Privacy

OPEC College considers student privacy to be of utmost importance and will practise a high standard of care and concern in regard to maintaining student privacy in all aspects of business operations.

The Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2012 (Privacy Amendment Act) made many significant changes to the Privacy Act 1988 (Privacy Act). These changes commenced on 12 March 2014. The Privacy Regulation 2013, made under the Privacy Act, also commenced on 12 March 2014.

Privacy Principles that are strictly applied to all aspects of OPEC College operations include:

Collection

OPEC College will only collect necessary information pertaining to one or more specific operations. The student will be informed as to the purpose for which details are being collected.

Use and disclosure

OPEC College will ensure student personal information is not used or disclosed for secondary purposes without obtaining explicit consent from the student, unless a prescribed exception applies. Student consent must be obtained in writing from the student, unless the student is under the age of 18 years, in which case written consent from their parent or guardian must be obtained. Consent to disclosure of information forms and / or letters will be recorded.

Data quality

OPEC College will take all reasonable measures to ensure that all students’ personal information that is collected, used or disclosed is accurate, current and complete.

Data security

OPEC College will take all reasonable measures to ensure all collected students’ personal information is protected from misuse, loss or damage, and that all data and record storage is secure from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

Openness

OPEC College will maintain documentation which detail how students’ personal information is collected, managed and used. When a student makes an enquiry in relation to information collected, OPEC College will explain what information is held, for what purpose it is held and what procedures outline the collection and use of information.

Access and correction

OPEC College will allow students access to personal information held in all circumstances unless prescribed exceptions apply. If the student identifies errors within the information, OPEC College will correct and update to file.

Unique identifiers

OPEC College will not assign students unique student number identifiers except when it is necessary for efficiency of operations. Commonwealth Government identifiers, such as the Unique Student Identifier, Medicare numbers or Tax File Numbers, will only be used for the purposes for which they were issued.

Anonymity

OPEC College will provide students the opportunity to interact with the business without requiring the student to make their identity known in any circumstances it is practical and possible to do so.

Trans-border data flows

OPEC College privacy protection principles apply to the transfer of data throughout Australia.

Sensitive information

OPEC College will request specific consent from a student in circumstances where it is necessary to collect sensitive information. Sensitive information may include but is not limited to; information relating to a student’s health, criminal record, racial or ethnic background.

Why we collect your personal information

As a registered training organisation (RTO), we collect your personal information so we can process and manage your enrolment in a vocational education and training (VET) course with us.

How we use your personal information

We use your personal information to enable us to deliver VET courses to you, and otherwise, as needed, to comply with our obligations as an RTO.

How we disclose your personal information

We are required by law (under the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act 2011 (Cth) (NVETR Act)) to disclose the personal information we collect about you to the National VET Data Collection kept by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research Ltd (NCVER). The NCVER is responsible for collecting, managing, analysing and communicating research and statistics about the Australian VET sector.

We are also authorised by law (under the NVETR Act) to disclose your personal information to the relevant state or territory training authority.

How the NCVER and other bodies handle your personal information

The NCVER will collect, hold, use and disclose your personal information in accordance with the law, including the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act) and the NVETR Act. Your personal information may be used and disclosed by NCVER for purposes that include populating authenticated VET transcripts; administration of VET; facilitation of statistics and research relating to education, including surveys and data linkage; and understanding the VET market.

The NCVER is authorised to disclose information to the Australian Government Department of Education, Skills and Employment (DESE), Commonwealth authorities, State and Territory authorities (other than registered training organisations) that deal with matters relating to VET and VET regulators for the purposes of those bodies, including to enable:

administration of VET, including program administration, regulation, monitoring and evaluation
facilitation of statistics and research relating to education, including surveys and data linkage
understanding how the VET market operates, for policy, workforce planning and consumer information.

The NCVER may also disclose personal information to persons engaged by NCVER to conduct research on NCVER’s behalf.

The NCVER does not intend to disclose your personal information to any overseas recipients.

For more information about how the NCVER will handle your personal information please refer to the NCVER’s Privacy Policy at www.ncver.edu.au/privacy.

If you would like to seek access to or correct your information, in the first instance, please contact your RTO using the contact details listed below.

DESE is authorised by law, including the Privacy Act and the NVETR Act, to collect, use and disclose your personal information to fulfil specified functions and activities. For more information about how the DESE will handle your personal information, please refer to the DESE VET Privacy Notice at https://www.dese.gov.au/national-vet-data/vet-privacy-notice.

Surveys

You may receive a student survey which may be run by a government department or an NCVER employee, agent, third-party contractor or another authorised agency. Please note you may opt out of the survey at the time of being contacted.