Privacy policy

Rosebank College promotes an inclusive, welcoming environment for children and provides transparent, accountable, risk-based approaches to ensure child safeguarding.

The Privacy Policy details how we protect your privacy and how we comply with the requirements of the Privacy Act 1988 and the 13 Australian Privacy Principles, as well as the requirements of the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 (NSW).

1. Your Privacy is Important

1.1 This statement outlines the policy adopted by Rosebank College on how the College uses and manages personal information provided to or collected by it.

1.2 Rosebank College is bound by the Australian Privacy Principles contained in the Commonwealth Privacy Acts

1.3 The College may, from time to time, review and update this Privacy Policy to take account of new laws and technology, changes to Schools’ operations and practices and to make sure it remains appropriate to the changing School environment.

2. What Kind of Personal Information does the School Collect and How Does the School Collect it?

2.1 The type of information the College collects and hold includes (but is not limited to) personal information, including sensitive and health information, about:

• Pupils and parents and/or guardians (`parents’) before, during and after the course of a pupil’s enrolment at the school;
• Job applicants, staff members, volunteers and contractors; and
• Other people who come into contact with the school.

Personal information may be defined as information or an opinion about a person which may identify a person. Sensitive information may be defined as personal information that is given extra protection and treated with extra care. This may include information about race, political opinions, religious beliefs or associations, membership of professional associations or unions, sexual orientation and health records. Health information is a subset of sensitive information. This relates to conditions, matters relating to treatment and preferences regarding treatment. It also relates to matters relating to provision of a health service.

2.2 The Privacy Act regulates records. A record includes a written document or an electronic or other device. Please refer to the College Surveillance Policy with regards to the collection of personal information through the use of surveillance technology and closed circuit television (CCTV).

2.3 Personal information you provide – the College will generally collect personal information held about an individual by way of forms filled out by parents or pupils, face-to-face meetings and interviews, and telephone On occasions people other than parents and pupils provide personal information.

2.4 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.   
Sometimes we may be provided with your personal information without having sought it through our normal means of collection. We refer to this as “unsolicited information”. Where we collect unsolicited information we will only hold, use and/or disclose that information if we could otherwise do so had we collected it by normal means. If that unsolicited information could not have been collected by normal means then we will destroy, permanently delete or de-identify the information as appropriate.

2.5 Under the Privacy Act, the Australian Privacy Principles do not apply to an employee As a result, this Privacy Policy does not apply to the College treatment of an employee record, where the treatment is directly related to a current or former employment relationship between Rosebank College and an employee.

3. How will Rosebank College use the Personal Information you Provide?   
The 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.

3.1 Pupils and Parents – In relation to personal information of pupils and parents, the College’s primary purpose of collection is to enable the College to provide schooling for the This includes satisfying both the needs of parents and the needs of the pupil throughout the whole period the pupil is enrolled at the College.

3.2 The Purposes for which the College uses Personal Information of Pupils and Parents Include:

• To keep parents informed about matters related to their child’s Schooling, through correspondence, newsletter and magazines;
• Day-to-day administration;
• Looking after pupils’ educational, social, spiritual and medical wellbeing;
• Seeking donations and marketing for the College;
• To satisfy the school’s legal obligations and allow the College to discharge its duty of care.

3.3 In some cases where the College requests personal information about a pupil or parent, if the information requested is not obtained, the College may not be able to enrol or continue the enrolment of the pupil.

Job Applicants, Staff members and Contractors – in relation to personal information of job applicants, staff members and contractors, the 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 the 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 for the school;
• To satisfy the school’s legal obligations, for example, in relation to Child Protection legislation.

3.5 Volunteers – the school also obtains personal information about volunteers who assist the College in its functions or conduct and associated activities, such as Alumni organisations or Parents and Friends Associations, to enable the school and the volunteers to work together.

3.6 Marketing and Fundraising – the College treats marketing and seeking donations for the future growth and development of the school as an important part of ensuring that the school continues to be a quality learning environment in which both pupils and staff Personal information held by the school may be disclosed to an organisation that assists in the College’s fundraising, for example, the College’s Parents and Friends Association or Alumni organisation.

3.7 Parents, staff, contractors and other members of the wider school community may from time to time receive fundraising College publications, like newsletters and magazines, which include personal information, may be used for marketing purposes.

3.8 We may disclose this information to any of those mentioned above where another permitted general situation or permitted health situation exception applies.

4. Who Might the College Disclose Personal Information to?

4.1 The College may disclose personal information, including sensitive information, held about an individual to:

• Another school;
• Government departments;
• A local parish;
• Medical practitioners;
• People providing services to the College, including visiting teachers and sports coaches;
• Recipients of College publications, like newsletters and magazines;
• Parents; and
• Anyone you authorise the College to disclose information to
• Anyone to whom we are required to disclose information to by law

4.2 Sending information overseas – the 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 Australian Privacy Principles.

The College may also store information in the “cloud” which may mean that it resides on servers that are situated outside Australia

5. How Does the College Treat Sensitive Information?

5.1 In referring to ‘sensitive information’, the College means: information relating to a person’s racial or ethnic origin, 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.

5.2 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.

6. Management and Security of Personal Information

6.1 The College’s staff are required to respect the confidentiality of pupils’ and parents’ personal information and the privacy of individuals.

6.2 The 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 passworded access rights to computerised records.

7. Updating Personal Information

7.1 The College endeavours to ensure that the personal information it holds is accurate, complete and up-to-date.

7.2 A person may seek to update their personal information held by the College by contacting the Registrar at any time.

7.3 The Australian Privacy Principles require the College not to store personal information longer than necessary.

8. You Have the Right to Check what Personal Information the College holds about you

8.1 Under the Commonwealth Privacy Act, an individual has the right to obtain access to any personal information, which the College holds, about them and to advise the College of any perceived inaccuracy.

8.2 There are some exceptions to this right set out in the Act:

• Pupils will generally have access to their personal information thought their parents, but older pupils may seek access themselves;
• To make a request to access any information to the College holds about you or your child, the College’s Principal should be contacted in writing;
• The College may require you to verify your identity and specify what information you require;
• The College may charge a fee to cover the cost of verifying your application and locating, retrieving, reviewing and copying any material If the information sought is extensive, the College will advise the likely cost in advance.

9. Consent and Rights of Access to the Personal Information of Pupils

9.1 The College respects every parent’s right to make decisions concerning their child’s pupil.

9.2 Generally, the College will refer any requests for consent and notices in relation to the personal information of a pupil to the pupil’s The College will treat consent given by parents as consent given on behalf of the pupil, and notice to parents will act as notice given to the pupil.

9.3 Parents may seek access to personal information held by the College about them or their child by contacting the 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 pupil.

9.4 The College may, at its discretion, on the request of a pupil grant that pupil access to information held by the College about them, or allow a pupil to give or withhold consent to the use of their personal information, independently of their This would normally be done only when the maturity of the pupil and/ or the pupil’s personal circumstances so warranted.

10. Enquiries and Complaints   
The College welcomes your feedback. If you would like further information regarding the way Rosebank College manages the personal information it holds, or wish to complain that you believe Rosebank College has breached the Australian Privacy principles, please contact the College Privacy Office by email on privacy@rosebank.nsw.edu.au or telephone (02) 9713 3126. Rosebank College will investigate any complaint and will notify you of a decision in relation to your complaints soon as practicable after it has been made.

Policy Updated On: June 2020

Date of next Formal Review: 2022