Maryborough Education Centre

Privacy Policy

RATIONALE:

The Maryborough Education Centre collects and holds personal information about students, parents and staff. The Centre will ensure that all the personal and health information that is held by the Centre will be treated in accordance with highest levels of privacy. This policy applies to members of the Centre staff and the School Council at Maryborough Education Centre. This policy will be made available on request.

All staff of Maryborough Education Centre are required by law to protect the personal and health information the Centre collects and holds.

GOALS:

This policy aims to protect the private records, held by the Centre, of all students, staff members and their families.

The Victorian privacy laws, the Information Privacy Act 2000 and the Health Records Act 2001, provide for the protection of personal and health information.

The privacy laws do not replace any existing obligations Maryborough Education Centre has under other laws. Essentially this policy will apply when other laws do not regulate the use of personal information.

IMPLEMENTATION:

1. Personal information is collected and used by Maryborough Education Centre to:

o provide services or to carry out the Centre’s statutory functions

o assist the Centre services and its staff to fulfil its duty of care to students

o plan, resource, monitor and evaluate school services and functions

o comply with Department of Education and Early Childhood Development reporting requirements

o comply with statutory and or other legal obligations in respect of staff

o investigate incidents or defend any legal claims against the school, its services, or its staff, and

o comply with laws that impose specific obligations regarding the handling of personal information.

2. The Maryborough Education Centre will use and disclose personal information about a member of the school community when:

o it is required for general administration duties and statutory functions

o it relates to the purposes for which it was collected, and

o for a purpose that is directly related to the reason the information was collected and the use would be reasonably expected by the individual and there is no reason to believe they would object to the disclosure.

2.1 The Centre can disclose personal information for another purpose when:

o the person consents, or

o it is necessary to lessen or prevent a serious or imminent threat to life, health or safety, or

o is required by law or for law enforcement purposes.

3. Where consent for the use and disclosure of personal information is required, the Centre will seek consent from the appropriate person. In the case of a student’s personal information, the Centre will seek the consent from the student and/or parent depending on the circumstances and the student’s mental ability and maturity to understand the consequences of the proposed use and disclosure.

4. The purposes for which the Centre uses personal information of students and parents include:

o keeping parents informed about matters related to their child’s schooling

o looking after students’ educational, social and health needs

o celebrating the efforts and achievements of students

o day-to-day administration

o satisfying the Centre’s legal obligations, and

o allowing the Centre to discharge its duty of care.

4.1 The purposes for which the Centre uses personal information of job applicants, staff members and contractors include:

o assessing suitability for employment

o administering the individual’s employment or contract

o for insurance purposes, such as public liability or Work Cover

o satisfying the Centre’s legal requirements, and

o investigating incidents or defending legal claims about the Centre, its services, or staff.

5. Accessing personal information

A parent, student or staff member may seek access to their personal information, provided by them, that is held by the school.

Access to other information maybe restricted according to the requirements of laws that cover the management of Centre records. These include the Public Records Act and the Freedom of Information Act.

6. Updating personal information

The Centre aims to keep personal information it holds accurate, complete and up-to-date. A person may update their personal information by contacting the Centre Principal or delegated personnel.

7. Security

Centre staff and students have use of information and communications technologies (ICT) provided by the Centre. This use is directed by:

o Department of Education and Early Childhood Development’s acceptable Use policy for Internet, email and other electronic communications

o Department of Education and Early Childhood’s IT security policy.

o The Centre’s ICT policy.

8. Information collected

Maryborough Education Centre web and web server makes a record of the IP address of any computer connecting to the Centre Web server.

9. Complaints under privacy

Should the Centre receive a complaint about personal information privacy this will be investigated in accordance with the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development’s privacy complaints handling policy.

10. Definitions

Personal information means information or opinion that is recorded in any form and whether true or not, about an individual whose identity is apparent, or can be reasonably determined from the information or opinion. For example, this includes all paper and electronic records, photographs and video recordings.

In this policy personal information refers to personal information, health information and sensitive information unless otherwise specified.

Health information is defined as including information or opinion about a person’s physical, mental or psychological health, or disability, which is also classified as personal information. This includes information or opinion about a person’s health status and medical history, whether recorded or not.

Sensitive information is defined as 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 classified as personal information about an individual.

Parent in this policy in relation to a child, includes step parent, an adoptive parent, a foster parent, guardian, or a person who has custody or daily care and control of the child.

Staff in this policy is defined as someone who carries out a duty on behalf of the Centre, paid or unpaid, or who is contracted to, or directly employed by the Centre or the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (DEECD). Information provided to the Centre through job applications is also considered staff information.

This policy was first adopted at Maryborough Education Centre Council meeting on 12th August, 2008.