TAFE NSW Privacy Policy

Introduction

This Privacy Policy applies to the Technical and Further Education Commission (ABN 89 755 348 137), being a statutory body established under the Technical and Further Education Commission Act 1990 (NSW) (TAFE NSW, we, us or our).

TAFE NSW respects the personal information of the people it deals with, including its students, customers and service providers.  TAFE NSW handles your personal information in accordance with the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (NSW), the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 (NSW) and the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) where applicable.

Purpose

This Privacy Policy sets out how we generally collect, store, use and disclose your personal information, and your rights in relation to that personal information.

Policy

Personal information we collect and hold about you

We collect information about you when you use our products or services, or deal with us in some way. This includes collecting information when you contact us (for example, to enquire about a course of study), use our products or services (for example, when you enrol in a course or pay for one of our online products), visit our websites or use any of our facilities or systems.

The type of personal information which we may collect and hold about you will depend on the nature of our dealings with you, however may include:

• identification and contact information, including your name, address, date of birth, gender and citizenship status;
• health information and other sensitive information, including information about your racial and ethnic origin;
• financial information, including your tax file number and credit card details;
• information about your education and other related information if you are a student registered with us, including unique student identifier and course details;
• information about your employment history;
• background checks, including police checks and working with children checks if you apply for employment or other positions that require such checks;
• location information, including IP address and third party sites you access while using TAFE NSW facilities and systems; and
• information about how you use our products and services, including information you provide when giving feedback or in response to surveys or competitions.

How we collect your personal information

We may collect your personal information in a number of ways, including:

• directly from you or your authorised representatives (for example, when you or your authorised representative provide information to us or our representatives in person or by phone or email, in an application form, in a survey or competition form, when you apply for VET student loans, when you enrol in a TAFE NSW course, when you access or submit information through our websites, or when you otherwise transact with us);
• through the use of surveillance cameras on TAFE NSW sites;
• from third parties such as your employer and our business partners, subcontractors and other service providers we use in connection with your enrolment at TAFE NSW;
• from publicly available sources of information; and
• from social media sites and applications (for example, Facebook and Twitter) when you contact or otherwise engage with us through those sites and applications.

How we store your personal information

We take all reasonable security safeguards to ensure that your personal information is protected from unauthorised access, use, modification or disclosure. However, as the internet is not always secure, we cannot be responsible for the security of any information you transmit over the internet.

How we use your personal information

We may use your personal information for the purpose for which it was collected or for other purposes directly related to the purpose for which it was collected, or for such other purposes for which you have consented to from time to time, including:

• to ascertain or confirm your identity;
• to assess your eligibility to enrol with us, including any eligibility for funding or other assistance; 
• to assess and process any application for enrolment submitted to us
• to assess any applications for employment with us;
• to conduct appropriate credit and background checks;
• to assess any applications for employment with us;
• to communicate with you and your authorised representatives, including any nominated parent/guardian or homestay provider;
• to process a VET student loan application and submit information to the Australian Government – Department of Education and Training;
• to submit information to other government agencies, regulatory authorities, and other organisations as necessary;
• to facilitate any student / work placements with us, our customers or business partners;
• to provide our products and services to you (including related information);
• to assist you with your enquiries or to investigate any complaints, including any alleged misconduct or illegal activities;
• to improve our service delivery to you, including to improve or develop our products and services, to perform research and analysis and to conduct surveys;
• to administer and manage our business, including the products and services we provide to you and for billing and account purposes; and
• as permitted or required by law, including assisting law enforcement and government agencies and regulatory authorities.

If you choose not to provide your information to us for these purposes, you may not be able to enrol in a TAFE NSW course or receive certain products and services from us.

Direct marketing

We may also use your personal information so that we, our business partners and third party service providers can promote and market products, services and special offers, and advise you of news and industry updates, events, education programs, competitions and other information that we think will be of interest to you. This marketing may be carried in a variety of ways (including by email, SMS/MMS, social media or via our websites) and may continue after you cease acquiring any products or services from us until you opt-out by contacting us on 131 601 or by clicking the unsubscribe link included in the footer of our emails.

