Veterans Launch Class Action Lawsuit Against Government Over Medical Data Sharing

A class action lawsuit has been launched against the federal government over allegations of "mass and routine sharing" of veterans' medical records over 20 years. The lawsuit, filed by Gordon Legal, claims that the Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) breached the privacy of around 300,000 veterans and family members by sharing their personal and medical information without consent.

Background of the Lawsuit

The lawsuit centers around the Medicines Advice and Therapeutics Education Services (MATES) program, which was administered by the University of South Australia (UniSA) under contract from 2004 to 2024. The program was designed to prevent adverse health outcomes for veterans taking multiple medications, but it involved the sharing of veterans' personal and medical information with the university.

Gordon Legal partner Seb O'Meara, who worked on the Robodebt class action settlement, said that anyone who used a DVA healthcare card while MATES operated could register for the lawsuit. "At the heart of this case is what our own government can do with our personal information, and in particular … of a reasonably vulnerable cohort of people," Mr. O'Meara said. "A lot of these people have pretty complex medical histories."

Concerns Over Data Sharing

The DVA's website stated that the program aimed to prevent adverse health outcomes, such as hospitalizations or unwanted side effects, for veterans taking multiple medications. However, the lawsuit alleges that veterans were not aware of the MATES program and did not provide consent for the disclosure of their personal information.

A DVA spokesperson said it was aware of the class action but would "not be appropriate to comment" while the matter is before the courts. "Throughout its operation, the program was conducted under ethics approvals and formal contractual arrangements, including data security requirements," they said.

Veterans' Reactions

Vietnam War veteran Alan Ashmore, who has "significant health issues" stemming from deployment, is among at least 6,000 who have expressed interest in joining the action. Mr. Ashmore said he was "staggered" to discover his own file contained 25 pages, including health conditions and prescribed medications. "If this happened to the Prime Minister's family or the Veterans' Affairs Minister's family, how would they feel?" he said. "They would be angry, they would shut the program down, and they would want heads to roll."

Veterans' advocate Julie Anderson, whose husband joined the class action, questioned the program's intent and said "most [veterans] had never heard of it". "[It] seemed on the surface not to be a bad idea, but the reality was, it never worked that way," she said. "To me, it was a program that was set up for researchers to access a massive pool of data, under the guise of it being used to help those veterans."