Your Privacy is Important
This statement outlines Bialik College’s policy in how the College uses and manages personal information provided to or collected by it.
Bialik College is bound by the National Privacy Principles contained in the Commonwealth Privacy Act.
Bialik 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 school environment.
What kind of personal information does Bialik College collect and how does Bialik collect it?
The type of information that Bialik College collects and holds includes (but is not limited to) personal information, including sensitive information about:
- Students and parents and/or guardians (‘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:
Bialik College will generally collect personal information held about an individual by way of forms filled out by parents or students, and notes taken during or after face-to-face meetings, interviews, and telephone calls.
Personal information provided by other people:
In some circumstances, the 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 school.
Exception in relation to employee records:
Bialik College is not bound by the National Privacy Principles, and this PrivacyPolicy does not apply, in relation to the College’s treatment of an employee record where the treatment is directly related to a current or former employment relationship between Bialik College and the employee.
How will Bialik College use the personal information you provide?
Bialik College 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.
Students and Parents:
In relation to personal information of students and parents, the College’s primary purpose of collection is to enable the College to provide schooling for the pupil. This includes satisfying both the needs of parents and the needs of the student throughout the whole period the student is enrolled at the College.
The purposes for which Bialik College uses personal information of students and parents include:
- To keep parents informed about matters related to their child’s schooling, through correspondence, newsletters, magazines; email, internet and other technologies;
- Day-to-day administration;
- Looking after students’ educational, school, medical, social and emotional wellbeing;
- Seeking donations for and marketing Bialik College;
- Maintaining relevant and appropriate relationships once the Student has left the College;
- To satisfy Bialik College’s legal obligations and allow Bialik College to discharge its duty of care.
In some cases where the College requests personal information about a student or parent, if the information requested is not obtained, Bialik College may not be able to enrol or continue the enrolment of the student.
Job applicants, staff members and contractors:
In relation to personal information of job applicants, staff members and contractors, Bialik College’s 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 Bialik College uses personal information of job applicants, staff members and contractors include:
- In administering the individual’s employment or contract, as the case may be;
- For insurance purposes;
- Seeking funds and marketing Bialik College;
- To satisfy Bialik College’s legal requirements.
Volunteers:
Bialik College also obtains personal information about volunteers who assist the College in its functions or conduct associated activities, such as the College Council, the Parents’ Association, Friends of Bialik, the Alumni Association and other affiliated bodies, to enable the College and the volunteers to work together.
Marketing and Fundraising:
In enable Bialik College to plan for the future growth and development of the College, thereby ensuring it continues to be a quality learning environment in which both pupils and staff thrive, planned marketing and fundraising strategies and activities are vital. . Personal information held by Bialik College may be disclosed to an organisation that assists in the College’s fund- and friendraising such as the College Council, Parents’ Association, the Alumni Association, Friends of Bialik, and such like.
Parents, staff, contractors and other members of the wider school community may from time to time receive fundraising information. School publications, like newsletters, magazines and other communication vehicles, which include personal information and photographs, may be used for marketing purposes.
To whom might Bialik College disclose personal information?
Bialik College may disclose personal information, including sensitive information, held about an individual to:
- Another school;
- Government departments;
- Medical practitioners;
- People providing services to Bialik College, including specialist visiting teachers and sports coaches;
- Recipients of school publications, like newsletters and magazines;
- Parents; and
- Anyone to whom you authorise Bialik College to disclose information.
Sending information overseas:
Bialik 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
- Otherwise complying with the National Privacy Principles.
How does Bialik College treat sensitive information?
In referring to “sensitive information”, Bialik College means: information relating to a person’s racial or ethnic origins, 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 purpose for which it was provided or a directly related secondary purpose, unless you agree otherwise, or the use or disclosure of that sensitive information is required or allowed by law.
Management and security of personal information
The staff of Bialik College are required to respect the confidentiality ofstudents’ and parents’ personal information and the privacy of individuals.
Bialik College has in place steps to protect the personal information the College holds from misuse, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure by use of various methods including locked storage of paper records and password protected access rights to computerised records.
Updating personal information:
Bialik College 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 Bialik College by contacting the Business Manager of Bialik College at any time.
The National Privacy Principles require Bialik College not to store personal information longer than necessary.
You have the right to check what personal information Bialik College holds about you:
Under the Commonwealth Privacy Act, an individual has the right to obtain access to any personal information that Bialik College holds about them and to advise the College of any perceived inaccuracy. There are some exceptions to this right set out in the Act. Students will generally have access to their personal information through their parents.
To make a request to access any information the College holds about you or your child, please contact the College’s Business Manager in writing.
Bialik College may require you to verify your identity and specify what information you require. A fee to cover the cost of verifying your application and locating, retrieving, reviewing and copying any material requested may be incurred. If the information sought is extensive, the College will advise the likely cost in advance.
Consent and rights of access to the personal information of students:
Bialik College respects every parent’s right to make decisions concerning their child’s education.
Generally, Bialik College will refer any request for consent and notices in relation to the personal information of a student to the student’s parents. The 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.
Parents may seek access to personal information held by Bialik College about them or their child by contacting the Business Manager. 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.
Bialik College may, at its discretion, on the request of a student, grant that student access to information held by the 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 student involved had reached 18 years of age, but the College may do so in other circumstances when the maturity of the student and/or the student’s personal circumstances so warranted.
Enquiries:
If you would like further information about the way Bialik College manages the personal information it holds, please contact the College’s Business Manager.