Personal information

Section 4 of the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (NSW) defines personal information as:

‘… information or an opinion (including information or an opinion forming part of a database and whether or not recorded in a material form) about an individual whose identity is apparent or can reasonably be ascertained from the information or opinion.’

The Act also establishes what is not personal information, which includes, but is not limited to:

  • information about an individual who has been dead for more than 30 years
  • information about an individual contained in a publicly available or public domain publication
  • information or an opinion about an individual's suitability for appointment or employment as a public sector official.

Sensitive personal information

Sensitive personal information is a sub-set of personal information defined under section 19 of the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (NSW).

Sensitive personal information is information about a person’s ethnic or racial origin, sexual activities, religious or philosophical beliefs, political opinions or trade union membership.

Health information

Health information is a sub-set of personal information defined under section 6 of the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 (NSW). Health information is defined as:

(a) ‘personal information that is information or an opinion about:

(i) the physical or mental health or a disability (at any time) of an individual, or

(ii) an individual's express wishes about the future provision of health services to him or her, or

(iii) a health service provided, or to be provided, to an individual, or

(b) other personal information collected to provide, or in providing, a health service, or

(c) other personal information about an individual collected in connection with the donation, or intended donation, of an individual's body parts, organs or body substances, or

(d) other personal information that is genetic information about an individual arising from a health service provided to the individual in a form that is or could be predictive of the health (at any time) of the individual or of any sibling, relative or descendant of the individual.’