Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Relationships Registration Act 2021

Searches and disclosure of information - Disclosure and sharing of information - Disclosure of information to non-government organisations

116: Registrar-General may disclose death information to non-government organisations for certain purposes

You could also call this:

"The Registrar-General can share death information with non-government groups for certain reasons, like removing deceased people's names from databases."

Illustration for Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Relationships Registration Act 2021

The Registrar-General can share death information with non-government groups for certain reasons. You need to know that this is only for removing deceased people's names from databases. The Registrar-General cannot share information protected by section 27, 81, or 83. The Registrar-General and the non-government group must have an agreement about what information can be shared and how. You should be aware that the agreement must include details like the purpose, what information can be shared, and how the group will use it. The group must use the information only for the agreed purpose and not share it with others. The Registrar-General and the group must talk to the Privacy Commissioner before making or changing an agreement. The Privacy Commissioner can ask them to review the agreement and report back every 12 months or more. The group cannot change the information, put it on a public website, or use it for another purpose without permission. There is an exception if the Registrar-General agrees to let the group put the information on a private website. This means the website is not available to the general public.

This text is automatically generated. It might be out of date or be missing some parts. Find out more about how we do this.

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM7316536.

This page was last updated on 6 December 2025 — View changes

Topics:

Health and wellbeing > Public healthRights and equality > Privacy

115: Supply of information to overseas registration authorities must be in accordance with agreement, or

"Sharing info with other countries must follow a special agreement"

117: Disclosure of certain information for purposes of Identity Information Confirmation Act 2012, or

"Sharing information about someone's identity after an identity check"

Part 4Searches and disclosure of information
Disclosure and sharing of information: Disclosure of information to non-government organisations

116Registrar-General may disclose death information to non-government organisations for certain purposes

The Registrar-General may disclose death information to an appropriate non-government organisation, private sector agency, or person (the other party) for the purpose of removing or suppressing the names of deceased persons from a database held by the other party.
The Registrar-General may not disclose information that is protected by section 27, 81, or 83.
No disclosure may be made unless—
there is an agreement between the Registrar-General and the other party that states—
1. the purpose of the agreement; and
2. the information that can be disclosed; and
3. the method and form of the disclosure; and
4. how the other party will use the information (including the limits on any further disclosure by the other party); and
5. the fees (if any) payable for disclosure of the information; and
the disclosure is made in accordance with the agreement.

An agreement may be varied by the Registrar-General and the other party.
The Registrar-General and the other party must consult the Privacy Commissioner before entering into or varying an agreement.
The Privacy Commissioner may require the Registrar-General and the other party to review the agreement, and report on the outcome of the review to the Privacy Commissioner, at intervals not shorter than 12 months.
The other party that obtains information under this section must not intentionally do, or permit another person to do, any of the following:
change or manipulate the information into a form different from the form in which it was provided:
place the information on an Internet site or otherwise make it available for public search:
use or disclose the information for a purpose other than the purpose specified in the agreement.

Subsection (7)(b) does not prevent the other party that obtains information under this section from placing the information on an Internet site that is not generally available to members of the public if the Registrar-General so agrees.

Compare

s 78F