Office of the Privacy Commissioner | Sharing when a child is subject to family harm (Family Violence Act)

21 Nov 2025, 09:00

If you believe a child or young person is in immediate danger, call the Police on 111.

This page provides guidance on how to share information under the Family Violence Act 2018. Download a copy of this guidance (opens to PDF, 369 KB).

Information you will find on this page:

You have a duty to consider sharing

Section 24 of the Family Violence Act requires that you actively consider sharing information about a victim or perpetrator of family violence to another FVA or SSP if you:

believe on reasonable grounds that the sharing of information to that FVA or SSP will or may help ensure that a victim is protected from family violence
receive a request from a FVA or SSP to share information for one or more of the purposes set out in section 20.

When you want or are asked to share (section 20)

Section 20 of the Family Violence Act 2018 permits the sharing of personal information when the child or young person is or has been subject to family harm.

Under section 20 you can proactively share information, or you can share information in response to a request.

Who you can share with

Section 20 of the Family Violence Act 2018 permits the sharing of personal information between Family Violence Agencies (FVAs) and Social Sector Practitioners (SSPs).

Family Violence Agencies (FVAs) are a group of organisations, and therefore their employees, or volunteers including:

specified government agencies (see section 19, Family Violence Act 2018)
non-government organisations funded by government to provide family violence-related services
school boards and licenced early childhood education.

Social Sector Practitioners (SSPs) are professionals or people providing education, health or other social services including:

teachers with current practising certificates
registered health practitioners
registered social workers.

If you want to share information with an agency or person that is not a FVA or SSP, you may be able to share information with them under the Privacy Act .

The purposes for which you can share

Section 20 enables sharing information about a child who has been a victim of family violence where you reasonably believe that sharing the information will help the other FVA or SPP achieve one or more the following purposes:

to help ensure that a victim is protected from family violence
to make or contribute to a family violence risk or need assessment
to make, or contribute to the making or carrying out of, a decision or plan relating or responding to family violence.

Section 20 enables sharing between any FVA and/or Social Services Practitioner e.g. between a school and a non-government organisation (NGO) that provides support to families experiencing family violence, between a healthcare provider and a social worker, between a social housing provider and Oranga Tamariki.

Section 20 permits sharing with a broader range of people than the serious threat exception under the Privacy Act. Under section 20 you can share with any FVA or SSP who may be able to assist with identifying risk or providing support, whereas the serious threat exception under the Privacy Act will generally require disclosure to individuals with the power to intervene more directly.

Helping to ensure a victim is protected from family violence is the guiding principle when sharing information under section 20. That principle should take precedence over any applicable duty to keep information confidential.

If you receive a section 20 request for information and the purpose of the request is unclear, you should clarify the request with the requestor. If you are unsure why the information is being requested, you won’t be able to determine whether one of the purposes set out in section 20 applies, or what information may be relevant to share with the requestor.

What information is relevant?

You can share information that you believe is relevant to help achieve one or more of the purposes set out in section 20. Deciding what information is relevant will often be a judgment call and depend on the circumstances of each situation.

Things to consider when deciding whether information is relevant include:

your knowledge of the child or young person and their circumstances
- the person making the request, the purpose for which they are requesting the information and what they will be able to do with the information to support the child or young person
- the age of the information – older information may be out of date and therefore less relevant to the current circumstances or needs of the child or young person
- the context of the information – could the information be misinterpreted without additional context?

If you are unsure whether information you hold may be relevant, talk to the requestor or the person you want to share the information with. Together you may be able to identify what information is relevant in the circumstances.

Consent to share is not required

You do not need to obtain the consent of, or consult with, the child (or their parents, legal guardians or caregivers where appropriate) to share their information under section 20.

You should, however, consider the best interests of the child – in some cases it may be in their best interests to let them know you are sharing their information, in other cases it could expose them to additional risk and harm.

Talking with the child or young person (or the parents, legal guardians or caregivers where appropriate) can also help inform your decision about whether it is in their best interests to share their information in the circumstances.

Sharing in good faith

Sharing information under section 20 requires you to make a judgement call. Every circumstance will be different – in some cases you might decide to share, in others you might not. When you are under pressure, and a child or young person may be at risk, making these judgement calls can feel overwhelming.

