SA Health staff investigated for alleged inappropriate access to AFL star Tony Modra's medical records

Three South Australian health staff are being investigated for alleged inappropriate access to the private medical records of AFL star Tony Modra, who suffered serious injuries in a truck crash last month.

SA Health said another five employees were also being "assessed" to determine whether their access to the records "was always appropriate".

While the health department has apologised to Modra's family "for any distress caused", Acting Health Minister Chris Picton described the matter as "concerning".

"Where we do identify somebody who has done the wrong thing, we need to make sure that action is taken," he told 891 ABC Adelaide.

"People have lost their jobs for this before."

Modra underwent facial surgery and was in hospital for days after the crash at Back Valley, near Victor Harbor on South Australia's Fleurieu Peninsula, in June.

On Instagram, earlier this week the Crows legend posted an update of his progress, saying he was now able to get "out and about", and shared photos of himself in intensive care and recovering with his family.

The alleged SA Health breach is not the first time that concerns have been raised about hospital staff inappropriately accessing patient records in cases involving high-profile individuals.

In 2016, 13 hospital staff were sanctioned after being caught snooping on the medical records of Cy Walsh, who was charged with the stabbing murder of his father — Crows coach Phil Walsh — before being found not guilty by reason of mental incompetence.

In 2024, ABC News revealed an SA Health investigation had found 18 staff engaged in misconduct or inappropriately accessed the medical records of a patient understood to be Charlie Stevens, the late son of SA Police Commissioner Grant Stevens.

Mr Picton was asked about how the alleged breach relating to Modra's records had come to the attention of authorities, and replied that he could not "exactly give you all the details, but I'm happy to check".

"Because of the way we've got tracking of the system now, we can see every time someone's logged in, every case that people have looked at, and that's why we're able to know and able to investigate these things," he said.

In a statement, SA Health said it regularly conducted audits "to ensure that staff are accessing appropriate information".

"As a result of a standard audit, three staff are currently under investigation for potential inappropriate access of a SAHLN patient's record. Another five employees are being assessed to ensure their access was always appropriate," the statement said.

"Any staff member who has accessed information inappropriately may be subject to disciplinary processes, which may include termination of their employment.

"Our sincerest apologies go to the family for any distress caused."

Opposition spokesperson Ben Hood said the latest revelation strengthened the case for an inquiry into patient record privacy breaches.

"It's deeply concerning that this again has happened in SA Health. It's a case of the 'standard you walk past is the standard you accept'," he told 891 ABC Adelaide.

"There is obviously an issue of culture in the department and the government with regards to this, and we think there needs to be an inquiry into it."

Premier Peter Malinauskas said the alleged breach was a "disappointing development" but that the "overall majority" of the SA Health workforce, which he said numbered 50,000, did the right thing.

"It's unfortunate that a few individuals here have gone beyond their remit," he said.

"We've seen this happen before with other instances of high-profile incidents and people get caught — and they get caught because we have the systems in place to be able to detect this type of activity."

South Australian Salaried Medical Officers Association chief industrial officer Bernadette Mulholland said such cases eroded trust in the system.

"It does create some significant concern when we hear these sorts of things may be happening," she said.

"It's really important that these records are to remain confidential, and the only people who should be looking at those records are people providing clinical care or it's necessary for the patient care.

"We want to have confidence in our health system."