Billanook College Privacy Policy

BILLANOOK COLLEGE PRIVACY POLICY

Billanook College is bound by and adheres to the National Privacy Principles contained in the Commonwealth Privacy Act and as such this statement outlines how the College uses and manages personal information provided to or collected by it.

This Privacy Policy will from time to time be reviewed and updated to take account of new laws and technology, changes to the College’s operations and practices and to make sure it remains appropriate to our changing school environment.

What kind of personal information does the 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, including sensitive information about:-

Students and parents and/or guardians (‘Parents’) before, during and after the course of a student’s enrolment at the College;
Job applicants, staff members, volunteers and contractors; and
Other people who come into contact with the College.

Personal Information you provide:

The 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, 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 the National 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.

How will the School use 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, 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 schooling for your child. This includes satisfying both the needs of Parents and the needs of the student throughout the whole period the student is enrolled at the School.

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;
Looking after students’ educational, social and medical well-being;
Seeking donations and marketing for the College;
To satisfy the College’s legal obligations and allow the College to discharge its duty of care;
If required, parent information may be sent to an external debt collection agency for the recovery of fees.

In some cases where the College requests personal information about a student or Parent, if the information requested is not obtained, the College may not be able to enrol or continue the enrolment of the student.

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:-

In administering the individual’s employment or contract, as the case may be;
For insurance purposes;
Seeking funds and marketing for the College;
To satisfy the College’s legal obligations, for example, in relation to child protection legislation.

Volunteers:

The College also obtains personal information about volunteers who assist 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 its future growth and development as an important part of ensuring that the College continues to be a quality learning environment in which both students and staff thrive. Personal information held by the College may be disclosed to an organization that assists in its fundraising, for example, the College’s Foundation or alumni organization.

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?

The College may disclose personal information, including sensitive information, held about an individual to:

Another school;
Government departments;
Medical practitioners;
People providing services to the College, including specialist visiting teachers, sports coaches, outdoor education contractors;
Recipients of College publications, like newsletters and magazines;
Outside debt collection for non-payment of fees;
Friends of Billanook College (Parents and Friends Association);
Parents; and
Anyone you authorize the College to disclose information to.

Sending Information Overseas:

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 National Privacy Principles.

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, sexual preferences or criminal record, that is also personal information; and health 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

The College’s 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 held from misuse, loss, unauthorized access, modification or disclosure by use of various methods including locked storage or paper records and pass-worded access rights to computerized records.

Updating Personal Information

The College endeavours to ensure that the personal information it holds is accurate, complete and up-to-date. A person may seek to update their personal information held by the College by contacting the Registrar of the School at any time.

The National Privacy Principles require the College not to store personal information longer than necessary.

You have the right to check what personal information the School holds about you.

Under the Commonwealth Privacy 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. There are some exceptions to this right set out in the Act. Students will generally have access to their personal information through their Parents, but older students may seek access themselves.

To make a request to access any information the College holds about you or your child, please contact the Principal 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.

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 the 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 Principal. 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 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 so warranted.

Standard Collection Notice

In respect of collecting information of a personal or sensitive nature the following Standard Collection Notice shall apply:-

The College collects personal information including sensitive information about students and parents or guardians before and during the course of a student’s enrolment at the School. The primary purpose of collecting this information is to enable the College to provide schooling for your son/daughter. This includes satisfying the needs of parents and guardians and the needs of the student throughout the whole period he/she is enrolled.
Some of the information we collect is to satisfy the College’s legal obligations, particularly to enable the College to discharge its duty of care.
Certain laws governing or relating to the operation of schools require that certain information be collected. You may contact the College if you have a question about this.
Health information about students is sensitive information within the terms of the National Privacy Principles under the Privacy Act. We require medical reports about students from time to time. If you do not consent to us obtaining this information you must advise us.
The College, from time to time has to disclose certain personal information and sensitive information to others. This includes other schools, government departments, medical practitioners, publications and people providing services to the College, including specialist visiting teachers (sports).
If we do not obtain the information referred to above we may not be able to continue the enrolment of your son/daughter.
Personal information collected from students is regularly disclosed to their parents and guardians. On occasions it is published in College newsletters and magazines.
Parents may seek access to personal information collected about them and their children by contacting the College. However, there will be occasions when access is denied. Such occasions would include where the release would have an unreasonable impact on the privacy of others or where release may result in a breach of the College’s duty of care to the student.
As you may know the College from time to time engages in fundraising activities. The information received from you may be used to make an appeal to you. (It may also be disclosed to organizations that assist in the College’s fundraising activities).
If you provide the College with the personal information of others, such as doctors or emergency contacts, you should inform them that you are disclosing that information to the College and why, that they can access that information if they wish and the College does not usually disclose the information to third parties.

Enquiries

If you would like further information about the way the College manages the personal information it holds, please contact the Principal or email – privacy@billanook.vic.edu.au