Ambulance Victoria hit by data breach

Confidential employee information has been exposed in a data breach at Ambulance Victoria (AV).

The data in question is the drug and alcohol tests of prospective graduate paramedics collected between May 2017 and October 2018.

The documents had become accessible on Ambulance Victoria’s internal intranet.

“Since becoming aware, AV has removed access to these documents and has undertaken an access audit of these documents,” a spokesperson said in a statement.

“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.”

It’s understood the records, when viewed, only showed the name of the individual and their test results – believed to affect a few hundred people.

AV’s Jane Miller said an investigation had been launched, but as of Friday the organisation was unsure how long the records had been accessible or how the breach occurred.

“What occurred is unacceptable, and we have moved quickly to remove access to that information,” she said.