COMMONWEALTH PRIVACY ACT -COLLECTION NOTICE WITH RESPECT TO ENROLLING STUDENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES

Please note: Consent to the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information (according to the National Privacy Principles) is a requirement of enrolment at Woodleigh School. By proceeding with your enrolment application or by continuing with your child's enrolment at the School, you are taken to have been notified that we collect, use, and disclose personal information and you are taken to have consented to the matters raised below. Woodleigh School has a Privacy Policy statement which should be read in conjunction with this Collection Notice. The Privacy Policy statement is available on request and contained in the School's standard enrolment package.

Student & Parent Collection Notice

1. The School collects personal information, including sensitive information about pupils and parents or guardians before and during the course of a pupil’s enrolment at the School. The primary purpose of collecting this information is to enable the School to provide schooling for you son/daughter.
2. Some of the information we collect is to satisfy the School’s legal obligations, particularly to enable the School to discharge its duty of care.
   
3. Certain laws governing or relating to the operation of schools require that certain information is collected. These include Public Health and Child Protection laws.
4. Health information about pupils is sensitive information within the terms of the National Privacy Principles under the Privacy Act. We ask you to provide medical reports about pupils from time to time and to update medical information at least annually.
   
5. The School from time to time discloses personal and sensitive information to others for administrative and educational purposes. This includes to other schools, government departments, medical practitioners, and people providing services to the School, including specialist visiting teachers, coaches, activities and camp staff and volunteers.
6. If we do not obtain the information referred to above we may not be able to enrol or continue the enrolment of your son/daughter.
   
7. Personal information collected from pupils is regularly disclosed to their parents or guardians. On occasions information such as academic, sporting, cultural and personal achievements, pupil activities and other news and images is published in School newsletters, magazines, on our website and for advertising purposes.
   
8. Parents may seek access to personal information collected about them and their son/daughter by contacting the School. Pupils may also seek access to personal information about them. However, there will be occasions when access is denied. Such occasions would include where access would have an unreasonable impact on the privacy of others, where access may result in a breach of the School’s duty of care to the pupil, or where pupils have provided information in confidence.
   
9. As you may know the School from time to time engages in public relations and fundraising activities. Information received from you may be used for these purposes. We will not disclose your personal information to third parties for their PR or fundraising purposes without your consent.
   
10. We may include your contact details in a class list and School directory. If you do not agree to this you must advise us now.
    
11. If you provide the School with the personal information of others, such as doctors or emergency contacts, we encourage you to consider informing them that you are disclosing that information to the School and why, that they can access that information if they wish and that the School does not usually disclose the information to third parties.
    

WOODLEIGH SCHOOL – COMMONWEALTH PRIVACY ACT
(Students, Parents/Guardians)

Introduction November 2006

This statement outlines Woodleigh School’s policy on how the School uses and manages personal information provided to or collected by it with respect to students, parents and guardians. A separate document sets out the School’s Privacy Policy with respect to job applicants, staff members, volunteers, contractors, and others who come in contact with the School. The policy is based upon documents provided by the Association of Independent School of Victoria and is designed to meet our obligations under amendments to the Commonwealth Privacy Act. The School may, from time to time, review and update this Privacy Policy, especially to take account of new laws and technology, changes to the school’s operations and practices, and to make sure it remains appropriate to the changing school environment.

Your privacy is important to us and we aim at all times to handle information responsibly. As a school, we handle a very large quantity of personal information and it is critical to the quality of the educational service that we provide that such information is effectively and quickly communicated as appropriate to staff who deal with our students. It is our goal to meet the National Privacy principles while continuing to provide a high quality education responsive to the personal needs of each student and family.

What kind of personal information does the School collect and how does the School collect it?
The type of information the School collects and hold includes (but is not limited to) personal information, including sensitive information, about pupils and parents and/or guardian (‘Parents’) before, during and after the course of a pupil’s enrolment at the School. It includes the following:

• Personal Information you provide: The School will generally collect personal information held about an individual by way of forms filled out by parents or pupils, face-to-face meetings and interviews, and telephone calls. On occasions people other than parents and pupils provide personal information.
  
• 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 by a medical professional or a reference from another school.
  

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, or to which you have consented.

In relation to personal information of pupils and parents, the School’s primary purpose of collection is to enable the School to provide schooling for the pupil. This includes satisfying both the needs of parents and the needs of the pupil throughout the whole period of the pupil being enrolled at the School.

The purpose for which the School uses personal information of pupils 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 pupils’ educational, social and medical wellbeing
• Seeking donations and public relations material for the School
• To satisfy the School’s legal obligations and allow the School to discharge its duty of care.
  

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

Public Relations and fundraising: The School treats public relations and seeking donations for the future growth and development of the School as an important part of ensuring that the School continues to be a quality learning environment in which both pupils and staff thrive. Personal information held by the School may be used for the purposes of public relations, fundraising, and involving past students and families.

Parents 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 public relations purposes.

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 and sports coaches
• Recipients of School publications, like newsletters and magazines
• Parents
  
• Anyone you authorise at School to disclose information to.
  

Sending information overseas: The School will not send personal information about an individual outside Australia without:

• Obtaining the consent of the individual (this consent will be implied if we are contacting an overseas parent); or
  
• Otherwise complying with the National Privacy Principles.
  

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, 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 purposes 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 pupils’ 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, loss unauthorised access, modification or disclosure by use of various methods including storage of paper records and controlled 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 School at any time.

The National Privacy Principles require the School not to store personal information longer than necessary. Woodleigh School keeps detailed cumulative records throughout a student’s time at the School and for up to 7 years after he or she has left.

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 the School holds about them and to advise the School of any perceived inaccuracy. There are some exceptions to this right set out in the Act. Pupils will generally have access to their personal information through their parents, but older pupils may seek access themselves.

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

Consent and rights of access to the personal information of pupils

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 pupil to the pupil’s parents. The School will treat consent given by parents as consent given on behalf of the pupil, and notice to parents will act as notice given to the pupil.

Parents may seek access to personal information held by the School about them or their child by contacting the relevant Head of Campus. However, there will be occasions when access is denied. Such occasions would include where release of the information would have 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 pupil.

The School may, at its discretion, on the request of a pupil grant that pupil access to information held by the School about them, or allow a pupil 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 pupil and/or the pupil’s personal circumstances so warranted.

Enquiries

If you would like further information about the way the School managed the personal information it holds, please contact the School Principal.