Does the Privacy Act apply to information about dead people?

Generally speaking, the Privacy Act doesn’t apply to information about a person after they have died. This is because the Act defines personal information as being information about an identifiable living person.

However, there are some specific provisions that broaden certain privacy rights so that they also deal with information about deceased individuals.

If an individual requests their information under the Privacy Act, the agency can refuse the request if the information requested is mixed information about the individual and at least one other individual – whether that other individual is living or dead. The case note, 'Man refused access to information on his medical file about his deceased mother(external link)' is a good example of this.

Read about requesting health information from a dead relative(external link) for information about how this applies.  

Updated October 2025