The Family Violence Act provides protection from civil, criminal and disciplinary proceedings when you share information under section 20 unless you have shared in bad faith. Bad faith includes when you don’t attempt to comply with the provision, or when you act carelessly or recklessly with information.

Acting in good faith means you have:

made your best effort to share in line with the relevant statutory provisions
checked that the information you intend to share is relevant, accurate, up to date complete and not misleading
undertaken measures to ensure the information is shared safely with the right person in the right role.

You are protected from civil, criminal and disciplinary proceedings if you have shared information under section 20 unless you have shared in bad faith.

Confidentiality obligations

Obligations of confidence protect information deemed to be confidential from unauthorised access and disclosure. However, obligations of confidence are subject to exceptions which include situations where a child or young person’s wellbeing or safety is at risk.

The Family Violence Act provides an exception to an obligation of confidence. The Act requires you to consider the principle that helping to ensure a victim is protected from family harm should usually take precedence over any applicable obligation to keep the information confidential.

However, you will need to ensure that:

you are sharing for a purpose set out in section 20
the confidential information is relevant to that purpose.

Your professional code of ethics, industry code of conduct or employment agreement will set out what information is considered confidential, under what circumstances that information may be shared and what you need to advise the child or young person when you are collecting their information.

When advising a child or young person (or their parents where appropriate) that specific information, or categories of information, will be kept confidential you should always clearly inform them of the exceptions to that confidentiality i.e. the circumstances in which you may share that information.

Sharing information at multi-agency meetings

Where a FVA or SSP shares information under section 20(4) with a group of FVAs and SSPs they must reasonably believe that the disclosure will help achieve one of the purposes set out in section 20(1).

If a disclosing FVA or SSP has concerns that another FVA or SSP at the meeting is not going to use or can’t use the information for the purposes set out in section 20(1) (i.e. the disclosure to those participants won’t help achieve one of the purposes in section 20(1)) then it may choose to:

limit the sharing to relevant FVAs or SSPs:
- share a less detailed version of the information you hold (e.g. information that can assist FVAs or SSPs contribute to a risk assessment or safety plan is shared at the meeting, but more sensitive detailed information is shared directly with the relevant FVA or SSP), or
- ask that only relevant FVAs or SSPs are in the room for sharing of particular information.
manage participation in the meeting with a structured agenda:
- General Case Overview – all FVAs and SSPs present
- Risk Assessment details – relevant FVAs and SSPs present
- Service Coordination – all FVAs and SSPs present.

Using Information that has been shared under section 20

It is important to understand how you can use information for the purposes of section 20, whether it is information you already hold, or information that has been shared with you.

Using information already held

Unlike under the Oranga Tamariki Act, a FVA or SSP isn’t able to use information it already holds, for the purposes set out in section 20(1), regardless of the purposes for which the information was collected.

The information must have been collected for family violence purposes or there must be another lawful authority for using the information, such as an IPP10 exception.

The FVA or SSP can also request information from a FVA or SSP using section 20(4) if it wants to use that information for the purposes set out in section 20(1).

Using information shared under section 20

Where a FVA or SSP makes a section 20 request to another FVA or SSP they should only use the information they receive in response to that section 20 response for a purpose(s) set out in section 20.

If you want to use the information for a different purpose(s) then you cannot use section 20 to request the information. Section 20 can only be used where the requesting FVA or SSP requires the information for a purpose set out in section 20.

A disclosing FVA or SSP must have a reasonable belief that the disclosure of the information to the other FVA or SSP will help achieve one of the purposes in section 20. If they have concerns that the FVA or SSP isn’t able to or can’t use the information for those purposes, then they should not disclose the information.

If at a later time, the receiving FVA or SSP wants to use that information for an unrelated purpose, it can only do so if the intended use is authorised by law, for example an IPP10 exception applies.

Using information sharing at multi-agency meetings

To use information, a FVA or SSP needs to have lawfully collected and then hold the information.

In a multi-agency meeting, simply hearing information during a discussion does not automatically mean that a FVA or SSP has collected information for the purposes of the Privacy Act.

