Privacy Act 2020

About the code

The Civil Defence National Emergencies (Information Sharing) Code 2020 (Civil Defence Code) provides agencies with broader discretion to collect, use and disclose personal information in the rare event of a major disaster that has triggered a state of national emergency. In particular, the Civil Defence Code will facilitate the disclosure of personal information to public sector agencies to assist in the government response to a national emergency.

The Civil Defence Code promotes the vital interests of individuals in national emergencies by, for example, facilitating the sharing of information to help identify individuals who have been caught up in the emergency, to assist individuals to obtain essential services and to coordinate the management of the emergency.

In March 2026 we issued Amendment No 1 to the Civil Defence Code to fix a drafting error, alongside broader code amendments to reflect new Information Privacy Principle 3A (IPP3A).

Read the full code

Civil Defence National Emergencies (Information Sharing) Code 2020 (in force from 1 May 2026; opens to pdf. 189 KB)

Civil Defence National Emergencies (Information Sharing) Code 2020 Amendment No 1

The Privacy Amendment Act 2025 introduced IPP3A, which is in force from 1 May 2026. In March 2026, following consultation on how to reflect IPP3A in codes of practice, the Privacy Commissioner made changes to several of our codes. While he decided not to include IPP3A in the Civil Defence Civil Defence Code, he did make a minor change to address a typographical error. You can find more about those changes, including any amendments or submissions specific to this code, below:

Previous versions

Civil Defence National Emergencies (Information Sharing) Code 2020

In 2020 codes of practice were revoked and replaced to align with the Privacy Act 2020. You can read papers about that version of the code here:

Submissions received on the 2020 repeal and replacement

Civil Defence National Emergencies (Information Sharing) Code 2013

This code was issued in March 2013 following a public consultation held in 2012. Read the information paper and submissions received during the public consultation process. It was revoked when the Civil Defence National Emergencies (Information Sharing) Code 2020 came into effect.