Conditions of information collection and privacy
The Anglican Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn (the Diocese) collects personal information, including sensitive information about students and parents / guardians before and during the course of a student’s enrolment at any Diocese School or Early Learning Centre. Information is collected in accordance with the following conditions.
- The Diocese will generally collect personal information about an individual using forms completed by parents or students, face-to-face meetings, interviews, and telephone calls.
- In relation to personal information of students and parents, the Diocese’s primary purpose of collection is to enable it to provide schooling for the student.
- Some of the information the Diocese collects is to satisfy the Diocese’s legal obligations, particularly to enable it to discharge its duty of care.
- Laws governing or relating to the operation of a school require certain information to be collected and disclosed. These include relevant Education, Public Health and Child Protection laws with which the Diocese complies as relevant.
- The Diocese 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 or previous school reports.
- The Diocese may request medical reports about students from time to time. Health information about students is classified as sensitive information within the terms of the Australian Privacy Principles under the Privacy Act.
- When necessary, the Diocese may disclose personal and sensitive information to others for administrative and educational purposes, including to facilitate the transfer of a student to another school. This includes to other schools, government departments, medical practitioners, and people providing services to the Diocese including specialist visiting teachers, [sports] coaches, volunteers and counsellors.
- Personal information collected from students is regularly disclosed to their parents / guardians.
- The Diocese is permitted under legislation to provide non-educational material to a parent where the student would reasonably expect this to happen. Under the Privacy Act, the Diocese will consider the age of the student, the nature of the information, and the student’s expectations about what information might be disclosed.
- The information would only be shared where it is legal to do so and only if necessary for the Diocese to fulfil its functions or its legal obligations, including those of duty of care. Where personal information is shared with a third party, only the information that needs to be disclosed is shared, not necessarily all information relating to that person.
- The Diocese and its staff respect the confidentiality of students’ and parents’ personal information and the privacy of individuals. Various School policies reiterate the need for confidentiality and care in the management of personal information and sanctions exist for breach
of these rules. - The Diocese has in place procedures to protect the personal information it holds from misuse, loss, unauthorised access, unauthorised modification or disclosure.