International Grammar School (IGS) Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy sets out how International Grammar School (IGS) manages personal information provided to or collected by it.

The School is bound by the Australian Privacy Principles contained in the Commonwealth Privacy Act 1988. In relation to health records, the School is also bound by NSW legislation as follows Health Privacy Principles which are contained in the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 (NSW) (Health Records Act).

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

What kinds of personal information does the School collect and how does the School collect it?

The type of information the School collects and holds includes (but is not limited to) personal information, including health and other sensitive information, about:

• pupils and parents and/or guardians (‘Parents’) before, during and after the course of a pupil’s enrolment at the School, including:

• name, contact details (including next of kin), date of birth, gender, language background, previous school and religion (if applicable)
• parents’ education, occupation and language background
• medical information (e.g. details of disability and/or allergies, absence notes, medical reports and names of doctors)
• conduct and complaint records, or other behaviour notes, and school reports
• information about referrals to government welfare agencies
• counselling reports
• health fund details and Medicare number
• any court orders
• volunteering information and
• photos and digital recordings at School events

• job applicants, staff members, volunteers and contractors, including:

• name, contact details (including next of kin), and date of birth
• information on job application
• professional development history
• salary and payment information, including superannuation details
• medical information (eg details of disability and/or allergies, and medical certificates)
• complaint records and investigation reports
• leave details  
• photos and digital recordings at School events
• workplace surveillance information
• work emails and private emails (when using work email address) and Internet browsing history.

• other people who come into contact with the School, including name and contact details and any other information necessary for the particular contact with the School.

Personal Information you provide

The School 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, emails and telephone calls. On occasions people other than Parents and pupils provide personal information.

Personal Information provided by other people

In some circumstances the School 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

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

How will the School use the personal information you provide?

The School 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 by you, or to which you have consented.

Students and Parents

In relation to personal information of students and parents, the School’s primary purpose of collection is to enable the School to provide schooling to pupils enrolled at the school, exercise its duty of care, and perform necessary associated administrative activities, which will enable pupils to take part in all the activities of the School. This includes satisfying the needs of Parents, the needs of the pupil and the needs of the School throughout the whole period the pupil is enrolled at the School.

The purposes for which the School uses personal information of students and parents include:

• to keep parents informed about matters related to their child’s schooling, through correspondence, newsletters, magazines and digital communications
• day-to-day administration of the School
• looking after students’ educational, social and medical wellbeing
• seeking donations and marketing for the School and
• to satisfy the School’s legal obligations and allow the School to discharge its duty of care.

In some cases where the School requests personal information about a student or parent, if the information requested is not provided, the School may not be able to enrol or continue the enrolment of the pupil or permit the pupil to take part in a particular activity.

Job applicants and contractors

In relation to personal information of job applicants and contractors, the School’s primary purpose of collection is to assess and (if successful) to engage the applicant or contractor, as the case may be.

The purposes for which the School uses personal information of job applicants and contractors include:

• administering the individual’s employment or contract, as the case may be for insurance purposes
• satisfying the School’s legal obligations, for example, in relation to child protection legislation.

Volunteers

The School also obtains personal information about volunteers who assist the School in its functions or conduct associated activities, such as [alumni associations], to enable the School and the volunteers to work together.

Marketing and fundraising

The School 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 provide a quality learning environment in which both pupils and staff thrive. Personal information held by the School may be disclosed to affiliated organisations that assist in the School’s fundraising, for example, the School’s alumni organisation or Parents, Teachers & Friends Association (PTF), or on occasions, external fundraising organisations.

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 digital communications, which include personal information, may be used for marketing purposes.

Who might the School disclose personal information to and store your information with?

The School may disclose personal information, including sensitive information, held about an
individual for educational, administrative and support purposes. This may include to:

• other schools and teachers at those schools
• government departments (including for policy and funding purposes)
• medical practitioners
• people providing educational, support and health services to the School, including specialist visiting teachers, co-curricular coaches, volunteers, and counsellors
• providers of learning and assessment tools
• assessment and educational authorities, including the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) and NAPLAN Test Administration Authorities (who will disclose it to the entity that manages the online platform for NAPLAN)
• people providing administrative and financial services to the School
• recipients of School publications, such as newsletters and magazines
• pupils’ parents or guardians
• anyone you authorise the School to disclose information to and
• anyone to whom we are required or authorised to disclose the information to by law, including child protection laws.

Sending and storing information overseas

The School may disclose personal information about an individual to overseas recipients, for instance, to facilitate a school exchange. However, the School 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 or other applicable privacy Legislation.

The School may use online or ‘cloud’ service providers to store personal information and to provide services to the School that involve the use of personal information, such as services relating to email, instant messaging and education and assessment applications. Some limited personal information may also be provided to these service providers to enable them to authenticate users that access their services. This personal information may be stored in the ‘cloud’ which means that it may reside on a cloud service provider’s servers which may be situated outside Australia. An example of such a cloud service provider is Google.

How does the School treat sensitive information?

In referring to ‘sensitive information’, the School means: information relating to a person’s racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religion, trade union or other professional or trade association membership, philosophical beliefs, sexual orientation or practices or criminal record, that is also personal information; health information and biometric 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 the sensitive information is allowed by law.

Management and security of personal information

The School’s staff are required to respect the confidentiality of pupils’ and Parents’ personal information and the privacy of individuals.

The School has in place steps to protect the personal information the School holds from misuse, interference and loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure by use of various methods including locked storage of paper records and password access rights to computerised records.

Access and correction of personal information

Under the Commonwealth Privacy Act and the Health Records Act, an individual has the right to seek and obtain access to any personal information which the School holds about them and to advise the School of any perceived inaccuracy. Pupils will generally be able to access and update their personal information through their Parents, but older pupils may seek access and correction themselves.

There are some exceptions to these rights set out in the applicable legislation.

To make a request to access or to update any personal information the School holds about you or your child, please contact privacy@igssyd.nsw.edu.au or the Director of Media and Communications, the IGS Privacy Officer, by telephone or in writing. The School may require you to verify your identity and specify what information you require. The School may charge a fee to cover the cost of verifying your application and locating, retrieving, reviewing and copying any material requested.

If the information sought is extensive, the School will advise the likely cost in advance. If we cannot provide you with access to that information, we will provide you with written notice explaining the reasons for refusal.

Consent and rights of access to the personal information of pupils

The School respects every Parent’s right to make decisions concerning their child’s education. Generally, the School will refer any requests for consent and notices in relation to the personal information of a pupil to the pupil’s Parents. The School 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.

Parents may seek access to personal information held by the School about them or their child by contacting the School Principal by telephone or in writing.

However, there may 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 School’s duty of care to the pupil.

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

Enquiries and complaints

If you would like further information about the way the School manages the personal information it holds, or wish to complain that you believe that the School has breached the Australian Privacy Principles please contact the School Principal in writing or by telephone. The School will investigate any complaint and will notify you of the making of a decision in relation to your complaint as soon as is practicable after it has been made.