The Legal Environment of Sexual Health Care Practice

SEXUAL HEALTH: A MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH, Meredith Temple-Smith, ed., IP Communications: Australia, 2014

Sydney Law School Research Paper No. 13/48

26 Pages Posted: 9 Jul 2013 Last revised: 20 Mar 2015

See all articles by Roger Magnusson

Roger Magnusson

The University of Sydney - Faculty of Law

Date Written: July 8, 2013

Abstract

This paper reviews some of the most important laws, legal duties and practical dilemmas that arise for Australian health professionals working in sexual health care practice. It begins by highlighting the scope of the duty of care that arises under the common law, both to the immediate patient of a health care worker, and to the sexual partner(s) of the patient. It then turns to the largely legislative duties that protect patients from discrimination, and which regulate the surveillance and notification of STIs, mandatory testing, counseling and contact tracing, and confidentiality. It also reviews how three Australian jurisdictions (Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria) deal with “hard cases”: circumstances where a patient continues to place their wife, husband, or other sexual partner(s) at risk of STI transmission, despite counseling.

Keywords: public health law, sexual health, sexually transmissible infections, regulation, health professional, communicable diseases

JEL Classification: K10, K30, K32

Suggested Citation

Magnusson, Roger, The Legal Environment of Sexual Health Care Practice (July 8, 2013). SEXUAL HEALTH: A MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH, Meredith Temple-Smith, ed., IP Communications: Australia, 2014, Sydney Law School Research Paper No. 13/48, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2291327

Roger Magnusson (Contact Author)

The University of Sydney - Faculty of Law ( email )

New Law Building, F10
The University of Sydney
Sydney, NSW 2006
Australia

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