Patient guide
What does your telehealth clinic share with your GP?
Your GP can learn about telehealth care in three ways: a letter from the clinic, My Health Record, and the state prescription monitoring systems. This guide explains each one, what needs your consent, and what you control. It is general information, not medical or legal advice.
Last verified 27 October 2026 against OAIC and Ahpra guidance. Rules change; check with your clinic before you rely on this.
The short answer
- A telehealth clinic generally shares your health information with your GP when you consent. Privacy law also allows sharing for a purpose directly related to your care that you would reasonably expect.
- Sharing without your consent is limited to narrow cases, such as where the law requires it, or where it is necessary to prevent a serious threat to someone’s life, health or safety and it is not practical to ask you.
- LeafLine’s intake form asks whether we may send your GP a summary after your consultations. You can say no, and you can change your answer later by telling the team.
- My Health Record is a separate system. Providers involved in your care can see it by default, and you can set access controls, remove documents and ask a provider not to upload a document.
- Real-time prescription monitoring records the supply of certain medicines. Prescribers and pharmacists treating you can see it, and that can include your GP.
Changing clinics
Moving your care from another clinic?
Our changing clinics page explains what to bring: your current prescription details and, if you have one, a treatment summary. A LeafLine Clinician reviews your history at a first consultation and decides what happens next.
At a glance
Four ways information can reach your GP
| Route | What it holds | Who can see it | Your say |
|---|---|---|---|
| A letter or summary to your GP | What the clinic chooses to tell your GP about your consultations and treatment | Your GP | Usually your consent. At LeafLine you choose at intake and can change your choice later |
| Sharing without your consent | Only what the legal exception allows | Whoever the law requires, or who can act on a serious threat | Limited to narrow cases set out in privacy law |
| My Health Record | An online summary of your health information, such as your medicines and medical history | Providers involved in your care, unless you set access controls | Access codes, removing documents, asking a provider not to upload, alerts, or cancelling |
| Real-time prescription monitoring | Supply records for monitored medicines: what, how much, when, and who prescribed and dispensed it | Prescribers and pharmacists treating you, and the state regulator | Several states say you cannot opt out. Each view is logged in most states |
Start here
Three rules behind the table
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Consent is the usual route
The everyday way a clinic tells your GP about your care is a letter or summary sent with your agreement. Ahpra asks practitioners, with your consent, to tell other practitioners about the treatment they provide, including any medicines prescribed.
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The exceptions are narrow
Privacy law lets a clinic share without consent only in defined situations, and the OAIC sets the tests. Inconvenience or cost does not make it impractical to ask you.
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Two systems sit outside the letter
My Health Record and the state prescription monitoring systems hold information your GP may be able to see whether or not the clinic writes to them. Each has its own rules about who looks and what you control.
With your consent
How a clinic shares with your GP
Australian privacy law sets the rules for when a clinic can pass on your health information. The OAIC says a provider can disclose your health information if you agree to it, for the purpose it was collected for, or for a directly related purpose that you would reasonably expect (OAIC, read 27 October 2026). The OAIC's own example of a reasonable expectation is a GP sharing information with other practitioners on a treating team. Where a patient has raised concerns about sharing with a particular practitioner, the OAIC says the provider is likely to need consent before sharing with them.
Ahpra's guidance for practitioners who provide care by telehealth points the same way. It asks practitioners, with the patient's consent, to inform other relevant practitioners of the treatment or advice provided, including any medicines prescribed (Ahpra, page reviewed 7 October 2025).
At LeafLine, the intake form asks for your GP's details and whether we may send your GP a summary after your consultations. You can say no. You can also change your answer later by telling the team, and your Clinician will talk through what the choice means for your care. The article on your privacy in a telehealth consultation covers who inside a clinic can see your file.
Without your consent
When the law allows sharing without asking you
The OAIC lists two situations relevant here. The first is where the law requires the disclosure. The OAIC's guidance for providers draws a line between a law that requires disclosure, which the provider must follow, and a law that only authorises it, where the provider can decide.
The second is a serious threat. A provider can disclose where it reasonably believes this is necessary to lessen or prevent a serious threat to someone's life, health or safety, and it is unreasonable or impracticable to get consent. The OAIC's test is what a properly informed, reasonable person would believe in the circumstances, and it says inconvenience or cost alone does not make asking you impracticable (OAIC Guide to health privacy, chapter 3). These exceptions are narrow, and a clinic has to be able to justify relying on one.
You can check who has opened your My Health Record, and ask for an alert when a new provider does.
My Health Record
What My Health Record can show, and what you control
My Health Record is an online summary of your health information, such as your medicines and medical history. By default, your GP, hospitals and other providers involved in your care can see it unless you set access controls (OAIC, read 27 October 2026). The Australian Digital Health Agency runs the system and the OAIC oversees its privacy side.
