This Privacy Policy sets out how the College manages personal information provided to or collected by it.
The College is bound by the Australian Privacy Principles contained in the Commonwealth Privacy Act. In relation to health records, the College is also bound by the New South Wales Health Privacy Principles which are contained in the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 (Health Records Act).
The College may, from time to time, review and update this Privacy Policy to take account of new laws and technology, changes to the College’s operations and practices and to make sure it remains appropriate to the changing school environment.
The type of information the College collects and holds includes (but is not limited to) personal information, including health and other sensitive information, about:
Personal Information you provide: The College will generally collect personal information held about an individual by way of forms filled out by Parents or pupils, face-to-face meetings and interviews, emails and telephone calls. On occasions people other than Parents and pupils provide personal information.
Personal Information provided by other people: In some circumstances the College may be provided with personal information about an individual from a third party, for example, a report provided by a medical professional or a reference from another school.
Exception in relation to employee records: Under the Privacy Act and Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 (NSW), the Australian Privacy Principles (and Health Privacy Principles) do not apply to an employee record. As a result, the Privacy Policy does not apply to the College’s treatment of an employee record, where the treatment is directly related to a current or former employment relationship between the College and employee.
The College will use personal information it collects from you for the primary purpose of collection, and for such other secondary purposes that are related to the primary purpose of collection and reasonably expected by you, or to which you have consented.
Pupils and Parents: In relation to personal information of pupils and Parents, the College’s primary purpose of collection is to enable the College to provide schooling for the pupil. This includes satisfying the needs of parents, the needs of the pupil and the needs of the College throughout the whole period the pupil is enrolled at the College.
The purposes for which the College uses personal information of pupils and Parents include:
In some cases where the College requests personal information about a pupil or Parent, if the information requested is not provided, the College may not be able to enrol or continue the enrolment of the pupil or permit the pupil to take part in a particular activity.
Job applicants, staff members and contractors: In relation to personal information of job applicants, staff members and contractors, the College’s primary purpose of collection is to assess and (if successful) to engage the applicant, staff member or contractor, as the case may be.
The purposes for which the College uses personal information of job applicants, staff members and contractors include:
Volunteers: The College also obtains personal information about volunteers who assist the College in its functions or conduct associated activities, such as alumni associations, to enable the College and the volunteers to work together.
Marketing and fundraising: The College treats marketing and seeking donations for the future growth and development of the College as an important part of ensuring that the College continues to provide a quality learning environment in which both pupils and staff thrive. Personal information held by the College may be disclosed to organisations that assist in the College’s fundraising, for example, the College’s Foundation or alumni organisation (or, on occasions, external fundraising organisations).
Parents, staff, contractors and other members of the wider College community may from time to time receive fundraising information. College publications, like newsletters and magazines, which include personal information, may be used for marketing purposes.
The College may disclose personal information, including sensitive information, held about an individual to:
Sending information overseas:
The College may disclose personal information about an individual to overseas recipients, for instance, when storing personal information with ‘cloud’ service providers which are situated outside Australia or to facilitate a school exchange. However, the College will not send personal information about an individual outside Australia without:
In referring to ‘sensitive information’, the College means: information relating to a person’s racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religion, trade union or other professional or trade association membership, philosophical beliefs, sexual orientation or practices or criminal record, that is also personal information; health information and biometric information about an individual.
Sensitive information will be used and disclosed only for the purpose for which it was provided or a directly related secondary purpose, unless you agree otherwise, or the use or disclosure of the sensitive information is allowed by law.
The College’s staff are required to respect the confidentiality of pupils’ and Parents’ personal information and the privacy of individuals.
The College has in place steps to protect the personal information the College holds from misuse, interference and loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure by use of various methods including locked storage of paper records and password access right to computerised records.
Under the Commonwealth Privacy Act(and the Health Records Act), an individual has the right to obtain access to any personal information which the College holds about them and to advise the College of any perceived inaccuracy. Pupils will generally be able to access and update their personal information through their Parents, but older pupils may seek access and correction themselves.
There are some exceptions to these rights set out in the applicable legislation.
To make a request to access or update any personal information the College holds about you or your child, please contact the Head of College in writing. The College may require you to verify your identity and specify what information you require. The College may charge a fee to cover the cost of verifying your application and locating, retrieving, reviewing and copying any material requested. If the information sought is extensive, the College will advise the likely cost in advance. If the College cannot provide you with access to that information, you will be provided with written notice explaining the reasons for refusal.
The College respects every Parent’s right to make decisions concerning their child’s education.
Generally, the College will refer any requests for consent and notices in relation to the personal information of a pupil to the pupil’s Parents. The College will treat consent given by parents as consent given on behalf of the pupil, and notice to Parents will act as notice given to the pupil.
As mention above, Parents may seek access to personal information held by the College about them or their child by contacting the Head of College. However, there will be occasions when access is denied. Such occasions would include where release of the information would have an unreasonable impact on the privacy of others, or where the release may result in a breach of the College’s duty of care to the pupil.
The College may, at its discretion, on the request of a pupil grant that pupil access to information held by the College about them, or allow a pupil to give or withhold consent to the use of their personal information, independently of their Parents. This would normally be done only when the maturity of the pupil and/or the pupil’s personal circumstances so warranted.
If you would like further information about the way the College manages the personal information it holds, or wish to complain that you believe that the College has breached the Australian Privacy Principles please contact the Head of College. The College will investigate any complaint and will notify you of the making of a decision in relation to your complaint as soon as is practicable after it has been made.