Under the Privacy Act, collection occurs when a FVA or SSP has actively collected or received information for its own functions. This can include requesting information, receiving information that is intended for the FVA or SSP to use, or recording information for its own functions.

When information may not be collected

In multi-agency meetings FVAs and SSPs may hear information that is shared primarily to support collective discussion, such as discussions about family violence risk assessment and safety planning. In these situations, some meeting participants may be present to contribute information and their expertise or perspective but may not need to obtain or retain information about a specific child or young person for their own functions.

In these situations, a FVA or SSP may hear information but not collect it where they:

hear information as part of the meeting discussion
contribute to the discussion or assessment process, but
do not retain, record or otherwise obtain the information for its own functions.

In these circumstances, the FVA or SSP may not have collected the information.

If a FVA or SSP has not collected or retained the information, it will not hold that information. That means it cannot use that information, including for the purposes set out in section 20(1).

If a FVA or SSP later needs that information for its own functions, it is good practice to request that information directly from the relevant FVA or SSP using section 20(4), or if they want to use the information for a different purpose, an alternative mechanism.

This helps ensure that:

The information is obtained lawfully.
The purpose of the request is clear.
The receiving FVA or SSP can manage and use the information appropriately.

When information may be collected

In some circumstances, a FVA or SSP may be considered to have collected the information shared at the meeting. This may occur where the FVA or SSP:

Requests or seeks the information.
Records or retains the information in its own systems.
Intends to use the information for its own functions.

Where this occurs, the FVA or SSP will generally be considered to have collected and to hold the information.

IPP10 provides that personal information can only be used for the purpose for which it was collected unless an exception applies. In practice, where information is obtained under section 20(4), the purpose of collection will usually relate to family violence risk assessment and safety planning. Secondary uses that are unrelated to those purposes will require a lawful basis (e.g. an IPP10 exception).

Example – when information is not collected and held

A family violence risk assessment meeting is held to assess risks to victims of family violence and coordinate safety planning.

During the meeting, Police share information about recent family harm episodes and risk factors affecting the victim’s safety. The housing provider participates in the discussion to consider possible housing support options but does not retain or record the detailed information shared about the incidents.

In this situation, the housing provider may have heard the information as part of the meeting discussion but has not collected the information for its own functions. If the housing provider later needs specific information to support the victim’s safety, it should request the information from the relevant FVA or SSP using section 20(4).

When the requirements of section 20 aren’t met

If you determine that the requirements of section 20 have not been met, you can consider whether one of the following applies in the circumstances:

Keep good records

It is good practice to keep good records of your information sharing activities.

At a minimum you should record:

the request you received and from whom (including receipt and response date)
any additional information you requested from the requestor
your decision whether, or not, to share the information requested
the specified purpose you shared the information
the information that you shared.

An easy way to do this is to create an Information Sharing Register. This can be as simple as an excel spreadsheet. Registers will contain personal information, and in some cases sensitive information. It is important to keep your Register secure and limit access to only those that need to have access.

How does the Privacy Act 2020 apply to sharing under the Family Violence Act 2018?

Section 20 authorises the sharing of personal information for specific purposes related to family violence. This means that you don’t need to rely on one of the exceptions to Information Privacy Principle (IPP) 11 to share the information with another FVA or SSP.

However, you still need to comply with the other Information Privacy Principles (IPPs) in the Privacy Act.

In practice, this means when you are sharing information under section 20 of the Family Violence Act, you must ensure you:

share information in a safe and secure way and protect it from unauthorised access, use and disclosure (IPP 5)
have taken reasonable steps to ensure the information is accurate, up to date, relevant, complete and not misleading information (IPP 8)
are mindful about sharing unique identifiers (IPP 13).

When you are receiving information requested or provided under section 20 of the Family Violence Act, you must ensure you:

are requesting the information necessary for a lawful purpose of your agency
meet your notification requirements (IPP 3A after 1 May 2026)
receive the information:
- in a safe and secure way and protect it from unauthorised access, use and disclosure (IPP 5)
- only retain the information for as long as it is necessary to do so (IPP 9).

