Privacy and security

• Confidential Information has the meaning given to it in section 139 of the HHB Act, being information accessed by a Prescribed Health Professional under section 161C(2) of the HHB Act through a Prescribed Information System, including The Viewer.
• Content means data and information, including Confidential Information, data, information, or materials accessible through The Viewer.
• HHB Act means the Hospital and Health Boards Act 2011 (Qld) (as amended or superseded).
• HHB Regulation means the Hospital and Health Boards Regulation 2023 (Qld) (as amended or superseded).
• Health Provider Portal or HPP means the gateway that verifies your identity and eligibility before you can use The Viewer.
• National Law means the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (Queensland) (as amended or superseded).
• Personal Information has the meaning given to it in section 12 of the Privacy Act, being information or an opinion about an identified individual or an individual who is reasonably identifiable from the information or opinion: (a) whether the information or opinion is true or not; and (b) whether the information or opinion is recorded in a material form or not.
• Prescribed Health Professional has the meaning given to it in section 139 of the HHB Act, being an individual, other than a designated person (as defined in section 139A(1) of the HHB Act) who is prescribed under section 48 of the HHB Regulation as being: (a) a health professional who is registered under the National Law and whose registration is of a type prescribed in the HHB Regulation; or (b) a health professional who satisfies the condition for provision of a health service as prescribed in the HHB Regulation.
• Prescribed Information System has the meaning given to it in section 139 of the HHB Act, being a system prescribed by the HHB Regulation, and, in the context of these Terms, means The Viewer, which provides read-only access to Content.
• Principal Place of Practice has the meaning given to it in section 5 of the National Law.
• Privacy Act means the Information Privacy Act 2009 (Qld) (as amended or superseded).
• Purpose means to facilitate the care or treatment of an individual by a Prescribed Health Professional acting in that capacity and in accordance with section 161C(2)(a) of the HHB Act.
• The Viewer means a secure, read-only clinical information system provided by Queensland Health that displays Confidential Information.

We reserve the right to vary, modify, add, delete and make corrections to the Terms, including by updating the HPP or The Viewer to incorporate new Terms, at any time without notice. All changes are effective from the time and date they are posted by us and your continued access to, and use of, the HPP or The Viewer will constitute your acceptance of the variation of the Terms. It is your responsibility to ensure that you are aware of any changes to these Terms each time you access or use the HPP or The Viewer.

You must be a Prescribed Health Professional practising in Queensland to use The Viewer. You must immediately cease accessing The Viewer if you cease to be a Prescribed Health Professional, if your registration under the National Law is suspended or terminated, or if your Principal Place of Practice is no longer in Queensland.

You are solely responsible for ensuring that all personal and professional details you provide for access to the HPP and The Viewer remain accurate, complete, and current at all times. This includes your personal (non‑work) email address, professional registration details, and all information held by external identity and registration services. You must update these details promptly whenever they change and ensure your email settings allow you to receive notifications from us.

External services you must keep up to date include:

• Queensland Digital Identity (QDI)
• Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) registration details confirming you are practising in Queensland Healthcare Provider Identifier – Individual (HPI‑I) (AHPRA)
• Medicare Provider Number (MPN) (GPs and specialists only)

Queensland Health services you must keep up to date include:

• Health Provider Portal (HPP) account subscription and self‑managed registration details
• Secure Transfer Service registration with AHPRA, HPI‑I and MPN (GPs and specialists only)

We may issue important notifications electronically, including but not limited to communications relating to account creation, inappropriate access or use, or amendments to these Terms, to the personal email address you provided when creating your digital identify in QDI for your HPP registration. Upon registration we will subscribe your personal address to receive these notifications as a requirement for your access to, and use of, the HPP and The Viewer. All such electronic communications will be deemed to have been received by you at the time they are transmitted by us.

We accept no loss, damage or liability (including direct, indirect, and consequential loss) for any failure by you to receive, open or read our notifications issued to the personal email address you nominated.

You may access The Viewer and view Content only for the Purpose, being to facilitate the care or treatment of an individual and in accordance with section 161C(2)(a) of the HHB Act.

You must comply with all applicable laws and regulations in your access or use of the HPP or The Viewer and in relation to your access and use of Content, including in relation to Confidential Information under Part 7 of the HHB Act. It is your responsibility to read the provisions of Part 7 of the HHB Act and the Privacy Act as they apply to you and your dealings with Confidential Information and Personal Information respectively and you acknowledge and agree that it is your responsibility to understand and apply those provisions to your conduct.

You must not access or use The Viewer or any Content for any purpose other than the authorised Purpose. This includes that you must not access your own information, or the information of a family member, friend, colleague, or any other individual, unless it is directly required for the authorised Purpose.

If a confidentiality alert is displayed in relation to a patient’s record, you may only view that record if the patient is currently under your direct care.

You must not use the HPP or The Viewer in any unlawful manner, for any unlawful purpose, or in any manner inconsistent with these Terms. You must not hack into or insert malicious code, including viruses, or harmful data, into the HPP or The Viewer or access or use them in any way that could damage, disable, overburden, impair or compromise them.

