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The private information of hundreds of Victorian paramedics, including drug and alcohol testing data, has been exposed in a breach.
The breach saw the personal data of Victorian paramedics posted to the Ambulance Victoria intranet, making it accessible to every staff member.
The information was available to be seen until an email from the Victorian Ambulance Union to Ambulance Victoria notified it of the incident.
According to the email, the pre-employment drug and alcohol testing data of graduate paramedics from 2017 and 2018 were available to all Ambulance Victoria staff, revealing whether results were positive or negative, and then what drugs positive results were for.
“This is one of the biggest examples of organisational incompetence we have ever seen in AV. Employees deserve to have the highest confidence in the ability of their employer to protect their confidential information,” it said.
“[Ambulance Victoria has] dismally failed this test today and will have to work very hard to regain the trust of the workforce in relation to private employee information.”
Ambulance Victoria has said that it was aware of the incident and has begun amending the issues that led to the breach.
“Since becoming aware, AV has removed access to these documents and has undertaken an access audit of these documents,” Ambulance Victoria said via The Guardian.
“The documents were not directly accessible to anyone outside of the organisation.
“We take privacy very seriously and acknowledge the distress that this may cause. Those affected are being notified and will be provided wellbeing support.”
Ambulance Victoria did not disclose when it became aware of the incident nor the number of people it had affected.
According to its email to Ambulance Victoria, the Victorian Ambulance Union has urged it to notify anyone affected and conduct an investigation into who had accessed the files and cease testing until the issue has been resolved.
The union said it would also potentially explore legal action and would report the incident to the Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner (OVIC) and urged Ambulance Victoria to do so themselves.
Ambulance Victoria has said that all reporting requirements with the OVIC would be met.
The Victorian Ambulance Union has invited anyone affected to contact it for support.
“This will be extremely stressful to anyone affected. Members are invited to make contact with the VAU to seek support and advice if you are advised that you are involved in this breach,” it said.
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