Learner privacy notice

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 and to our government funders.

We are required by law, under the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act 2011 (Cth), 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. Please refer to the NCVER notification.

As a recipient of government funding from the Australian Government Department of Social Services (DSS), we are also required to disclose personal information via the Data Exchange. Please refer to the DSS standard notification.

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.

The information that we collect from you on our enrolment forms includes your personal information. Your personal information is protected by law, including by the Commonwealth Privacy Act

Our use of the Data Exchange

The client record system that we are using is an IT system called the ‘Data Exchange’. This system is hosted by the Australian Government Department of Social Services (DSS). Your personal information that is stored by DSS on the Data Exchange will only be disclosed to us for the purposes of managing your case.

DSS will only collect your personal information with your consent

Your client record can be set up to include your name and address. This assists us to manage your record but will require DSS to collect personal information about you. You are not required to provide your name and address to DSS. If you do not consent to the collection of your personal information, this will not affect the services provided to you. You can ask for this information to be removed by DSS at any time.

How DSS uses and discloses personal information in the Data Exchange

DSS uses your information in the Data Exchange to produce information for policy development, grants program administration, and research and evaluation purposes. DSS also shares data with organisations and agencies for reporting and research purposes. DSS de-identifies all data before use or disclosure so that it cannot be used to re-identify you.

Further information

For more information about how DSS will manage your personal information, including how you can request access or correction of your personal information or make a privacy complaint, see the privacy policy published on the DSS website.

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.

If you wish to contact Lifeline Australia about a privacy matter or are concerned about the way your personal information has been handled by us, you can lodge a written request or complaint with the Privacy Officer at either of the following addresses:

Postal Address: PO Box R1084, ROYAL EXCHANGE NSW 1225 or
Email Address: [email protected] 

If you are dissatisfied with the investigation of your concerns, you can lodge a complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/privacy-complaints/ who is independent of Lifeline Australia.