Privacy Policy

1. STATEMENT OF CONTEXT AND PURPOSE 

Pursuant to Commonwealth privacy laws, the School is required to have a privacy policy which is available to all people associated with the School for whom records are maintained.
Privacy laws regulate how the School can collect, use, hold and disclose personal information. The School is bound by the Australian Privacy Principles contained in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). The information the School collects enables it to provide educational services and discharge its duty of care. Any data breaches may be reported by the School to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner where required in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).

2. APPLICATION 

This policy applies to all employees, students, staff, Board members, volunteers, contractors, visitors and other people who are associated, or come in contact, with the School. 

3. DEFINITIONS 

Personal Information means information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable;

•whether the information or opinion is true or not; and
•whether the information or opinion is recorded in a material form or not.

Examples include an individual’s name, address, contact number and email address.
Sensitive Information is a special category of personal information and means:

• information or an opinion about an individual’s:
  -racial or ethnic origin; or
  -political opinions; or
  -membership of a political association; or
  -religious beliefs or affiliations; or
  -philosophical beliefs; or
  -membership of a professional or trade association; or
  -membership of a trade union; or
  -sexual preferences or practices; or
  -criminal record; that is also personal information; or
• health information about an individual; or
• genetic information about an individual that is not otherwise health information; or
• biometric information that is to be used for the purpose of automated biometric verification or biometric identification; or
• biometric templates.

The School may collect personal information which is “sensitive information”. The School will only collect sensitive information with the consent of the individual to whom the information relates or as otherwise permitted by the Privacy Act or other applicable law.

If a third party provides personal information (which is also sensitive information) to the School without asking, the School will take steps to verify the individual’s consent to collect that information.

4. TYPES OF PERSONAL INFORMATION COLLECTED 

The School collects personal information, including sensitive information, about:

• students;
• parents or guardians;
• employees and prospective employees;
• contractors and prospective contractors;
•  volunteers;
• visitors; and
• any other person who comes into contact with the School.

The types of personal information that the School collects and holds depends on the circumstances of collection. For students, the School collects information such as name, age, contact details, academic record and history, and may collect sensitive information (such as information about a student’s health or racial or ethnic origin). For persons who deal with the School in some other capacity (for example, as a staff member, parent or guardian, former student, volunteer, contractor or visitor), the School may collect the relevant individual’s name, contact details, other details that are discernible from CCTV video footage and any other information they choose to provide to the School.

5. COLLECTION AND STORAGE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION 

The information collected by the School about students, parents and guardians, may be collected before, during or after the student is enrolled at the School. Information about students and parents may be collected in a number of ways including:

• directly from students and parents by telephone, in enrolment, excursion or medical forms or in person;
• from other parties (such as medical practitioners or other schools); and
• from publicly available sources.

The primary purpose of collecting the information is to enable the School to provide schooling and educational services for the student or prospective student. If the School is unable to obtain the required information in relation to prospective students, an enrolment may not proceed.

The information the School collects about job applicants and employees may be collected in a number of ways including:

• directly from job applicants and employees during the recruitment phase and during the course of employment;
• from other parties (such as job applicants representatives or referees, or social media sites);
• from publicly available sources; and
• from medical forms, incident reports, occupational health and safety requirements (including capacity to work certificates), and Victorian Institute of Teaching or Working with Children Check requirements, provided by the applicant, the employee, or any other third party authorised by the applicant or employee.

The School may store information either electronically or physically in the following ways:

• on electronic databases with password protection; or
• in a secure location, including lockable cabinets with access only to authorised personnel.

6  USE AND DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION

The School collects personal information for a range of purposes to enable it to fulfil the primary purpose of providing schooling and educational services for its students, including to:

• manage relationships, safety and welfare with students and parents;
• consider job applicants for current and future employment;
• to promote the School through marketing and school publications.

The School only uses personal information for the purposes for which the information was collected. The School may use or disclose personal information for a secondary purpose for which the information was collected if the secondary purpose is related to the primary purpose and where the individual to whom the information relates could reasonably expect the School to use the information for that purpose.

The School may also use or disclose personal information for any other purposes for which the School have received consent from the person to whom the personal information relates or otherwise as permitted by legislation.
In relation to personal information which is “sensitive information”, the School will not use or disclose that information for a purpose other than a primary purpose for which it has been collected unless:

• the School has the consent of the individual to whom the information relates to disclose or use the information for some    other purpose;
• the secondary purpose is directly related to the primary purpose of collection and the individual would reasonably expect the School to use or disclose that information for the secondary purpose; or
• otherwise as permitted by legislation.

6.1 USE

Students and Parents
The School may use personal information collected about students and parents for the following purposes:

• providing schooling for its students;
• to make contact with parents in relation to their child’s schooling;
• internal accounting;
• day-to-day administration;
• looking after the students’ educational, social and medical well-being and safety;
• seeking donations and marketing for the School;
• to satisfy legal obligations; and
• for any other purposes that would be reasonably expected.

