Can I request health information about a dead relative?

The Health Information Privacy Code (HIPC)(external link) (opens to PDF, 277KB) governs the use, collection, and disclosure of health information. Rule 11 of the HIPC generally stops a health agency from disclosing a person’s health information. Rule 11 still applies to a deceased individual’s information, which is different to the other rules of the Code. This means to disclose or share health information about a dead person, an agency needs to be satisfied that one of the exceptions in rule 11 applies. We have a factsheet on the disclosure of health information. 

One exception, rule 11(5), gives the deceased person’s representative (their executor or administrator) the legal right to make a request for access to health information. This is treated as if an individual was requesting their own personal information under rule 6 or IPP6. Someone who had an enduring power of attorney while the person was alive is not always the executor or administrator of their estate once they’ve died. It’s important to check who the representative is once the individual has died. 

If someone who is not the legal representative makes a request for the dead person’s information, an agency may choose to disclose the information if it reasonably believes one of the other exceptions applies. However, this only provides an agency with the discretion of whether it wishes to disclose the information. It is not required to, and it couldn’t be forced to exercise its discretion either way. 

Rule 11(2)(b) allows a health agency to disclose information to a near relative of the deceased person in accordance with recognised professional practice. This exception requires the agency to consider whether the disclosure is contrary to the person's or their representative’s wishes. It will ultimately be up to the agency that holds the information to determine whether this applies. 

There are several other exceptions to rule 11. We recommend having a close read to make sure you understand when health information can be shared. If you need more advice, we recommend speaking to a lawyer. 

Updated November 2025