Within 10 years nearly every Australian household and business is expected to be able to access data-rich or trnasaction intensive conteant as a result of the Australian Government's roll-out of the (modified) National Broadband Network.Shortly, all television in Australia will be digital with its ability to support interactive and high definition services. Access to the internet over mobile devices will continue and supersede access via desktop.

Consumer behaviour has also changed as a result of the growth of online services. Research suggests that online is now the preferred channel for accessing health information and services. Other consumer trends include the movement of control to the consumer, personalisation of services, consumer to consumer connectivity (blogs, threads etc) and consumer familarity with technology.

All of these developments have potentially profound implications for the provision of primary healthcare and health related information services.

Governments have been using this shift to deliver a range of services to enable self-service and reduce service delivery costs. With the investment in e-health, through the National e-Health Transition Authority and the development of the Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record there is a strong focus by Australian govenrments on developing solutions that enable improved self management of health for consumers as well as improved efficiencies for practitioners through acccess to shared records.

At an international level many governments have recognised the value of e-government and open government and established major programs to estend digital access to information for consumers and business. In relation to health, a number of governments have permitted wide-spread syndication of health tools without charge as a means of reducing overall health costs.

These developments have a number of significant legal implications for health providers, consumers and governments. Some of the major issues, in no particular order, are:

- privacy protection and access to digital records

- data storage and security

- managing liability for provision of on-line health services

- statutory underpinnings for a personal health record system

 - contractual arrangements between healthcare providers, insurers and the public health system

- intellectual property protection

- consumer protection

The presentation will include a survey of current digital health practices and a discussion of the key legal issues, with a particular focus on Australia but with some reference to overseas jurisdictions.