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PRIVACY POLICY

Education Services Australia (ESA), as a contracted service provider to the Australian Government Department of Education and Training, acts on behalf of the Department in relation to the Student Wellbeing Hub. In addition to complying with privacy law, ESA also complies with the Department's privacy policy in relation to all its activities related to the Student Wellbeing Hub. In this document, the Department and ESA are collectively referred to as 'we', 'us' or 'our'.

We are subject to the Privacy Act 1988 (the Privacy Act) and to the requirements of the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) contained in the Privacy Act.

We also adhere to the Guidelines for Australian Government and ACT Government Websites, issued by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.

Our Complete Privacy Policy has been developed in accordance with Australian Privacy Principle 1 and embodies our commitment to protecting personal information. The Complete Privacy Policy can be found at: Australian Government Department of Education and Training Complete Privacy Policy.

The Complete Privacy Policy provides more detailed information about:

  • the types of personal information we collect and hold;
  • the methods by which we collect and hold personal information;
  • the purposes for which we collect, hold, use and disclose personal information and our authority to do so;
  • how we manage personal information collected online;
  • whether we are likely to disclose personal information to overseas recipients, and the situations in which we may do so;
  • how you may access your personal information or seek the correction of such information; and
  • how you may complain about a possible breach of the APPs by us and how we will deal with your complaint.

You should read our Complete Privacy Policy if you are:

  • a student;
  • an apprentice;
  • a parent or guardian;
  • a child care provider;
  • a principal or teacher;
  • an academic or researcher;
  • a participant in a program or service delivered by us;
  • a contractor, consultant, or supplier of goods or services to us;
  • an applicant for a grant or a tenderer for a contract provided by us;
  • a policy stakeholder who works with us;
  • a person whose information may be given to us by a third party, including other Australian Government agencies;
  • a Registered Training Organisation;
  • an entrant in a competition conducted by us;
  • a current or past employee of the Department; or
  • a person seeking employment with us; or
  • any other individual whose personal information we may collect or hold.

Information we collect and why we use it

We are responsible for national policies and programs that help Australians access quality and affordable childcare; early childhood education; school education; post-school, higher education; international education and academic research, through:

  • efficient national program management;
  • effective working relationships with state and territory governments, non-government education authorities and providers, universities, providers of community groups and other stakeholders;
  • auditing, research and analysis in order to maintain, protect and improve our services; and
  • policy advice and other support to the Minister.

Generally, we collect personal information in order to properly and efficiently carry out one or more of our functions. We only use personal information for the purpose(s) for which it was given to us and for directly related purposes (unless otherwise required or authorised by or under law), as consented to by you or if a permitted general situation exists.

Collection of personal information for the Student Wellbeing Hub

In addition to our Complete Privacy Policy, this paragraph explains what personal information we collect through the Student Wellbeing Hub and the purpose of such collection.

Where you provide us with your:

  • name and email address and tell us if you are a student, parent or educator, we will use this personal information for the purpose of sending you a relevant Student Wellbeing Hub newsletter; and
  • email address as part of your login for the School Audit Tool and the Professional Learning Modules, we will not use your email address other than to allow you to log in, along with your password, to the parts of the Student Wellbeing Hub you have chosen to access.

Personal information holdings

We maintain, on an ongoing basis, a Personal Information Holdings document that explains the various types of personal information we collect and hold, what the information is used for and the third parties to whom the information is normally disclosed. Where applicable, the document also details where we are authorised to collect, use or disclose information under legislation relevant to our policies, programs and services. A copy of the Personal Information Holdings document can be obtained from the Privacy Contact Officer whose details are below.

Electronic communication

There are inherent risks associated with the transmission of information over the internet, including via email. You should be aware of this when sending personal information to us via email or via our website or social media platforms. If this is of concern to you then you may use other methods of communication with us, such as post, fax or telephone (although these also have risks associated with them).

We only record your email address when you send a message to us or subscribe to one of our mailing lists. Any personal information, including email addresses, will only be used or disclosed for the purpose for which it was provided to us.

