Our website has detected that you are using an outdated browser. You can continue using this browser however you will have issues with accessing certain features on the site. We strongly recommend upgrading to a new version of your browser to improve you experience with SecureNSW.

Privacy policy

The secureNSW website is an initiative of the NSW Government's Ministry for Police and Emergency Services and the NSW Police Force, and it is maintained by both agencies. This privacy policy applies to all the publicly accessible pages on the secureNSW website located at www.secure.nsw.gov.au

The Ministry for Police and Emergency Services and the NSW Police Force do not have any responsibility for the privacy policies or practices of third party sites linked to the secureNSW site.

If you have any questions about the secureNSW site, the application of this privacy policy, or have a request for access to information held, please contact us online or by mail to:

Attn: secureNSW
Ministry for Police and Emergency Services
GPO Box 5434
Sydney NSW 2001

Users of the secureNSW website are entitled to expect that any personal information collected as a result of that use will be treated within the terms of the NSW Government's privacy responsibilities and obligations.

The privacy practices of the NSW Ministry for Police and Emergency Services are regulated by the NSW Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998. The NSW Police Force has broad exemptions under this Act, except in connection with the exercise of its administrative and educative functions.

What information does the NSW Police Force hold?

NSW Police Force holds site visit data collected from you when you look at the pages on the secureNSW website. Statistical web software automatically record information that identifies, for each page accessed:

  • the IP (Internet Protocol) address of your computer
  • your top-level domain name (for example .com, .gov, .au, .uk etc.)
  • the address of your server
  • the date and time you accessed the webpage or file
  • the web address (URL) of the webpages or file you accessed
  • the web address (URL) of the last webpage accessed if it brought to the current webpage or file
  • the name and version of your internet browser software, computer operating system and screen resolution used to access the web page or file.


NSW Police Force also holds personal information provided through forms and tools on the secureNSW website and through feedback.

NSW Police Force may hold other personal information about which no notification is required under the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998.

What information does the NSW Ministry for Police and Emergency Services and hold?

The NSW Ministry for Police and Emergency Services holds personal information in any feedback you provide. The secureNSW website has a feedback facility to allow you to provide input into the future development of the site and to comment on the provision of this service. The provision of personal details on feedback is optional. Users may provide personal details for the purpose of receiving a reply to their feedback.

How does NSW Police Force use the information collected?


Site visit information collected during each visit is aggregated with similar logged information and published in reports in order for NSW Ministry for Police and Emergency Services and the NSW Police Force to identify patterns of usage of the site. This will assist with improvements to the secureNSW site and the services offered on it.

NSW Police Force will not disclose or publish site visit information, in connection with its administrative or educative functions, that identifies individual machines, or potentially identifies sub-groupings of addresses, without consent or otherwise in accordance with the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998.

Where NSW Police Force holds any personal information collected through forms and tools on the secureNSW website, in connection with its administrative or educative functions, NSW Police Force will only retain and use this information for the purpose for which you have provided it or a directly related purpose. This information will not be used for a different purpose or disclosed, in connection with NSW Police Force's administrative or educative functions, unless we obtain your consent.

How does the NSW Ministry for Police and Emergency Services use the information collected?


The NSW Ministry for Police and Emergency Services will only use feedback for the purpose for which it was provided. It will not add your email address or name to any mailing list. It may publish aggregated information about feedback on the site, to the extent that it does not identify or cannot be used to identify individual users.

What exceptions are there?


NSW Police Force has broad exemptions from the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act, except in connection with its administrative or educative functions.

NSW Police Force, in connection with the exercise of its administrative and educative functions, and the NSW Ministry for Police and Emergency Services may collect, use and disclose more site visit information than stated above in the following circumstances:

  • unauthorised attempts to access files which are not published secureNSW pages
  • unauthorised tampering or interference with files published on the secureNSW site
  • unauthorised attempts to index the contents of the secureNSW site by other sites
  • attempts to intercept messages of other users of the secureNSW site
  • communications which are defamatory, abusive, vilify individuals or groups or which give rise to a suspicion that an offence is being committed
  • attempts to otherwise compromise the security of the web server, breach the laws of the State of New South Wales or Commonwealth of Australia, or interfere with the enjoyment of the secureNSW site by other users.