When we disclose your personal information

We may share your personal information within TAFE NSW to assist us in providing our products and services to you.

We may also disclose your personal information:

• if you are a school based apprentice/trainee or enrolled in a TAFE NSW delivered vocational education and training (TVET) course – to your school, the NSW Board of Studies and Australian Apprenticeship Centres;
• if you are an apprentice/trainee – to your employer (including their associated entities as necessary) and Australian Apprenticeship Centres; 
• if you are enrolled in TAFE NSW training paid for or arranged by your employer or another organisation – to your employer (including their associated entities as necessary) or that organisation; 
• if you are enrolled with TAFE NSW and undertaking training or work experience with another organisation – to that organisation;
• if you are enrolled in a TAFE NSW course which is eligible for articulation through a higher education provider – to that higher education provider, including the Universities Admission Centre as necessary; 
• if you are an international student – to the parties outlined in the terms and conditions agreed upon accepting a place with TAFE NSW;
• if you are under the age of 18 – to your parent/guardian, unless you have formally advised TAFE NSW not to provide this information;
• to government agencies and regulatory authorities, including law enforcement agencies and the National Centre for Vocational Education Research;
• to our agents, business partners and third party service providers, including other education and training providers that we work with to provide education and training;
• to credit-reporting bodies and debt collection agencies;
• to our insurers and professional advisers, including our accountants, auditors and lawyers;
• to third parties who assist us in managing, marketing or developing our business, including our products and services; and
• as permitted or required by law.

Some of your personal information may be disclosed, stored, processed or used outside of Australia by us or by our third party service providers. For example, your information may be disclosed to, or processed by, our third party service providers located in the United States of America, or other countries where their computer systems may be located from time to time.

Our websites

When you visit our websites, our systems may record certain information about you using cookies, web beacons and other analytical tools, including information about your use of those websites (for example, what pages and documents are viewed, the time and date of your visit and your content preferences), Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, transaction patterns, trends and other demographic information. We use this information for security purposes, and to help analyse and improve your service experience.

Cookies are small text files that may be stored on your computer, which are often used to remember your preferences and improve browsing experience. Web beacons are images that originate from a third party site to track visitor activities. If you are concerned about the use of these tools you can disable them on your web browser. However, doing this may mean that parts of the website may not perform as it should.

Links to other websites

Our websites may contain links to third party websites or applications made available by third parties. These third party websites or applications themselves may facilitate collection of information by those third parties. We are not responsible for those third party websites or applications and you access those websites and applications at your own risk. You should read the privacy statements associated with those third party websites or applications.

Accessing and updating your personal information

How to access your personal information

If you wish to access any of your personal information that we hold, you will need to complete and sign a Request for Access to Personal Information form and email it to us at privacy@tafensw.edu.au. The Request for Access to Personal Information form is available on our website at www.tafensw.edu.au. We may also need to confirm your identity before we release any personal information to you, which may involve us requesting you to provide a certified copy of appropriate photo identification.

There is no fee to request a copy of your personal information, however if the volume of information is excessive, we may charge you our reasonable administrative costs (including fees for photocopying), which we will notify you of beforehand.

How to update your personal information

It is important for us to have correct information and we take reasonable steps to ensure that all personal information we hold is accurate. You can contact us to confirm and amend your personal information (including your contact information) by contacting our Privacy Officer by email at privacy@tafensw.edu.au.

How to contact us or make a privacy complaint

If you have a query or concern about this Privacy Policy or how we manage your personal information, or wish to make a complaint in relation to a breach of your privacy, you can contact our Privacy Officer by email at privacy@tafensw.edu.au.

We take all privacy complaints seriously and will investigate your complaint in a confidential manner. We will inform you of the outcome of the investigation within a reasonable period of time.

Definitions

Changes to this Privacy

From time to time, we may need to change this Privacy Policy. If we do so, we will post the updated version on our website at www.tafensw.edu.au, and it will apply to all your personal information held by us at that time.

TAFE NSW 19 Mary Ann Street, Ultimo 2007.

_{Last updated: 7 February 2020}