Melbourne Indigenous Transition School (MITS) Privacy Policy
1.1 Background and Scope Melbourne Indigenous Transition School (MITS) is committed to protecting the privacy of the personal information it collects and receives and complies with the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act).
This policy explains how MITS collects, uses, discloses and otherwise handles personal information relating to individuals, whether or not they are students, guardians, parents, staff or volunteers. It also explains how you can ask to access and correct the personal information we hold about you or complain about any suspected privacy breach. Nothing in this policy limits any of our other obligations at law.
1.2 Collection of personal information MITS collects personal information, including sensitive information about students and parents or guardians before and during the course of a student’s enrolment at MITS. We will only collect information that is necessary for us to provide schooling and residential care. This includes satisfying the needs of parents and guardians and the needs of the student throughout the whole period they are enrolled. MITS also collects information about staff and volunteers.
This includes information relating to education, employment history, banking, taxation and WorkSafe Victoria as well past history including assessment and background verification. We may collect personal information:
• from the information supplied by you to MITS;
• in conversation and communication with you;
• from third parties including employees, government entities, related companies or your representatives;
• from publicly available sources of information;
• when we are required to do so by law; or
• from our own records of your engagement with MITS.
MITS will only collect sensitive information where it is reasonably necessary for our core functions or activities. Wherever possible, we will collect information directly from you. Where we collect information from a third party, we will advise you of this as soon as possible after the event. It is your responsibility to advise us of any changes to your personal details to ensure we can keep our records accurate and up to date. If you choose not to provide us with the requested information, we may not be able to process your request.
1.3 Health Information Health information about students is sensitive information within the terms of the National Privacy Principles under the Privacy Act. We require medical reports about students from time to time. If you do not consent to us obtaining this information you must advise us.
1.4 Use and Disclosure of Personal Information Your personal information is only provided to other entities to the extent necessary to enable us to provide services to you and to the extent required by law. Your personal information may be used by us or our associates to:
• provide education, schooling and residential care to you;
• collect payments and to administer your account;
• provide you with updated or new information about MITS; or
• maintain and update our business infrastructure and systems. In providing our products and services, or collecting and using your personal information, your personal information may be disclosed to third party organisations including:
• to satisfy MITS’s legal obligations, particularly to enable MITS to discharge its duty of care;
• as required by law governing or relating to the operation of schools, government agencies, law enforcement bodies and courts, medical practitioners, including specialist visiting teachers, coaches and volunteers;
• our legal, accounting, financial or other professional advisors;
• members of MITS Board and advisory committees;
• information technology service providers;
• publications and people providing services to MITS such as events organisers, mailing houses, printers, freight and courier services;
• insurers used by MITS; and
• financial institutions and external payment systems operators.
1.5 Quality of Personal Information MITS takes reasonable steps to make sure that the personal information we collect, use or disclose is accurate, complete and up-to-date. However, the accuracy of that information depends to a large extent on the information you provide. We recommend that you:
• let us know if there are any errors in your personal information
• keep us up-to-date with changes to your information If you provide MITS with the personal information of others, such as doctors or emergency contacts, you should inform them that you are disclosing that information to MITS and why, so that they can access that information if they wish and MITS does not usually disclose the information to third parties.
1.6 Security of Personal Information We take reasonable steps to protect your personal information we hold from misuse, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. We will take reasonable steps to destroy or permanently de-identify personal information if it is no longer needed for any purpose for which the information may be used or disclosed. MITS is not responsible for the privacy or security of third party websites that you access via links on the MITS website.
1.7 Access to Personal Information and Complaints You are able to access your personal information that we hold, with some exceptions as allowed by law.
Occasions in which access will be denied include those where the release would have an unreasonable impact on the privacy of others or where release may result in a breach of MITS’s duty of care to the student. To obtain a copy of your personal information, write to the MITS requesting the information.
If you have a complaint about how MITS has collected, stored or used your personal information, please contact MITS's and we will endeavour to deal with your complaint and take any steps necessary to resolve the matter within 5 business days.
For information contact MITS by email: mailto:edward.tudor@mits.vic.edu.auadmin@mits.vic.edu.au
