"I want to make sure we bring consumers with us in the e-health journey by adopting an 'opt in' model – allowing them to choose when to sign on," said Nicola Roxon, about the then-Labor government's rollout of a voluntary, shared digital health record for all Australians.

"I believe that the benefits of giving the Australian public the choice as to whether they participate will be key to the successful implementation," Roxon continued, adding: "I think moving to an 'opt out' position would be a serious mistake."

Seven years and a change of government later and that "serious mistake" has become a reality: the Turnbull government, under federal Health Minister Greg Hunt's leadership, will now automatically opt everyone into having a digital health record by the end of the year unless they actively withdraw consent during a designated three-month opt-out period that started on Monday.

Then-federal health minister Nicola Roxon said in 2011 that it would be a mistake to move to opt-out. Credit:Fairfax Media

Australians' trust has been betrayed by this government's move away from an opt-in model to opt-out. While Hunt's intention to have everyone automatically given a record is well-meaning, it's not good enough to simply adopt an opt-out model to fix lacklustre sign-ups.