The New South Wales government has mistakenly exposed confidential documents of nearly 600 medical workers, including 67 senior doctors in Sydney, who had applied for health department positions. This exposure of sensitive information has caused outrage among doctors, who now fear the risk of identity theft. The documents, which included personal identification like passports and driving licenses, as well as professional credentials, were inadvertently made public on the websites of the South Eastern Sydney and Illawarra Shoalhaven local health districts. No evidence of these documents being used maliciously has yet been found, but the potential for fraud with this information, which could be used to impersonate doctors or to buy drugs, is significant.
Doctors have expressed their shock at the unsafe handling of their personal information by NSW Health, arguing that while the government rushes to silence staff members discussing workplace safety and patient risks on social media, it fails to secure their personal data. The NSW branch of the Australian Medical Association has called the incident troubling but acknowledged that the districts are handling the situation appropriately by contacting affected doctors and offering support.
The documents were due to be password-protected, but were made publicly accessible because of a configuration issue with the website platform. NSW Health apologized and stated that all documents have been removed and a full investigation is underway. The districts are conducting privacy impact assessments and have provided contact information for those affected to reach out to IDCare, a service that offers advice and support for identity and cyber issues. The information breach does not affect patient records or other patient identifiers, as confirmed by NSW Health.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/sep/10/nsw-government-leaked-confidential-medical-documents-doctors-outraged-personal-professional-data-online
