On 26 February 2026, the NCAT Appeal Panel upheld an appeal in FZP v Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network [2026] NSWCATAP 55, a privacy rights case raising ‘questions of public importance, with potential ramifications for the organisation and management of multi-center medical research.’

The first ground of appeal turned on the proper construction and application of the ‘research exemption’ to the restrictions on use and disclosure of private health information under HPPs 10 and 11 of the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 (NSW). The Appellant argued the decision at first instance hinged on an unduly narrow construction of ‘the public interest’ for the purpose of the research exemption. The Appeal Panel agreed, adopting a broader conception of the public interest consistent with the stated objects of the Act, which include ‘balancing the public interest in protecting the privacy of health information with the public interest in the legitimate use of that information’.

The Appellant was also successful in the contention that the same course of conduct may constitute both a ‘use’ and a ‘disclosure’ of health information, thereby offending both HPP 10 and HPP 11 concurrently.

The Appeal Panel further affirmed that the research exemption demands strict compliance, and not merely substantial compliance, with the Privacy Commissioner’s Statutory Guidelines on Research.

Dr Katherine Fallah appeared unled for the successful Appellant.

The full decision is available here.