The NSW Ministry for Police and Emergency Services and NSW Police Force reserve the right to make disclosures to relevant authorities, including the NSW Police Force, where the use of the secureNSW site raises a suspicion that an offence is being, or has been, committed. In the event of an investigation by a law enforcement agency other than the NSW Police Force, access to data will only be provided on the exercise of a warrant.

Who has access to the information collected?


The NSW Police Force uses an internet hosting provider to provide the public with access to this website, which collects the web page access information as described above. This information is stored securely for archival purposes.

If the NSW Police Force needs to access the raw data, access is restricted to a limited number of staff of the NSW Police Force for the purpose of analysis and performance measurement of the website.

When you send us a message through the " Contact Us" web page, that message will be forwarded to the Ministry for Police and Emergency Services or staff of the NSW Police Force in the area you have selected. If your enquiry does not relate to the area of the NSW Ministry for Police and Emergency Services and/or the NSW Police Force, we will redirect your message to the relevant area.
In instances where the use of the NSW Police Force website raises a suspicion that an offence is being, or has been, committed, information about the suspicious activity will be made available to the NSW Police Force staff who are investigating the matter.

Is the information stored securely?


Information collected is stored in an appropriately secure format and held by the NSW Ministry for Police and Emergency Services for archival purposes. When the information is no longer required for the purposes for which it was collected it is deleted.

What about my email address?


The NSW Ministry for Police and Emergency Services and NSW Police Force only record email addresses if you provide us with your email address through the "Contact Us" web page. We will only use your email address for the purpose of responding to your enquiry. Your email address will not be added to any mailing list, used or disclosed for any other purpose without your consent or otherwise than in accordance with the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 and the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002.

The NSW Police Force, however, advises that there are inherent risks in transmitting information across the Internet.

What are 'cookies' and how are they used on this website?


A cookie is a small piece of data that a website sends to the internet browser software (which may then be stored on the computer) that is designed to save preferences or keep track of information previously selected. A cookie cannot retrieve any data from the hard drive, pass on computer viruses or capture email addresses.

Cookies can be either 'persistent' or 'session' based. Persistent cookies are stored on the computer, contain an expiry date, and may be used to track browsing behaviour upon return to the issuing web site. Session cookies are short-lived, are used only during a browsing session, and expire when closing your browser.

This website only uses session cookies for each page that is accessed during a browsing 'session'. Cookies will not record or collect any information when you access publicly-accessible web pages or files and use publicly-accessible online forms (including search) as provided. The website statistics for this website are generated from the web page access information as described above.

How can I access and amend my personal information?


You have certain rights under the Freedom of Information Act 1989, Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 and Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 to access and amend personal information held by us about you.
All enquiries about the application of the above legislation should be made to the contact details below.

Will this policy be updated over time?


Due to the developing nature of privacy principles for online communication, this policy may be modified or expanded in light of new developments or issues that may arise from time to time. The amended policy will be posted to this site and will operate from the time it is posted.

FEEDBACK FORM

Please do not report crime here.

  • If your matter is an emergency, call 000.
  • If you wish to report possible signs of terrorism such as a person being radicalised, suspicious activity or information relating to national security matters contact the National Security Hotline on 1800 1234 00 or email hotline@nationalsecurity.gov.au
  • If your matter is not urgent but requires a police response, please contact your local police station.
  • If you wish to anonymously report criminal activity, please call Crime Stoppers on 1 800 333 000 a report at: https://www.police.nsw.gov.au/crime_report

If none of the above apply, please fill out the form below and provide your contact details so we can reply to your query which will be actioned by the appropriate personnel.

Should we need to contact you, we will do so on your provided details.

Thank you for your feedback. We’ll review it shortly and may
contact you for futher information.