What kinds of personal information does the School collect and how does the School collect it?

The type of information the School collects and holds includes (but is not limited to) personal information, including health and other sensitive information, about:

• Students and Parents and/or guardians (‘Parents’) before, during and after the course of a Student’s enrolment at the School;
• job applicants, staff members, volunteers and contractors; and
• other people who come into contact with the School.

(a) Personal Information you provide

The School 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.

(b) Personal Information provided by other people

In some circumstances the School 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.

(c) 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, this Privacy Policy does not apply to the School’s treatment of an employee record, where the treatment is directly related to a current or former employment relationship between the School and employee.

How will the School use the personal information you provide?

The School 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.

(a) Students and Parents

In relation to personal information of Students and Parents, the School’s primary purpose of collection is to enable the School to provide schooling for the Student. This includes satisfying the needs of Parents, the needs of the Student and the needs of the School during the whole period the Student is enrolled at the School and beyond throughout the association of the School with the Student, their Parents and their children.
The purposes for which the School 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 School;
• looking after Students’ educational, social and medical wellbeing;
• seeking donations and marketing for the School; and
• to satisfy the School’s legal obligations and allow the School to discharge its
  duty of care
• to maintain and nurture the association between the School, the Student and
  the Parents.

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

(b) Job applicants, staff members and contractors

In relation to personal information of job applicants, staff members and contractors, the School’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 School uses personal information of job applicants, staff members and contractors include:

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

(c) Volunteers

The School also obtains personal information about volunteers who assist the School in its functions or conduct associated activities, such as the Parent Reps and the various School based Parent and Sporting activities to enable the School and the volunteers to work together.

(d) Marketing and Fundraising

The School treats marketing and seeking donations for the future growth and development of the School as an important part of ensuring that the School continues to provide a quality learning environment in which both Students and staff thrive. Personal information held by the School may be disclosed to organisations that assist in the School’s fundraising, for example, the School’s Foundation or, on occasions, external fundraising organisations.

Parents, alumni, staff, contractors and other members of the wider School community may from time to time receive fundraising information. School publications, like newsletters and magazines, which include personal information, may be used for marketing purposes.

The School may, on occasion, wish to use the personal information of Students or Staff members or others in respect to the promotion of the School through advertising. The School will first obtain the authority of the person whose personal information such as their photograph, voice recording, examination results or film of them that identifies them prior to its use for this purpose.

Who might the School disclose personal information to?

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

• another school;
• government departments;
• medical practitioners;
• people providing services to the School, including specialist visiting teachers, counsellors and sports coaches;
• recipients of School publications, such as newsletters and magazines;
• Parents;
• anyone you authorise the School to disclose information to; and anyone to whom we are required to disclose the information to by law;
• School’s Foundation.

(a) Sending and storing information overseas:

The School may disclose personal information about an individual to overseas recipients, for instance, to facilitate a school exchange. However, the School 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 School may also store personal information in the ‘cloud’ which may mean that it resides on servers which are situated outside Australia.

How does the School treat sensitive information?

In referring to ‘sensitive information’, the School 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

The School’s staff are required to respect the confidentiality of Students’ and Parents’ personal information and the privacy of individuals.

The School has in place steps to protect the personal information the School 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 New South Wales Health Records Act, an individual has the right to obtain access to any personal information which the School holds about them and to advise the School of any perceived inaccuracy. Students will generally be able to access and update their personal information through their Parents, but older 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 update any personal information the School holds about you or your child, please contact the Conductor (Principal) in writing. The School may require you to verify your identity and specify what information you require. The School 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 School 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.

Consent and rights of access to the personal information of Students

The School respects every Parent’s right to make decisions concerning their child’s education. Generally, the School will refer any requests for consent and notices in relation to the personal information of a Student to the Student’s Parents. The School 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.

As mentioned above, Parents may seek access to personal information held by the School about them or their child by contacting the Conductor (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 School’s duty of care to the Student.

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 maturity of the Student and/or the Student’s personal circumstances so warranted.

Enquiries and complaints

If you would like further information about the way the School manages the personal information it holds, or wish to complain that you believe that the School has breached the Australian Privacy Principles please contact the Conductor (Principal).

The School 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.

You should send any enquiry or complaint to our privacy email.