What does the Privacy Act apply to?

The Privacy Act applies broadly to any body defined as an ‘agency’ under the Act. The term agency applies to any person, or body of people, including government departments, companies, small businesses, social clubs and other types of organisations, whether they are in the public sector or private sector.

However, there are a few exceptions, including:

• Courts and tribunals (in relation to their judicial functions);

• News media (in relation to their news gathering and news reporting functions);

• Members of Paliament (MPs) (when acting in an official capacity)

(For a full list of exceptions, see the definition of ‘agency’ in section 8 of the Privacy Act 2020(external link)).