Policies and procedures
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POLICY NO: A-46.6
DATE OF APPROVAL: 27 August 2004
AMENDMENTS:
REFERENCE AUTHORITY: Director: Student and Academic Services
CROSS-REFERENCES:
CONTENTS:
The University collects and holds personal information about all of
its students, and has a range of legislative responsibilities in regard
to maintaining the confidentiality of students' personal information.
These include, but are not limited to, responsibilities under the Higher
Education Support Act 2003, the Privacy Act 1988, the Tax File Number
Guidelines 1992 (issued by the Privacy Commissioner), and the Education
Services for Overseas Students (ESOS) Act 2000.
The privacy of this information is a vital part of the University's
relationship with its students, and the University recognises its
responsibility to collect, manage, use and disclose personal information
in accordance with legislative requirements and prevailing community
expectations of best practice.
This policy does not extend to information that is by its nature public,
such as an award conferral.
Student: any current or former student of the University and its precedent institutions.
Personal Information: information or an opinion, whether true or not, and whether recorded in a material form or not, about an individual whose identity is apparent or can reasonably be ascertained from the information or opinion (as defined in the Privacy Act 1988 and the Higher Education Support Act 2003). For the purpose of this policy 'personal information' means student personal information and includes assignments, examinations, individual student results, student results collated in a list with identification by student number, and practicum, field and clinical placement details.
Sensitive Information: personal information about an individual's racial or ethnic origin, political opinion, membership of a political association, religious beliefs or affiliations, health status (either physical or emotional), disability, philosophical beliefs, membership of a professional or trade association, membership of a trade union, sexual preferences or practices, or criminal record.
Record includes:
but does not include:
1.1 The interests of the student and the preservation of their
privacy and confidentiality are paramount in the interpretation of this
policy. Student personal information will therefore not be used or
disclosed except in accordance with this policy. In all areas of
academic and administrative practice the principle of minimal disclosure
will be applied.
1.2 The University upholds a student's right to know how their personal
information will be managed, including the use, storage and disposal of
that information.
1.3 The University will take all reasonable steps to ensure the
responsible handling of student personal information.
1.4 Certain types of information may be subject to additional
confidentiality standards over and above those provided by this policy.
These may be imposed by other University policies (for example
University policy C-12: Sexual Harassment) or by legislative
requirements.
1.5 The confidentiality requirements under this policy will in certain
instances be overridden by legal or legislative obligations of
disclosure.
2.1 The University collects and holds a range of personal information about all of its students. This includes:
2.2 Information collected is used for a variety of purposes, including:
2.3 The University will collect personal information only where it is necessary for one or more legitimate functions or activities. Where personal information is collected, all reasonable steps will be taken to inform students of:
2.4 The University will take all reasonable steps to ensure that personal information collected is accurate, relevant, up-to-date, complete, and not misleading. To this end, the University will take reasonable steps to allow individual students to correct inaccurate information as appropriate.
3.1 The University will take all reasonable steps to protect records of personal information from misuse, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.
3.2 Staff access to records of personal information will be restricted to staff members who need the information in order to carry out their duties and responsibilities in the personal and/or academic interests of students.
3.3 Staff who are granted access to records of personal information will be made aware of the strict conditions set out under the Higher Education Support Act 2003 for access to records of personal information that have been collected for the purposes of administering Commonwealth contributions and loans programs. Staff will be made aware that the following are all offences under the Higher Education Support Act 2003, for which severe penalties apply:
3.4 Where personal information is no longer needed for any legitimate purpose it will be destroyed using a confidential method of disposal.
4.1 Personal information will be used only for the purpose for which it is required. Where information has been obtained for a particular purpose, it will not be used for any other purpose, unless:
4.2 The University will not disclose personal information about students to people, bodies or agencies outside the University (including parents, spouses or other relatives or friends of the student), or to staff who have no need of the information, unless:
5.1 The University will not collect sensitive information as defined above unless such collection is required by the law, or occurs with the consent of the individual student.
6.1 The University will take reasonable steps to allow individual students to view the personal information the University holds about them.
6.2 Where the University collects and holds personal information for the purposes of administering Commonwealth contributions and loans programs, students have a legislative right to view their individual personal information, except where the University is required or authorised by Commonwealth legislation to refuse to provide the individual with access.
7.1 Any student may view and correct their personal information, including enrolment details and details of deferred payment options, via the University's on-line enrolment system.
7.2 Students who wish to view any additional personal information kept about them by the University may apply to do so through Campus Central, Transnational Student Services, or, in the case of research students, at the Graduate Studies Office.
7.3 Students who wish to correct a record of personal information kept by the University, which they believe to be incorrect, may do so either via the University's on-line enrolment system, through Campus Central or Transnational Student Services, or, in the case of research students, at the Graduate Studies Office. Where a student provides a request for correction in writing, this will be kept on the student's file.
7.4 In circumstances where the University is unwilling to amend a record of personal information following a request from a student (for example, if the University believes that the record is correct, or that the correction sought by the student is unwarranted), the student may request that the University keep a record of the request being denied.
8.1 The University is obliged, under the Higher Education Support Act 2003 and the Privacy Act 1988, to maintain a public record, detailing:
8.2 The Director: Student and Academic Services will be responsible for providing the Federal Privacy Commissioner with an updated copy of that record each year.
9.1 Complaints regarding any aspect of the University's collection, storage, use and disclosure of students' personal information should be made to the Student Ombud.
10.1 The University will regularly provide personal information about students to the following:
10.2 The University will release information about individual students under certain circumstances to the following:
