Privacy policy

Nationally consistent collection of data on school students with disability (NCCD) Portal

Last updated 11 December 2018

Education Services Australia Limited (ESA) is committed to protecting the privacy of personal data. This privacy policy explains how ESA collects and uses your personal data and your rights and options in relation to such collection and use.

ESA safeguards your privacy by complying with its obligations in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act) and its international obligations.

The Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) in the Privacy Act regulate how organisations such as ESA may collect, use, disclose and store personal information and how individuals may access and correct such information.

Information on Australian privacy law can be found on the website of the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner This link will open in a new window.

In this privacy policy, you or your refers to the individual reading this privacy policy or those people whose personal information ESA collects, uses and discloses in accordance with this privacy policy.

This privacy policy specifically covers ESA’s handling of personal information collected for the purpose of delivering the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD) portal. Read ESA’s general privacy policy.

What is personal information?

Personal information is defined in subsection 6(1) of the Privacy Act as: This link will open in a new window

'information or an opinion (including information or an opinion forming part of a database), whether true or not, and whether recorded in a material form or not, about an individual whose identity is apparent, or can reasonably be ascertained, from the information or opinion.'

Handling of personal information

Collection

In general, ESA collects personal information about you directly from you or from your authorised representative. There are various ways in which ESA collects personal information from you or your authorised representatives such as when you:

make an enquiry or contact ESA; or
register on the NCCD portal to create a profile and have access to features only available to registered users (note, you may choose to use a pseudonym to register but using a pseudonym will prevent you from receiving accreditation for completing professional learning).

Sometimes ESA collects personal information from a third party or a publicly available source, but only if you have consented to such collection or would reasonably expect ESA to collect your personal information in this way.

The personal information that ESA collects may include your first name and last name, email address, job title, sector (Government, independent or Catholic), State or Territory, postcode, school level and school name.

ESA only collects personal information where that information is necessary for fulfilling its role of delivering the NCCD portal. Specifically ESA collects personal information from Australian teachers, principals, school support staff (including allied health professionals) and parents, carers and guardians, if they choose to register on the NCCD portal and provide their personal information, for the purpose of:

personalising the user experience;
customising content and resources;
providing a discussion forum to registered users where the name registered by a user will appear when such registered user posts or answers a question;
identifying that a user has commenced or completed a professional learning module or activity and the results of that activity; and
disclosure to jurisdictions for recognition of school staff for professional learning.

Log information (browsing)

When you visit the NCCD portal, the ESA server makes a record of your visit and logs information such as your client IP address, the time and date of your visit to the website, the pages and documents you have accessed or viewed, previous sites visited, browser type and language, and one or more cookies that may uniquely identify your browser.

Cookies

The NCCD portal uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google Inc. Google Analytics uses cookies, which are text files placed on your computer, to help ESA analyse how users use the NCCD portal. The cookie identifies your browser, not you personally. The information generated by the cookie about your use of the NCCD portal (including your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored by Google Inc. on servers in the United States.

Google Inc. uses this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of the NCCD portal, compiling reports on website activity for ESA and providing other services relating to website activity and internet usage. Google Inc. may also transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google Inc.'s behalf. Google Inc. will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google Inc.

You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser. However, if you do this you may not be able to use the full functionality of the NCCD portal. When using the NCCD portal, you consent to the processing of data about you by Google Inc. in the manner and for the purposes set out above.

Use or disclosure of your personal information

Personal information will:

only be used for the stated purpose for which it was provided; and
not be disclosed to a third party without your consent unless otherwise authorised or required by law or to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to your life or health or that of another person.

Where ESA receives unsolicited personal information, (information that it did not request), ESA will satisfy itself that it is authorised to collect this personal information. If it is not authorised to collect such personal information, ESA will either destroy the document containing the personal information or de-identify it. If ESA is authorised to collect such personal information, ESA's obligations with respect to the personal information are the same as if ESA had collected the information itself.

Use or disclosure for a secondary purpose

If ESA holds personal information that was collected for a particular purpose (primary purpose), ESA will not use or disclose it for another purpose (secondary purpose) unless:

you consent to that secondary use or disclosure;
you would reasonably expect that ESA would use or disclose this information for the secondary purpose;
it is required or authorised by Australian law;
a permitted general situation exists (e.g. to lessen or prevent a serious threat to the life, health or safety of any individual, or to public health or safety); or
it is reasonably necessary for enforcement related activities conducted by, or on behalf of, an enforcement body.

Accessing, correcting and deleting personal information and opting out

ESA endeavours to ensure that the personal information that it holds is accurate, up-to-date, complete and relevant.

If you want to:

know what, if any, personal information ESA holds about you;
correct any personal information ESA may hold about you;
opt out of receiving communications from ESA; or
opt out of your registration as a user on the NCCD portal;

you may do any of these things by contacting ESA via the Helpdesk link on the Key contacts page on the NCCD portal or using the ESA contact information below.

If you request access to your personal information or ask ESA to correct or update information about you, ESA may need to verify your identity. In some circumstances, there may be a valid reason for ESA to deny your request to access or correct your information. If ESA does this, it will notify you of the reason for doing so.

When personal information is no longer required, ESA takes reasonable steps to de-identify, securely destroy or delete such personal information.

Remaining anonymous or using a pseudonym

Where it is not impractical or unlawful, you may interact with ESA without identifying yourself or using a pseudonym. However, if you do so, ESA may not be able to provide you with the most relevant information and ESA will not be able to report to the jurisdictions that you have commenced or completed a professional learning module.

Security of personal information

ESA takes reasonable steps to protect the personal information that it holds against misuse, interference, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure by utilising up-to-date electronic and physical security controls that comply with relevant industry standards and guidelines.

If you do not wish to use the internet to transmit personal information, you can mail or telephone ESA using the contact information provided above.

Please note that if you use a link to a non-ESA web page, a different privacy and security statement will apply.

Transferring personal information overseas

Personal information collected by ESA is stored in Australia and, unless stated, is not disclosed, accessed or transferred to overseas recipients.

Contact information for ESA

If you have any questions, comments, concerns or complaints about ESA’s privacy policy or practices, please contact ESA by:

Telephone:
(within Australia) 03 92079600
(outside Australia) 61 3 92079600;
Post: Post Office Box 177, Carlton South, Victoria, Australia 3053; or
Email: [email protected].

ESA will do its best to address and resolve any issues you raise. If you are not satisfied with ESA’s response you may take your complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner This link will open in a new window.

Changes to this privacy policy

ESA may make changes to this Privacy Policy from time to time to take account of new laws and technology or changes to ESA’s operation and practices. Therefore, ESA recommends that you regularly check this Privacy Policy. You may obtain a paper copy of this Privacy Policy by contacting ESA via the contact details provided above.