate and convey complex information regarding health data governance to relevant specialist and non-specialist audiences.
Last updated: 4 March 2025
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
None
Corequisites
None
Non-allowed subjects
None
Recommended background knowledge
Applicants without legal qualifications should note that subjects are taught at an advanced graduate level and requires a thorough background in common law. While efforts are made to meet the needs of students trained in other fields, teaching and assessment activities are designed to give an advanced and integrated understanding of the discipline of law for legal practitioners, learners and researchers.
Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)
The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.
Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home
Last updated: 4 March 2025
Assessment
| Description | Timing | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
Class participation | Throughout the teaching period | 10% |
Research paper on topic approved by the subject coordinator
| 21 May 2025 | 90% |
| Hurdle requirement: A minimum of 75% attendance is required. | Throughout the teaching period | N/A |
Last updated: 4 March 2025
Quotas apply to this subject
Dates & times
- March
Principal coordinator Mark Taylor Mode of delivery On Campus (Parkville) Contact hours 34 Total time commitment 150 hours Pre teaching start date 26 February 2025 Pre teaching requirements Please refer to the Reading Guide on the LMS subject page for confirmation of which resources need to be read and what other preparation is required before the teaching period commences. Teaching period 26 March 2025 to 1 April 2025 Last self-enrol date 3 March 2025 Census date 28 March 2025 Last date to withdraw without fail 9 May 2025 Assessment period ends 13 June 2025 March contact information
Teaching staff:
Mark Taylor (Subject Coordinator)
For current student enquiries, contact the Law School Academic Support Office
What do these dates mean
Visit this webpage to find out about these key dates, including how they impact on:
- Your tuition fees, academic transcript and statements.
- And for Commonwealth Supported students, your:
- Student Learning Entitlement. This applies to all students enrolled in a Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP).
Subjects withdrawn after the census date (including up to the ‘last day to withdraw without fail’) count toward the Student Learning Entitlement.
Additional delivery details
Please refer to the Melbourne Law Masters enrolment webpage for further information about re-enrolment, subject quotas and waitlists.
Melbourne Law School may reserve places in a subject for incoming international cohorts or where a subject is core to a specialisation with limited alternate options.
Last updated: 4 March 2025
Further information
- Texts
- Related Handbook entries
This subject contributes to the following:
- Links to additional information
- Available through the Community Access Program
About the Community Access Program (CAP)
This subject is available through the Community Access Program (also called Single Subject Studies) which allows you to enrol in single subjects offered by the University of Melbourne, without the commitment required to complete a whole degree.
Please note Single Subject Studies via Community Access Program is not available to student visa holders or applicants
Entry requirements including prerequisites may apply. Please refer to the CAP applications page for further information.
Additional information for this subject
If subject coordinator approval is required, or for further information about Community Access Program study, please contact us
- Available to Study Abroad and/or Study Exchange Students
Last updated: 4 March 2025