Penalties may apply, including suspension or termination of your HPP account and potential deregistration under the National Law. The maximum penalty for a breach of section 161C(2) of the HHB Act is 600 penalty units.

Patients may opt out of sharing their Confidential Information about them through the HPP or The Viewer by practitioners external to Queensland Health. If a patient opts out, external practitioners will not be able to access the patient’s Confidential Information through the HPP or The Viewer and must obtain the information through other processes.

The Viewer is a read‑only system for viewing Content only. You must not print, download, copy, or transfer any Content from The Viewer, except where we have provided written consent for you to do so and only when necessary for the Purpose.

All intellectual property rights in the HPP, The Viewer, and all Content are owned by, or licensed to, the State of Queensland acting through us and nothing in your access or use of them or in these Terms causes any such rights to be transferred to you. You acknowledge you have no rights, title or interest in the HPP, The Viewer, the Content or any supporting technology other than the limited licence of access and use in accordance with these Terms.

We collect Personal Information about you that is provided by you as a consequence of you obtaining access to, or using, the HPP or The Viewer for the operation, administration and support of the HPP and The Viewer to facilitate the Purpose. We collect, use, disclose, store and deal with your Personal Information in accordance with the Queensland Health Queensland Privacy Principles Policy and the Privacy Act. We may disclose your personal information as permitted by the law or by applicable court process or order.

Your access and use of the HPP or The Viewer will be monitored, logged and audited. We may conduct regular and ad hoc audits to monitor compliance with privacy, security, and appropriate access and use of the HPP or The Viewer, including in accordance with these Terms and the law.

We will review audit findings and logs at our discretion and where we identify inappropriate access or use, including a breach of these Terms, we may refer the matter to the relevant organisations or authorities.

Your use of the HPP, The Viewer and any Content is at your own risk. It is your responsibility to take your own precautions to ensure that the processes and systems which you use to obtain access to the HPP, The Viewer or any Content do not expose you to risks of viruses, malicious computer code or other forms of interference which may damage your computers, mobile devices, systems or networks or otherwise cause interference, loss, damage or disruption of any kind.

You must exercise sound clinical practice and your own independent clinical judgment when using Content from The Viewer. We accept no responsibility or liability whatsoever for any error, omission, injury (including illness or death), loss, cost or damage arising from access to, use of, or reliance on any Content accessed via the HPP or The Viewer.

We provide the HPP and The Viewer "as is" and "as available". To the maximum extent permitted by law, we make no warranties whatsoever about, and accept no responsibility or liability whatsoever (for, the accuracy, completeness, availability, reliability, safety, fitness for purpose, quality, or suitability of the HPP, The Viewer or any Content or for your reliance on any Content.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, we accept no responsibility or liability whatsoever (including direct, indirect, and consequential loss) for any interference, error, omission, injury (including illness or death), loss, cost, damage, disruption, system outages, performance issues, to your computer systems, mobile devices or networks you use to access or use the HPP, The Viewer or any Content or for any data corruption or loss on or through those systems, devices, or networks in connection with your access to, or use of, the HPP, The Viewer or any Content or for any insertion of malicious code, viruses, or any hacking, or deceptive, fraudulent or criminal behaviour affecting you or your devices, systems, or networks.

You forever release and indemnify us, our related bodies corporate, members, officers, employees, contractors, agents and representatives (“those indemnified”) from and against: (a) any loss, damage or liability (including direct, indirect, and consequential loss) incurred by you and/or the State; and (b) any loss, damage or liability (including legal fees on a solicitor client basis and including direct, indirect, and consequential loss) incurred by you and/or the State in connection with any third party claim or demand against those indemnified, howsoever caused (including through negligence) directly or indirectly arising out of or in connection with; (i) your access to, use of, or reliance on the HPP or The Viewer, including any linked website to the same, or any Content; (ii) breach by you of the Terms; or (iii) use of, or reliance on Content by any other person.

We may terminate or suspend your subscription or access to the HPP or The Viewer at any time, with or without notice and without providing reasons, if we consider, in our absolute discretion, that you have breached or are likely to breach these Terms, or that you pose a liability, privacy or security risk to us, any person, or any systems, networks, or websites.

We reserve the right to cease operating the HPP or The Viewer at any time, without notice, and to terminate this agreement under these Terms. You acknowledge and agree that you are not reliant, and will not rely, on the continued operation, availability, services, or functionality of the HPP or The Viewer.

You may terminate this agreement under these Terms at any time by cancelling your subscription and ceasing all use of the HPP and The Viewer.

The HPP or The Viewer may contain links to third‑party websites or applications. We do not approve, endorse, recommend, sponsor or make representations regarding such third‑party websites, mobile applications, or content, unless we expressly state the same in writing.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, we exclude all liability for any loss or damage (including direct, indirect, and consequential loss) suffered or incurred by you in connection with your access to, use of, or reliance on such third-party websites, mobile applications, or content available on or through them.

These Terms are governed by and construed according to the laws in force in the State of Queensland, Australia, and you irrevocably and unconditionally submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Queensland.

Should you have any questions regarding these Terms, please contact us by emailing: TheViewer-HPP@health.qld.gov.au.