Scotch College

Federal Privacy Laws and Scotch College

Federal Privacy Laws became effective from 21 December 2001. The legislation regulates the way schools can collect, use, keep secure and disclose personal information.

Schools are required to handle personal information in accordance with the National Privacy Principles as outlined in the legislation.

Scotch College is bound by and supports the National Privacy Principles for the handling of personal information.

What kind of information does the school collect?

Scotch can collect information about:

• Students and parents and/or guardians 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.

Personal information you provide

The School will generally collect personal information held about an individual by ways of forms filled out by Parents or students, face-to-face meetings and interviews and telephone calls etc.

Personal information provided by other people

In some circumstances the School may be provided with personal information about an individual from a third party, eg. a report provided by a medical professional or a reference from another school.

How will the school use the personal information you provide?

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. 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, magazines and reports;
• Day-to-day administration;
• Looking after student's educational, social and medical well-being;
• Seeking donations and marketing for the School;
• To satisfy the School's legal obligations and allow the School to discharge its duty of care.

Who might the School disclose personal information to?

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

• Another school, as required;
• Government departments;
• Medical Practitioners;
• People providing services to the School, including specialist visiting teacher and sports coaches;
• Recipients of School publications, like newsletters and magazines;
• Parents; and
• Anyone you authorise the School to disclose information to.

How will the school treat sensitive information?

Sensitive information 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 a criminal record and health information.

Unless you agree otherwise, or is allowed by law, sensitive information will be used and disclosed only for the purpose for which it was provided or a directly related secondary purpose.

Management and security of personal information

The School has in place steps to protect the personal information the School holds including locked storage of paper records and pass-worded access rights to computerised records.

Updating personal information

The School 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 School by contacting the Receptionist of the School at any time.

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 School holds about them and to advise the School of any perceived inaccuracy.

To make a request to access any information the School holds about you or your child, please write to:

Principal
Scotch College
1 Morrison Street
Hawthorn VIC 3122

Enquiries

If you would like further information about the way the School manages the personal information it holds, please contact:

Ian Gelling
Administration Manager
Scotch College
1 Morrison Street
Hawthorn VIC 3122

Or via email:

ian.gelling@scotch.vic.edu.au

Further information may be obtained by contacting the office of the Federal Privacy Commissioner:

Website: http://www.privacy.gov.au

 

Scotch understands an individual's right to keep their personal information private is highly important.

We are committed to protecting and maintaining the privacy, accuracy and security of your personal information.