A few years ago, I received a visit from representatives of the Union of correctional officers. At the time, they probably went to see all the official critics for labour issues. Their complaints seemed valid to me. They were complaining that they had been assaulted by some inmates and that, during those assaults, there had been some exchanges of organic liquid. Later on, they had been unable to get information about the health status of their assailants because that was personal information that was exempted. There seemed to be a lack of balance between the rights of the inmates and the rights of the correctional officers, the rights of the inmates to protect their personal information versus the rights of the correctional officers to protect their health. That issue has not yet been resolved. Correctional officers are looking at all sorts of avenues to find a solution.
Could not a solution be to include an exemption in the Privacy Act relating to the medical file of an assailant, be it an inmate or someone else?