Log information (browsing)

When you use our online services, our servers automatically record information that your browser sends whenever you visit a website. These server logs may include information such as your server address, your top level domain name (for example, .com, .gov, .au, .uk), the date and time of visit to the site, the pages accessed and documents viewed, the previous sites visited, the browser type, the browser language, and one or more cookies that may uniquely identify your browser.

No attempt is made to identify you through your browsing other than in exceptional circumstances, such as an investigation into the improper use of the website.

Cookies

A cookie is a small file containing a string of characters to your computer that uniquely identifies your browser. It is information that your web browser sends back to our website server whenever you visit it again. We use cookies to 'remember' your browser between page visits. In this situation, the cookie identifies your browser, not you personally. No personal information is stored within our cookies.

Google Analytics

We use Google Analytics to collect information about visitors to our website. Google Analytics uses first-party cookies and JavaScript code to help analyse how users use the site. It anonymously tracks how visitors interact with this website, including how they have accessed the site (for example from a search engine, a link, an advertisement) and what they did on the site. The information generated by the cookie about your use of the website (including your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States. Google will use this information for the purposes of compiling reports on website activity and providing other services relating to website activity and internet usage. For some websites we administer (for example myskills.gov.au), Google Analytics Demographic and Interest Reporting is enabled. Demographic and interest reports may be generated including identifiers such as your age, gender, affinity categories (for example educational and training interests), in-market segments and other categories based on acquisition, behaviour, and conversions metrics. These reports may be used by the Department to assist it to make policy and program decisions. You can prevent your information from being collected by Google Analytics by refusing the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser or by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.

Links to external websites

Our website includes links to other websites. We are not responsible for the content and privacy practices of other websites. We recommend that you examine each website's privacy policy separately.

Information collected by our contractors

We take contractual measures to ensure that where we have given personal information to a contractor (that carries out a service for us), the contractor complies with the APPs as if it was an agency.

Storage and Data Security

Storage of personal information (and the disposal of information when no longer required) is managed in accordance with the Australian Government's records management regime, including the Archives Act 1983, Records Authorities and General Disposal Authorities. This ensures your personal information is held securely.

We take all reasonable steps to protect the personal information held in our possession against loss, unauthorised access, use, modification, disclosure or misuse.

Electronic and paper records containing personal information are protected in accordance with Australian Government security policies including the Attorney General's Department's Protective Security Policy Framework and the Australian Signals Directorate's Information Security Manual.

Data Quality

We take all reasonable steps to make sure that the personal information we collect and store is accurate, up-to-date, complete, relevant and not misleading.

Access to and alteration of records containing personal information

You have a right under the Privacy Act to access personal information we hold about you.

You also have a right under the Privacy Act to request corrections to any personal information that we hold about you if you think the information is inaccurate, out-of-date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading.

The Freedom of Information Act 1982 also provides you with an opportunity to request access to documents in our possession. For more information about FOI please go to the Freedom of Information page.

For further details, including a comparison of both access mechanisms and how you can make a request, please see our Guide to Accessing and Correcting Personal Information.

Complaints

If you think we may have breached your privacy you may contact us to make a complaint using the contact details below. In order to ensure that we fully understand the nature of your complaint and the outcome you are seeking, we prefer that you make your complaint in writing. Please see our contact details below at 'Contact us'.

For further information about our complaint handling processes please see our Privacy Complaint Handling Policy.

If you are unsatisfied with our response to your complaint

If you are not satisfied with the way we have handled your complaint in the first instance, you may contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner to refer your complaint for further investigation. Please note that the Information Commissioner may not investigate if you have not first brought your complaint to our attention.

Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
Telephone: 1300 363 992
Email: enquiries@oaic.gov.au
Post: GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 2001

If you are unsatisfied with our response or conduct, you may also wish to contact the Commonwealth Ombudsman at ombudsman@ombusman.gov.au.

Contact us

If you have any enquiries or complaints about privacy, or if you wish to access or correct your personal information, please email us at privacy@education.gov.au or write to:

Privacy Contact Officer
People, Communication and Legal Group
Australian Government Department of Education and Training
Schools, Child Care and Corporate Legal
GPO Box 9880, Canberra ACT 2601

Changes to this privacy policy

Please note that the privacy policy may change from time to time.

Last updated: 23 September 2016

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