The Privacy Act for Clubs and Societies

9 July 2025

The Privacy Act applies to any person, organisation, or business that collects and holds personal information about other people. This includes social clubs, charities, societies, and community groups regardless of the age of its members.

Personal information held by these clubs needs to be collected, stored, and used in a way that is lawful, even if you’re a voluntary organisation. Personal information includes names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, offices held, awards, skills, references, recordings and photographs – essentially any information that identifies people. 

This information could be about members and former members, but also about employees, contractors, people working at stalls, and service providers who’ve helped with things like training or coaching, IT, marketing, administration, financial assistance, or maintenance and repairs. 
 
It can be held in minutes of meetings, newsletters and correspondence, on membership databases, and websites. It includes information in hard copy or electronic form and if it’s collected by a person taking sign-ups for an event, a digital camera, or a biometric scanner.

People who have access to this personal information, including volunteers, will also need to be aware of their privacy responsibilities and need to comply with the law. 

To help you navigate all of this, The Office of the Privacy Commissioner has recently updated the information on its website specifically for clubs and societies. The updated webpage provides clear and practical guidance on how clubs can meet their obligations under the Privacy Act 2020.

You can view the page on the Privacy Commission website here

The page covers key areas including:

• What the Privacy Act means for clubs,
• Collecting personal information,
• Storing and using personal information,
• Sharing information,
• Access and correction rights, and
• What to do if a data breach occurs

Whether your club is large or small, ensuring you handle personal information correctly is essential to maintaining trust and compliance with the law. This is especially important given that many clubs hold sensitive information such as contact details, payment records, and more.

We encourage all clubs to review the updated guidance and consider how your club manages privacy. You may also want to use this as an opportunity to refresh your club’s privacy policies, train your committee or staff, and ensure you have clear procedures in place for handling personal information.

Read the full guidance on the Office of the Privacy Commissioners website