Privacy policy

Your Privacy is Important to Us
Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium is bound by and adheres to the National Privacy Principles contained in the Commonwealth Privacy Act and as such this statement outlines how Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium uses and manages personal information provided to or collected by it.

This Privacy Policy will from time to time be reviewed and updated to take account of new laws and technology, changes to Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium’s operations and practices and to make sure it remains appropriate to our changing environment.

What kind of personal information does Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium collect and how does Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium collect it?
The type of information Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium collects and holds includes (but is not limited to) personal information, including sensitive information about:

  • Students and parents and/or guardians before, during and after the course of a student’s enrolment at Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium;
  • Job applicants, staff members, volunteers and contractors; and
  • Other people who come into contact with Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium

Personal Information you provide
Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium will generally collect personal information held about an individual by way of forms filled out online by Parents, Carers or Students, in person over the counter or by telephone. On occasion, people other than Parents, Carers and students may provide personal information.

Personal Information provided by other people
In some circumstances Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium may be provided with personal information about an individual from a third party, for example a reference from another school or tutor.

Exception in Relation to Employee Records
Under the Privacy Act the National Privacy Principles do not apply to an employee record. As a result, this Privacy Policy does not apply to Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium’s treatment of an employee record, where the treatment is directly related to a current or former employment relationship between Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium and an employee.

How will Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium use the Personal Information you provide?
Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium will use personal information it collects from you for the primary purpose of enrolling a student in a program at Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium, and for such other secondary purposes that are related to the primary purpose and reasonably expected, or to which you have consented, such as to communicate with the parent/carer/student regarding fees, activities, cancellations or other important information.

Students and Parents
In relation to personal information of students and Parents or Carers, Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium’s primary purpose of collection is to enable the music education of your child. This includes satisfying both the needs of Parents and Carers and the needs of the student throughout the whole period the student is enrolled at Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium.

The purposes for which Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium uses personal information of students and Parents include:

  • To keep Parents and Carers informed about matters related to their child’s music education, through correspondence, newsletters and magazines;
  • Day-to-day administration;
  • Looking after students’ educational, social and medical well-being and safety;
  • Seeking donations and marketing for Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium;
  • To satisfy Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium’s legal obligations and allow Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium to discharge its duty of care;
  • For reporting statistics to the Department of Education (personal names are not included but we will divulge details such as ethnicity, age, and Aboriginality for this purpose;
  • If required, parent or carer information may be sent to an external debt collection agency for the recovery of fees.

In some cases where Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium requests personal information about a student or Parent or Carer, if the information requested is not obtained, Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium may not be able to enrol or continue the enrolment of the student.

Job Applicants, Staff Members and Contractors
In relation to personal information of job applicants, staff members and contractors, Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium’s primary purpose of collection is to assess and engage a suitable applicant, staff member or contractor. The purposes for which Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium uses the personal information of job applicants, staff members and contractors include:

  • In administering the individual’s employment or contract, as the case may be;
  • For insurance purposes;
  • For reporting to the Department of Education;
  • To satisfy Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium’s legal obligations, for example, in relation to child protection legislation.

Volunteers
Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium also obtains personal information about volunteers who assist in its functions or conduct associated activities such as building maintenance, office administration, marketing activities, to enable Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium and the volunteers to work together.

Marketing and Fundraising
Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium treats marketing and seeking donations for its future growth and development as an important part of ensuring that Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium continues to be a quality learning environment in which both students and staff thrive. Parents, carers, staff, contractors and other members of the wider Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium community may from time to time receive fundraising information.

Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium publications, such as newsletters and magazines, which include personal information, may be used for marketing purposes.

Who might Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium disclose Personal Information to?
Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium may disclose personal information, including sensitive information, held about an individual to:

  • A school;
  • Government departments;
  • Medical practitioners;
  • People providing services to Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium, including for example, specialist visiting teachers;
  • Recipients of Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium publications, like newsletters and magazines;
  • Outside debt collection agencies for non-payment of fees;
  • Parents or Carers; and
  • Anyone you authorise Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium to disclose information to.

How does Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium treat Sensitive Information?
In referring to ‘sensitive information’, Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium means: information relating to a person’s racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religion, trade union or other professional or trade association membership, sexual preferences or criminal record, that is also personal information; and health 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
Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium’s staff are required to respect the confidentiality of students’ and Parents’ and Carers’  personal information and the privacy of individuals.

Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium has in place steps to protect the personal information held from misuse, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure by use of various methods including locked storage or paper records and pass-worded access rights to computerised records.

Updating Personal Information
Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium is required to ensure that the personal information records it holds are accurate, complete and up-to-date, particularly in terms of the ATO, superannuation and in times of emergency. A Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium staff member must update their personal information held by Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium by contacting the administration.

The National Privacy Principles require Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium not to store personal information longer than necessary.

You have the right to check what personal information Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium holds about you.

Under the Commonwealth Privacy Act, an individual has the right to obtain access to any personal information which Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium holds about them and to advise Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium of any perceived inaccuracy. There are some exceptions to this right set out in the Act. Students will generally have access to their personal information through their Parents or Carers, but older students may seek access themselves. To make a request to access any information Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium holds about you or your child, please contact the Director in writing.

Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium may require you to verify your identity and specify what information you require. Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium 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, Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium will advise the likely cost in advance.

Consent and Rights of Access to the Personal Information of Students
Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium respects every Parent or Carer’s right to make decisions concerning their child’s education. Generally, Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium will refer any requests for consent and notices in relation to the personal information of the student to the student’s Parents or Carers. Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium will treat consent given by Parents or Carers as consent given on behalf of the student, and notice to Parents or Carers will act as notice given to the student.

Parents or Carers may seek access to personal information held by Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium about them or their child by contacting the Director. However, there will 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 Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium’s duty of care to the student.

Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium may, at its discretion, on the request of a student grant that student access to information held by Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium about them, or allow a student to give or withhold consent to the use of their personal information, independently of their Parents  or Carers. This would normally be done only when the maturity of the student and/or the student’s personal circumstances so warranted.

Standard Collection Notice
In respect of collecting information of a personal or sensitive nature the following Standard Collection Notice shall apply:

  • Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium collects personal information including sensitive information about students and parents or carers before and during the course of a student’s enrolment at Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium. The primary purpose of collecting this information is to enable Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium to provide musical education for your son/daughter. This includes satisfying the needs of parents and carers and the needs of the student throughout the whole period he/she is enrolled.
  • Some of the information we collect is to satisfy Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium’s legal obligations, particularly to enable Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium to discharge its duty of care.
  • 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.
  • Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium, from time to time has to disclose certain personal information and sensitive information to others. This includes government departments, medical practitioners, publications and people providing services to Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium, including specialist visiting teachers.
  • If we do not obtain the information referred to above we may not be able to continue the enrolment of your son/daughter.
  • Personal information collected from students is regularly disclosed to their parents and carers. On occasions it is published in Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium’s website, newsletters and magazines.
  • Parents  or Carers may seek access to personal information collected about them and their children by contacting Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium. However, there will be occasions when access is denied. Such occasions would include where the release would have an unreasonable impact on the privacy of others or where release may result in a breach of Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium’s duty of care to the student.
  • If you provide Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium with the personal information of others, such as doctors or emergency contacts, you should inform them that you are disclosing that information to Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium and why, that they can access that information if they wish and Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium does not usually disclose the information to third parties.

Enquiries
If you would like further information about the way Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium manages the personal information it holds, please contact the Director.