St Spyridon College Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy sets out how St Spyridon College manages personal information provided to or collected by it. The College is bound by the Australian Privacy Principles contained in the Commonwealth Privacy Act 1988 and the NSW Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998. In relation to health records, St Spyridon College is also bound by the New South Wales Health Privacy Principles which are contained in the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 (Health Records Act). St Spyridon College may, from time to time, review and update this Privacy Policy to take account of new laws and technology, changes to the College’s operations and practices and to make sure it remains appropriate to the changing College environment.
What kinds of personal information does St Spyridon College collect and how is it collected?
The type of information St Spyridon College collects and holds includes (but is not limited to) personal information, including health, medical and other sensitive information, about:
- students and parents and/or carers (‘parents’) before, during and after the course of a student’s enrolment at the College;
- job applicants, staff members, volunteers and contractors; and
- other people who come into contact with the College.
Personal Information you provide: St Spyridon College will generally collect personal information held about an individual from information submitted by parents or students, face-to face meetings and interviews, emails and telephone calls.
On occasions people other than parents and students provide personal information.
Personal Information provided by other people: In some circumstances St Spyridon College may be provided with personal information about an individual from a third party, for example a report provided by a medical professional or a reference from another College.
Exception in relation to employee records: Under the Privacy Act and Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 (NSW), the Australian Privacy Principles and Health Privacy Principles do not apply to an employee record. As a result, this Privacy Policy does not apply to the College’s treatment of an employee record, where the treatment is directly related to a current or former employment relationship between St Spyridon College and an employee.
How will St Spyridon College use the personal information you provide?
The College will use personal information it collects from you for which it was collected and for such other secondary purposes that are related to the primary purpose of collection and reasonably expected by you, or to which you have consented.
Students and parents: In relation to personal information of students and parents, the College’s primary purpose of collection is to enable St Spyridon College to provide schooling for the student. This includes satisfying the needs of parents, the needs of the student and the needs of St Spyridon College throughout the whole period the student is enrolled at the College. The purposes for which St Spyridon College uses personal information of students and parents include:
- keeping parents informed about matters related to their child’s schooling, through correspondence, newsletters and magazines (both print and online);
- day-to-day administration of the College;
- looking after students’ educational, social and medical wellbeing;
- seeking donations and marketing for the College; and
- satisfying the College’s legal obligations and allowing St Spyridon College to discharge its duty of care.
In some cases where St Spyridon College requests personal information about a student or parent, if the information requested is not provided, the College may not be able to enrol or continue the enrolment of the student or permit the student to take part in a particular activity.
Job applicants, staff members and contractors: In relation to personal information of job applicants, staff members and contractors, the primary purpose of collection is to assess and (if successful) to engage the applicant, staff member or contractor, as the case may be. The purposes for which St Spyridon College uses personal information of job applicants, staff members and contractors include:
- administering the individual’s employment or contract, as the case may be;
- administration related to insurance purposes;
- seeking donations and marketing for the College; and
- satisfying the College’s legal obligations, for example, in relation to child protection legislation.
Marketing and fundraising: St Spyridon College treats marketing and seeking donations for the future growth and development of the College as an important part of ensuring that St Spyridon College continues to provide a quality learning environment in which both students and staff thrive. Personal information held by St Spyridon College may be disclosed to organisations that assist in the College’s fundraising. (For example the Parents and Friends Association and the Business Manager). Parents, staff, contractors and other members of the wider College community may from time to time receive fundraising information. College publications, like newsletters and magazines, which include personal information, may be used for marketing purposes. On occasions information such as academic and sporting achievements, student activities and other news is published in College newsletters, other publications and on our website. Photographs of students, staff and parents involved in College related activities may often form part of such publications. If you do not give your permission to use the abovementioned material pertaining to your child you must advise the College in writing that your permission is withheld.
Who might St Spyridon College disclose personal information to and store your information with?
St Spyridon College may disclose personal information, including sensitive information, held about an individual to:
- another College;
- government departments;
- medical practitioners;
- people providing services to the College, including specialist visiting teachers, counsellors and sports coaches;
- recipients of College publications, such as newsletters and magazines;
- parents;
- educational subscription and support services such as online teaching and learning sites;
- anyone you authorise St Spyridon College to disclose information to; and
- anyone to whom we are required to disclose the information by law.
Sending and storing information overseas: St Spyridon College may disclose personal information about an individual to overseas recipients, for instance, to facilitate a College exchange. However, St Spyridon College will not send personal information about an individual outside Australia without:
- obtaining the consent of the individual (in some cases this consent will be implied); or
- complying with the Australian Privacy Principles or other applicable privacy legislation.
St Spyridon College may also store personal information in the ‘cloud’ which may mean that it resides on servers which are situated outside Australia.
How does St Spyridon College treat sensitive information?
In referring to ‘sensitive information’, St Spyridon College means: information relating to a person’s racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religion, trade union or other professional or trade association membership, philosophical beliefs, sexual orientation or practices or criminal record, that is also personal information; health information and biometric information about an individual. Sensitive information will be used and disclosed only for the purpose 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. There will be times when sharing health information is required to ensure the welfare of individuals and obligations of duty of care are met.
Management and security of personal information
College staff are required to respect the confidentiality of students’ and parents’ personal information and the privacy of individuals. St Spyridon College has in place steps to protect the personal information St Spyridon College holds from misuse, interference and loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure by use of various methods including locked storage of paper records, password access rights and differential access right to computerised records.
Access and correction of personal information
Under the Commonwealth Privacy Act and the Health Records Act, an individual has the right to obtain access to any personal information which St Spyridon College holds about them and to advise St Spyridon College of any perceived inaccuracy. Students will generally be able to access and update their personal information through their parents. To update any personal information St Spyridon College holds about you or your child, please email: Junior School Administration juniorschool@stspyridon.nsw.edu.au or Senior School Administration admin@stspyridon.nsw.edu.au.
To make a request to access any personal information St Spyridon College holds about you or your child contact our Head of College in writing. St Spyridon College may require you to verify your identity and specify what information you require. St Spyridon College 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, St Spyridon College will advise the likely cost in advance. If we cannot provide you with access to that information, we will provide you with written notice explaining the reasons for refusal.
Consent and rights of access to the personal information of students
St Spyridon College respects every parent’s right to make decisions concerning their child’s education. Generally, St Spyridon College will refer any requests for consent and notices in relation to the personal information of a student to the student’s parents. St Spyridon College will treat consent given by parents as consent given on behalf of the student, and notice to parents will act as notice given to the student
As mentioned above, parents may seek access to personal information held by St Spyridon College about them or their child by contacting the Head of College. However, there will be occasions when access is denied. Such occasions would include where release of the information would have an unreasonable impact on the privacy of others, or where the release may result in a breach of the College’s duty of care to the student. St Spyridon College may, at its discretion, on the request of a student grant that student access to information held by St Spyridon College about them, or allow a student 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 student and/or the student’s personal circumstances warrant it.
Enquiries and complaints
If you would like further information about the way St Spyridon College manages the personal information it holds, or wish to complain about an alleged breached of the Australian Privacy Principles please contact the Head of College. St Spyridon College will investigate any complaint and will notify you in relation to your complaint as soon as is practicable after the complaint has been made.