Burial Register

Why does the Death Register only show details to 1982?

Under the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (NSW), Council has a responsibility, when disclosing your personal or health information, to be mindful of a person's private information.

What does 'privacy' and 'personal information' mean?

There is no simple definition of privacy. It can mean the right to a sense of personal freedom, the right to have information about oneself used fairly and a right to be left alone. Many people confuse privacy with secrecy or confidentiality, but privacy is much broader. The fair use of 'personal information' is just one aspect of this broader concept of 'privacy'.

Under NSW privacy law, personal information means any information or opinion about an identifiable person. This includes records containing your name, address, and sex, or physical information such as fingerprints, blood samples or your DNA.

There are some exemptions from the definition of personal information. For example, personal information does not include information about a person who has been dead for 30 or more years.

As at 1 January 2012, 1982 was 30 years ago. To this end the death register supplied to the public will only show details of person who deceased prior to 1 January 1983.