Children and their representatives have the right to request access to and correction of their personal information under IPP 6 and 7. If you correct personal information or attach a statement of correction to personal information that is also information that you have shared under the Family Violence Act, you must, so far as is reasonably practicable, inform that FVA or SSP of the correction.

Practical examples

The following examples work through the application of section 20 of the Family Violence Act.

Example – School Alerts Programme

Under the School Alerts programme schools can receive alerts about their learners who have been involved in a family harm episode in the last 24 hours. Names of the learners are provided to a participating school so they are aware of the incident, enabling them to identify and provide any additional supports learners may need while at school.

The legal authority for sharing the information with the participating school is section 20 of the Family Violence Act 2018. The information is proactively shared to a school for the purpose of helping to ensure that a victim is protected from or supported when they are experiencing family violence. Section 20 also provides the legal authority for the school principal to share the information with a learner’s teacher so that the teacher is aware and can contribute to the development of a support plan if one is required.

If a school requires further information about the learner and the circumstances of the family harm incident, it can use section 20 to request additional information from a relevant FVA or an SSP. The school must, however, be requesting the additional information for one of the purposes in section 20.

Example – multi-agency meeting to support children and young people subject to family harm

A group of government agencies and local non-government organisations want to meet on a regular basis to discuss children and young people in their local area that have been subject to family harm. The purpose of the meeting is to identify and deliver appropriate interventions and supports for the children and young people and their family and whānau.

Can the meeting participants share information?

To use section 20 all meeting participants must be a Family Violence Agency or a Social Services Practitioner. The organiser of the multi-agency meeting should check that the intended meeting participants are from a Family Violence Agency or a Social Services Practitioner before they are invited to the meeting.

Information can be shared for one of the purposes set out in section 20C. In this case, the purpose of the meeting is to share information to enable the meeting participants to undertake an in-depth needs assessment to identify appropriate interventions and supports and who is best placed to provide those to the child and their family and whānau.

Sharing for the purposes of undertaking a risk or need assessment, and making, or contributing to the making or carrying out of, a decision or plan relating or responding to family violence are two of the purposes of section 20.

While section 20 provides the legal authority to share the information, the meeting participants must still comply with IPP 5 (security and storage) and IPP 8 (accuracy) requirements when considering what and how to share the information between agencies. They will also need to consider how to manage any personal information they have received, which will be subject to IPP 1 and 4 (lawful purpose for collection, necessity, method of collection), IPP 5 (security and storage), IPP 6 and 7 (access and correction rights), IPP 8 (accuracy), IPP 9 (retention), and IPP 13 (unique identifiers).

For regular multi-agency meetings, we recommend creating an Information Sharing Protocol that sets out the purpose of the meetings, what information can be shared at the meeting, and how that information will be used by the meeting participants. The agreement can also set out the methods by which the information will be shared and how it will be kept safe and secure. This ensures personal information about children and young people is shared in a way that is privacy protective.

Example – healthcare practitioner to Police

A mental health counsellor has been working with a young child. Over the last few sessions, the counsellor has observed bruising on the child’s legs and arms and has noticed some behaviour changes indicating the child may be experiencing physical harm. The counsellor wants to share this information with Police.

Can the counsellor share that information?

As the counsellor is a Social Services Practitioner, and the Police is a Family Violence Agency the counsellor is able to use section 20 of the Family Violence Act to share relevant information with the Police. In this case, the purpose for sharing the information is to ensure the young person is protected from family violence.

Not all the information the counsellor holds about the young person will be relevant to the purpose of protecting them from family violence. The relevant information will be that which relates to the bruising and behaviours that have led to the counsellor suspecting family violence is occurring.

The counsellor is likely to have a professional duty to ensure the confidentiality of any information the young person has shared with them during the counselling sessions. However, the guiding principle for sharing information under section 20 is that helping to ensure a victim is protected from family violence should usually take precedence of any duty to keep information confidential. This means that the counsellor can share relevant information with the Police, even if where a duty of confidence may exist.

Additional resources

Read additional guidance on sharing information under the Family Violence Act 2018 (opens to PDF, 3.4MB).

Our guidance on sharing information to protect the wellbeing and safety of children and young people is part of an integrated government response relating to the Dame Karen Poutasi review in 2022.