Privacy Policy

Rationale

Chevalier College is provided with and collects personal and sensitive information in the course of its operations.  The college recognises that the privacy of individuals is important.

The college is bound by the Australian Privacy Principles (‘APPs’) contained in the Privacy Act and, in relation to health records, by the New South Wales Health Privacy Principles contained in the Health Records and Information Privacy Act.

Key Legislation

Privacy Act 1988 (Commonwealth Act)

Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 (NSW Consolidated Act)

Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998

Workplace Surveillance Act 2005 (NSW)

Aims

This policy sets out how personal information provided to or collected by Chevalier College is managed.

Policy

What kinds of personal information does Chevalier College collect and how does the college collect it?

The type of information the College collects and holds includes, but is not limited to, personal information about:

• students and parents and/or guardians (‘parents’) before, during and after the course of a student’s enrolment at the College, including:
  • name, contact details (including next of kin), date of birth, gender, language background, previous college and religion;
  • parents’ education, occupation and language background;
  • medical information (e.g. details of disability and/or allergies, absence notes, medical reports and names of doctors);
  • results of assignments, tests and examinations;
  • conduct and complaint records, or other behaviour notes, and college reports;
  • information about referrals to government welfare agencies;
  • counselling reports;
  • health fund details and Medicare number;
  • any court orders;
  • volunteering information; and
  • photos and videos.
• job applicants, staff members, volunteers and contractors, including:
  • name, contact details (including next of kin), date of birth, and religion;
  • information on job application;
  • professional development history;
  • salary and payment information, including superannuation details;
  • medical information (e.g. details of disability and/or allergies, and medical certificates);
  • complaint records and investigation reports;
  • leave details;
  • photos and videos;
  • workplace surveillance information; and
  • work emails (when using work email address) and private emails, and internet browsing history.
• other people who come into contact with the College, including name and contact details and any other information necessary for the particular contact with the College.

Personal Information you provide: Chevalier College will generally collect personal information held about an individual by way of forms filled out by parents or students, face-to-face meetings and interviews, emails and telephone calls. On occasions people other than parents and students 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 the Health Records Act, the Australian Privacy Principles and Health Privacy Principles do not apply to an employee record. As a result, this 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 purposes for which and how Chevalier College uses the personal information you provide?

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.

Students and Parents: In relation to personal information of students and parents, the College’s primary purpose of collection is to enable the College to provide schooling to enrolled students, exercise its duty of care, and perform necessary associated administrative activities, which will enable students to take part in the activities of the College. This includes satisfying the needs of parents, the needs of the student and the needs of the College throughout the enrolment period.

The purposes for which the College uses personal information of students and parents include:

• to keep parents informed about matters related to their child’s schooling, through correspondence, newsletters and magazines;
• day-to-day administration of the College;
• looking after students’ educational, social and medical wellbeing;
• seeking donations and marketing for the College; and
• to satisfy the College’s legal obligations and allow the College to discharge its duty of care.

In some cases where the College requests personal information about a student or parent, if the information requested is not provided, the College may not be able to enrol or continue the enrolment of the student or permit the student to take part in a particular activity.

Job applicants and contractors: In relation to personal information of job applicants and contractors, the College’s primary purpose of collection is to assess and (if successful) to engage the applicant or contractor, as the case may be.

The purposes for which the College uses the personal information of job applicants and contractors include:

• administering an individual’s employment or contract, as the case may be;
• for insurance purposes;
• seeking donations and marketing for the College; and
• satisfying the College’s legal obligations, for example, in relation to child protection legislation.

Volunteers: The College also obtains personal information about volunteers who assist the College in its functions or conduct associated activities, 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 students 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.

Who might the College disclose personal information to and store your information with?

The College may disclose personal information, including sensitive information, held about an individual for educational, administrative and support purposes. This may include to:

• other schools and teachers at those schools;
• government departments (including for policy and funding purposes);
• medical practitioners;
• people providing educational, support and health services to the College, including specialist visiting teachers, coaches, volunteers and counsellors;
• providers of specialist advisory services and assistance to the College, including in the area of human resources, child protection and students with additional needs;
• providers of learning and assessment tools;
• assessment and educational authorities, including the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), and NAPLAN Test Administration Authorities (who will disclose it to the entity that manages the online platform for NAPLAN);
• agencies and organisations to whom we are required to disclose personal information for education, funding and research purposes;
• people providing administrative and financial services to the College;
• recipients of College publications, such as newsletters and magazines;
• students’ parents or guardians;
• anyone you authorise the College to disclose information to; and
• anyone to whom we are required or authorised to disclose the information to by law, including child protection laws.

Sending and storing information overseas: The College may disclose personal information about an individual to overseas recipients, for instance, to facilitate a school exchange. However, the College will not send personal information about an individual outside Australia without:

• obtaining the consent of the individual (in some cases this consent will be implied); or
• otherwise complying with the Australian Privacy Principles or other applicable privacy legislation.

The College may use online or ‘cloud’ service providers to store personal information and to provide services to the College that involve the use of personal information, such as services relating to email, instant messaging and education and assessment applications. Some limited personal information may also be provided to these service providers to enable them to authenticate users that access their services. This personal information may be stored in the ‘cloud’ which means that it may reside on a cloud service provider’s servers which may be situated outside Australia.

How does the College treat sensitive information?

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.

Management and security of personal information

College staff are required to respect the confidentiality of students’ 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 rights to computerised records.

Access and correction of personal information

Under the Commonwealth Privacy Act and the Health Records Act, an individual has the right to seek and obtain access to any personal information that the College holds about them and to advise the College of any perceived inaccuracy. Students will generally be able to access and update their personal information through their parents, but students 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 to update any personal information the College holds about you or your child, please contact the College by telephone or in writing. The College will 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 we cannot provide you with access to that information, we will provide you with written notice explaining the reasons for refusal (unless, in light of the grounds for refusing, it would be unreasonable to provide reasons).

Consent and rights of access to the personal information of students

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

Parents may seek access to personal information held by the College about them or their child by contacting the College by telephone or in writing. However, there may 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 student.

The College may, at its discretion, on the request of a student grant that student access to information held by the College 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 maturity of the student and/or the student’s personal circumstances warrant it.

Enquiries and complaints

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 Principal in writing or by telephone on 02 4861 1488. 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.

Related Documents

Data Breach Response Procedure

Access & Correction of Personal Information Procedure

Collection of Information Procedure

Privacy Complaints Procedure

Records Management Policy

Records Management Procedure

End of Policy