Clause 7.2 of Part B in the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator (Data Provision Requirements) Instrument 2020 specifies that Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) must inform students about the purposes for which their personal information is collected, used, or disclosed. This includes making students aware of the Privacy Notice outlined in Schedule 1 of the National VET Data Policy. provides a Privacy Notice on our website and in our Student Handbook. also provides a privacy notice at the start of the Enrolment Form so that students and clients are aware of the collection of their personal and sensitive information at the point of enrolment.
In our Privacy Notice, we outline the following information:
- Why we collect personal information;
- How we use the personal information collected;
- Who we are legally obliged to disclose the personal information collected to;
- How we disclose the personal information collected;
- How NCVER and other bodies handle the personal information collected;
- Surveys that students may receive from a government department of an NCVER employee, agent, third-party contractor or another authorised agency; and
- Who can be contacted to request access to the personal information we have collected, how to correct the personal information we retain, how to make a complaint about how the personal information collected has been handled, and to ask questions about the Privacy Notice.
DATA COLLECTION METHODS
endeavours to notify individuals of the collection of their personal and sensitive information before, or at the time of collection, or as quickly as possible thereafter, such as at enrolment. Notifications are usually made in writing but may be verbal.
uses the following avenues to collect information:
- Student and client personal and sensitive information is collected directly from our students and clients using administrative tools such as enrolment forms, enrolment interview forms, recognition of prior learning application forms, credit transfer forms, complaint forms, appeal forms, payment refund forms, surveys and questionnaires. This information is entered into the Student Management System and the physical forms or documents are scanned into the learner’s folder and stored electronically with any hard copies destroyed responsibly.
- Student and client personal information such as personal contact information may also be collected at the enquiry stage directly from individuals.
- also collects information relating to our performance as an RTO and this information can be collected electronically or in hard copy formats. The responses are then collated, reviewed and analysed (where required), and any hard copies are then destroyed (if applicable).
- Staff personal and sensitive information is collected from individuals when they come in for an interview and upon commencement of their employment or contractual period with.
- If should receive any unsolicited personal or sensitive information, it will be treated and managed according to the Australian Privacy Principles.
ACCESS, DISCLOSURE, AND CORRECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
Learners and third-party individuals or organisations may request access to the personal and sensitive information held by where the information has been collected directly from individuals, subject to certain exceptions prescribed by the Australian Privacy Principles. Request for access to the personal and sensitive information should be made in writing. You can refer to our Record Keeping and Access policy for more information on accessing personal information.
does not sell or share your personal and sensitive information to third parties for marketing purposes. We do not disclose any personal and sensitive information other than for the purpose which it was collected for, if an individual has consented to a secondary purpose or would reasonably expect, or if required to by law.
We are obligated to collect and disclose personal information to the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER), the Australian Skills Quality Authority, as well as any relevant State or Territory Training or Funding Authority in accordance with any legal or contractual obligations such as funding contracts and reporting obligations. will inform and seek consent from the individuals concerned at the point of enrolment.
Under the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator (Data Provision Requirements) Instrument 2020, we are required to collect personal information about you and disclose that personal information to the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER). NCVER is responsible for collecting, managing, analysing and communicating research and statistics about the Australian VET sector. NCVER collects, holds, uses and discloses your personal information in accordance with the law, including the Privacy Act 1988 and the NVETR Act 2011. This information may be used and disclosed by NCVER to the Australian Government department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR), Commonwealth authorities, State and Territory authorities (other than Registered Training Organisations) that deal with matters relating to VET and VET regulators for the purposes of those bodies, including to enable:
- Populating authenticated VET transcripts;
- Administering vocational education training, including program administration, regulation, monitoring and evaluation;
- Facilitation of statistics and research relating to education, including surveys and data linkage; and
- Understanding the VET market, such as how the VET industry operates, for policy development purposes, workforce planning and consumer data.
NCVER may also disclose personal information to persons engaged by NCVER to conduct research on NCVER’s behalf and NCVER does not intend to disclose any personal information to any overseas recipients. You can refer to NCVER’s Privacy policy here for more information on how NCVER handles personal information.
NCVER also administers student surveys which may be run by an Australian government department, or an NCVER employee, agent, third-party contractor or another authorised agency, which learners are able to opt-out of when they are contacted.
We may also disclose personal information to individuals or organisations for the purposes of our operations, such as to a Compliance Consultant.
Whilst we endeavour to ensure the personal and sensitive information we collect, use or disclose is accurate, current, and complete, we rely on individuals to help us manage the accuracy, currency, and completeness of the information.
Where the information has changed or requires updating, will update the information held in the Student Management System accordingly.
MANAGEMENT OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
Any personal and sensitive information collected is stored on servers in Australia. does not retain any personal and sensitive information collected on servers overseas. We take steps to protect personal information from misuse, interference and loss, and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure of the information.
- have systems and an internal network which is protected from unauthorised access and minimise the risk of unauthorised access. Data transferred over the internet through ’s website, , and the Student Management System is protected by a Secure Socket Level protocol (SSL). Access to our website, and the Student Management System is protected through user log-on and password, and assignment of user access privileges.
- All hard copy documents containing personal and sensitive information is to be scanned and saved in the respective folders, the information entered into the Student Management System or the relevant system or register, and the hard copy document shredded and disposed of securely. No personal and sensitive information should be left unsecured or in view of others who are not authorised access.
retains personal information for a period of 30-years when personal information is no longer necessary for our business operations. Where it is lawful to do so, will destroy the information by permanently deleting the relevant electronic files.
Individuals are advised to reach out to us should they have any concerns about the way we manage their personal and sensitive information, as well as about our Privacy Notice. They also have the right to make a complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) about the handling of their personal information by .
DIRECT MARKETING
respects an individual’s right to not receive any marketing material. We provide an option within our communications for individuals to unsubscribe from receiving any marketing material from us. We conduct our marketing communications and dissemination of service information in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principle 7 – Direct Marketing, the Spam Act 2003, and the Do Not Call Register Act 2006. It is important to note that it is not ’s practice to make any unsolicited calls for the purpose of marketing our products and services.
GOOGLE ANALYTICS AND COOKIES
Google Incorporated provides a web service known as Google Analytics which gives businesses the ability to track and report website traffic, and the tools a business would need to better understand your customers and strategise our future operations. Cookies, which are packets of data that a computer receives, and then sends back without changing or altering it is stored in a file located in the web browser. Cookies helps our website track our visitors and their activity, and record log-in information.
These cookies are stored on Google’s servers in the United States where they are used to generate reports on website activity. Google may transfer this information to third-parties, if required by law, or for information processing on its behalf.
No personal information is recorded, and is only used for website management and improvement purposes. It is possible to disable cookies by changing a web browser’s settings and to opt-out of Google Analytics.