Prospective Families, Employees and Contractors
The School may use personal information collected about prospective families, employees and contractors in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles including for the following purposes:

• to assess whether an individual is suitable for employment or work, including child-connected work;
• administering the individual’s employment or contract;
• to ensure that information the School has collected is accurate and up-to-date;
• internal accounting and administration;
•  insurance;
• seeking funds and marketing for the School;
• for reporting to educational and government authorities;
• to satisfy legal obligations including with respect to child safety and child abuse; and
• or any other purposes that would be reasonably expected.

6.2 DISCLOSURE 

The School may disclose personal information, including sensitive information for administrative and educational purposes and to ensure child safety. This may include disclosing information to:

• provide schooling for its students
• other schools;
• government departments or authorities;
• medical practitioners;
• people providing services to the School;
• recipients of the School publications;
• parents; and
• anyone else that the School is authorised to disclose information to.

Personal information may be disclosed to organisations that assist in the School’s fundraising. Parents, staff members, contractors and other members of the wider School community may from time to time receive fundraising information. Further, the School publications, which include personal information, may be used for marketing purposes.

Disclosure to Overseas Recipients
The School is not likely to disclose personal information to overseas recipients.

7. INFORMATION QUALITY 

The School will take reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information that is collected, used and disclosed is accurate and up-to-date. The School will immediately update its records when an individual provides any new information or information that has changed.

8. INTEGRITY OF INFORMATION 

The School will take such steps that are reasonable to protect personal information from:

• misuse, interference and loss; and
• unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

This includes taking appropriate security measures to protect electronic materials and material stored and generated in hard copy.

The School will take reasonable steps to ensure that information is destroyed or de-identified when it is no longer required by law.

9. ACCESS TO INFORMATION 

The School will, on request by an individual, give that individual access to any personal information held by the School about that individual.
In particular:

parents may seek access to personal information collected about their child. It is the responsibility of the School to ensure that they do not disclose information which would have an unreasonable impact on the privacy of others, where access may result in a breach of the School’s duty of care to the student and legal obligations.

• the School may, at its discretion, on the request of a student, grant that student access to information held by the School about them, or allow a student to give or withhold consent to the use of their personal information, independently of their parents. This would normally be done only when the student involved had reached 18 years of age, but the School could do so in other circumstances when the maturity of the student and/or the student’s personal circumstances so warranted.
• any request for access should be made to the Business Manager. The School will provide them with access to their personal information, but may charge an access fee to cover the cost of retrieving and supplying the information.

10. CONSENT 

The School will treat consent given by parents as consent given on behalf of the student, and notice given to parents will act as notice given to the student.

11. ENQUIRIES AND COMPLAINTS 

Any person may contact the Business Manager to:

• request information about the way the School manages the personal information it holds; and
• make a complaint about the School’s compliance with the Australian Privacy Principles, in which case the School will investigate the matter and notify the person who made the complaint of the School’s decision as soon as practicable.

12. CONSEQUENCES OF A BREACH OF THIS POLICY 

The School emphasises the need to comply with the requirements of this policy. Any employee found to be in breach of the requirements of this policy may be subject to disciplinary action in accordance with the Performance Management, Misconduct and Disciplinary Action Policy.

13. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE 

13.1 AT BOARD / PRINCIPAL LEVEL
To properly implement this policy, the School, the Board and/or the Principal must ensure:

• that this policy is endorsed on an annual basis;
• that copies of this policy are made available to parents, students, prospective employees, contractors, volunteers or any other individual the School holds information about, for example on the School internet site.
• that copies of this policy are made available to employees, for example on the School internet site and intranet, in physical form in the staff room and on employee bulletin notice boards;
• that this policy is incorporated into the Board’s / Principal’s record of current policies;
• that this policy is incorporated into the School’s induction program, to ensure that all employees are aware of the policy, have read and understood the policy, and acknowledge their commitment to comply with the policy;
• that periodic training and refresher sessions are administered to all employees in relation to this policy; and
• parents are informed that if certain information is not obtained, their child may not be able to enrol.

13.2 AT OTHER LEVELS
To properly implement this policy, all the School’s employees, prospective employees, parents, students, contractors, volunteers or other individuals the School holds information about, must ensure that they will abide by this policy and assist the School in the implementation of this policy.

14. Reference POINTS / BACKGROUND PAPERS

• Children’s Services Act 1996 (Vic);
• Children’s Services Regulations 2009 (Vic);
• Health Records Act 2001 (Vic);
• Privacy Act 1988 (Cth);
• Surveillance Devices Act 1999 (Vic);
• Performance Management, Misconduct and Disciplinary Action Policy;
• Recruitment and Selection Policy.