Guidelines under Section 95 of the Privacy Act 1988

These guidelines provide a framework in which medical research involving personal information obtained by Commonwealth agencies should be conducted, to ensure the information is protected against unauthorised collection or disclosure.

The March 2014 Section 95 Guidelines were made to take account of amendments made to the Privacy Act 1988 by the Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2012; they were re-issued in November 2014 to correct some minor errors and address some formatting issues.

The Section 95 Guidelines were remade in 2024 in substantially the same terms as the 2014 guidelines; minor revisions were undertaken to maintain the document’s currency. This action was taken to ensure the utility of these guidelines while the Australian Government implements its response to a substantial review of the Privacy Act that proposed significant changes to the legislation with implications for these guidelines. Once that work is complete, a substantial review of these guidelines is anticipated. 

Information on the role of Human Research Ethics Committees in health privacy can be found at Human Research Ethics Committees.

Related information

Advice for Human Research Ethics Committees (HRECs) reporting on the application of these guidelines is available at Human Research Ethics Committees.