Whether anything from a telehealth consultation appears there depends on what the clinic uploads, so ask your clinic. You can ask a provider not to upload a document, and the OAIC says the provider must follow your request. If a document is already there, you can ask the provider to remove it or remove it yourself, although the provider keeps its own copy.
You can limit which provider organisations see your record with a Record Access Code, restrict individual documents with a Limited Document Access Code, and check the access list to see who has opened it. You can ask for an email or text when a provider opens your record for the first time. Emergency access can override these controls, and you can cancel your record at any time through myGov or the My Health Record help line on 1800 723 471.
Prescription monitoring
The state systems your GP can check
Every state and territory runs a real-time prescription monitoring system for Schedule 8 medicines and a list of higher-risk Schedule 4 medicines. Each record holds supply details: the medicine, strength and quantity, the dates, and who prescribed and dispensed it. It does not hold your consultation notes (state health department pages, read 30 September 2026).
Access is limited to prescribers and pharmacists treating you, plus the state regulator. If your GP prescribes, or is thinking of prescribing, a monitored medicine for you, they can see what other prescribers have supplied through the system. In most states each look is logged, and several states say patients cannot opt out. The prescription monitoring guide sets out the rules state by state.
Your choice
Why sharing with your GP usually helps you
Your GP can only take a medicine into account if they know you are taking it. When your GP holds a current summary from every practitioner who prescribes for you, they can check for interactions before prescribing and keep one accurate list of your medicines.
Some people have reasons to keep part of their care separate, and the choice is yours. If you decide not to share, tell your Clinician why, so that they can talk through the risks with you and record your choice.
For LeafLine patients
How to ask LeafLine what was shared
Contact the team through the support page and ask what has been sent to your GP, or ask for a copy of your record, which includes letters sent to other practitioners. You can change your GP-sharing choice in the same message. Australian privacy law gives you a general right to access your health information, and the OAIC treats 30 days as a reasonable time to respond. Our article on your right to your health records explains the request in full.
Current at 27 October 2026. General information, not medical or legal advice. Sources, all read 27 October 2026 unless noted: Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, Handling health information; Access your health information; About My Health Record; Manage your My Health Record; My Health Record access controls (guidance for health service providers); Guide to health privacy, chapter 3, Using or disclosing health information (version 1.0, September 2019). Ahpra, Information for practitioners who provide virtual care (page reviewed 7 October 2025). Prescription monitoring: state and territory health department pages read 30 September 2026. The Australian Digital Health Agency and Department of Health websites did not respond on 27 October 2026, so the My Health Record details come from the OAIC, which oversees the system's privacy rules. LeafLine's GP-sharing choice describes our own intake process.
Your clinic and your GP: common questions
Will my GP know I had a telehealth consultation?
Only if the clinic tells them, you tell them, or the information appears in a system your GP can see, such as My Health Record or a state prescription monitoring system. This is general information, not medical or legal advice.
Does a telehealth clinic tell your GP?
Usually only with your consent. Privacy law also allows a clinic to share for a purpose directly related to your care that you would reasonably expect. Ahpra asks practitioners, with your consent, to inform other practitioners of the treatment they provide.
Can a clinic share my health information without my consent?
In narrow cases. The OAIC lists sharing for the purpose the information was collected for, for a directly related purpose you would reasonably expect, where the law requires it, and where it is necessary to prevent a serious threat to life, health or safety and it is not practical to get your consent.
Can I stop my clinic from telling my GP?
Tell the clinic. The OAIC’s guidance says that where a patient has raised concerns about sharing with a particular practitioner, the provider is likely to need consent to share with them. At LeafLine you can change your GP-sharing choice at any time by telling the team. The narrow legal exceptions still apply.
Will my telehealth consultation show up in My Health Record?
It depends on what your clinic uploads, so ask it. You can ask a provider not to upload a document and the OAIC says the provider must follow your request. You can also remove a document yourself, although the provider that uploaded it keeps a copy in its own system.
Who can see my My Health Record?
By default, healthcare providers involved in your care. You can limit access with a Record Access Code, restrict documents with a Limited Document Access Code, and ask for an alert when a provider opens your record for the first time. Emergency access can override your controls.
Can my GP see my prescriptions through prescription monitoring?
If your GP prescribes or considers prescribing a monitored medicine for you, they can check the state system, which records supply details such as the medicine, quantity, dates, prescriber and pharmacy. Access is limited to prescribers and pharmacists treating you and the state regulator.
How do I find out what my clinic has shared?
Ask the clinic. You have a general right to request access to the health information it holds about you, which includes letters sent to other practitioners, and the OAIC treats 30 days as a reasonable time to respond. Your My Health Record access list also shows which providers have opened your record.
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