Confidentiality
Your health is your own business, not anyone else’s.
Confidentiality means the doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers cannot share your information with anyone without getting your permission first. You can decide if you want to share information with your family.
If you are under 16 years old, your parents sometimes have to agree on your behalf. Once you are 16, you decide.
When can a health care worker share your information without asking you first?
If they worry that you will hurt yourself
If they worry that you will hurt someone else
If they worry someone is hurting you
If you ask them to
If the law says they have to, for example a judge orders them to
What can you do if a health professional shares information about you without your permission?
If someone has broken your confidentiality, you can complain.
Talk first to the person or people who broke your confidentiality and give them a chance to make things right for you.
If you are not comfortable or are afraid of talking to the person by yourself, ask for support from your HIV team or Positive Women Inc. They can help you with making your complaint. Positive Women Inc.’s phone number is 0800 769 848. It is free to phone this number.
What can you do if friends or family share information about you without your permission?
There is no law to stop friends and family from discussing your HIV with others. The law only applies to health professionals. This is why it is important to think carefully about who you want to tell. Once you have told someone, you cannot take it back. For more information on this, see our section: Telling Others.
It can be very hard if someone we trust has broken our confidentiality. It can make us feel that we could never trust anyone again. When this happens to you, ask for help from your HIV team or the HIV support organisations in New Zealand. Talking to others living with HIV can also help you through difficult times.