Privacy

Your privacy is important

This statement outlines the Schools' policy on how the School uses and manages personal information provided to or collected by it.

The School is bound by the National Privacy Principles contained in the Commonwealth Privacy Act.

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

What kind 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 sensitive information, about:

• pupils and parents and/or guardians (' Parents ') before, during and after the course of a pupil's enrolment at the School;
• job applicants, staff members, volunteers and contractors; and
• other people who come into 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, and telephone calls.   On occasions people other than Parents and pupils provide personal information. Copies of the School's collection notices are attached to the end of this policy.

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 the National 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, or to which you have consented.

Pupils and Parents: In relation to personal information of pupils and Parents, the School's primary purpose of collection is to enable the School to provide schooling for the pupil.   This includes satisfying both the needs of Parents and the needs of the pupil throughout the whole period the pupil is enrolled at the School.

The purposes for which the School uses personal information of pupils and Parents include:

to keep Parents informed about matters related to their child's schooling, through correspondence, newsletters and magazines;

• day-to-day administration;
• looking after pupils' educational, social and medical wellbeing;
• seeking donations and marketing for the School;
• 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 pupil or Parent, if the information requested is not obtained, the School may not be able to enrol or continue the enrolment of the pupil.

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

The purposes for which the   School uses 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;
• seeking funds and marketing for the School;
• to satisfy 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 be a quality learning environment in which both pupils and staff thrive.   Personal information held by the School may be disclosed to an organisation that assists in the School's fundraising, for example, the School's P&F or alumni organisation.

Parents, staff, contractors and other members of the wider School community may from time to time receive fundraising information.   School publications, like newsletters and magazines, which include personal information, may be used for marketing purposes.

Who might the School disclose personal information to?

The School may disclose personal information, including sensitive information, held about an individual to:

• another school;
• government departments;
• medical practitioners;
• people providing services to the School, including specialist visiting teachers and sports coaches;
• recipients of School publications, like newsletters and magazines;
• Parents; and
• anyone you authorise the School to disclose information to.

Sending information overseas: 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 National Privacy Principles.

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, 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

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, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure by use of various methods including locked storage of paper records and pass-worded access rights to computerised records.

Updating personal information

The School endeavours to ensure that the personal information it holds is accurate, complete and up-to-date.   A person may seek to update their personal information held by the School by contacting the Office of the School during School hours.

The National Privacy Principles require the School not to store personal information longer than necessary.

You have the right to check what personal information the School holds about you

Under the Commonwealth Privacy Act, an individual has the right to obtain access to any personal information which the School holds about them and to advise the School of any perceived inaccuracy.   There are some exceptions to this right set out in the Act.   Pupils will generally have access to their personal information through their Parents, but older pupils may seek access themselves.

To make a request to access any information the School holds about you or your child, please contact the School Principal 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.

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 .   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 the School's duty of care to the pupil.

While the school exists to support families, there are times when a breakdown can be of a nature that disclosing information about a pupil to the parents might place the pupil at risk. Should such an occasion arise, the school may 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 so warranted

Enquiries

If you would like further information about the way the School manages the personal information it holds, please contact the School Principal or the Bursar.

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Nowra Christian School

Use of Electronic Facilities Policy
(This needs to be read in conjunction with the school's Computer Use Policy)

This document sets out the security, administration and internal rules which you should observe when communicating electronically or using the IT facilities provided by the ' School '.   You should familiarise yourself with the terms of this Policy in order to minimise potential damage to you, your colleagues, students and the School, which may arise as a result of misuse of email or Internet facilities.

This Policy applies to all teachers, employees and contractors of the School.

School Property

The School is the owner of copyright in all email messages created by its employees and contractors in performing their duties.

Monitoring

From time to time, the contents and usage of email may be examined by the School or by a third party on the School's behalf.   This will include electronic communications which are sent to you or by you, both internally or externally.

You should structure your email in recognition of the fact that the School may from time to time have the need to examine its contents.

The School's computer network is a business and educational tool to be used primarily for business or educational purposes.   You therefore have a responsibility to use these resources in an appropriate, professional and lawful manner .

All messages on the School's system will be treated as education or business related messages, which may be monitored.   Accordingly, you should not expect that any information or document transmitted or stored on the School's computer network will be private.

You should also be aware that the School is able to monitor your use of the Internet, both during school or working hours and outside of those hours.   This includes the sites and content that you visit and the length of time you spend using the Internet.

Emails will be archived by the School as it considers appropriate.

Personal Use

You are permitted to use the Internet and email facilities to send and receive personal messages, provided that such use is kept to a minimum and does not interfere with the performance of your work duties.

However, you should bear in mind that any use of the Internet or email for personal purposes is still subject to the same terms and conditions as otherwise described in this Policy.

In the case of shared IT facilities, you are expected to respect the needs of your colleagues and use the Internet and email in a timely and efficient manner.

Excessive or inappropriate use of email or Internet facilities for personal reasons during working hours may lead to disciplinary action.

Content

Email correspondence should be treated in the same way as any other correspondence, such as a letter or a fax.   That is, as a permanent written record which may be read by persons other than the addressee and which could result in personal or the School's liability.

You and/or the School may be liable for what you say in an email message.   Email is neither private nor secret.   It may be easily copied, forwarded, saved, intercepted, archived and may be subject to discovery in litigation.   The audience of an inappropriate comment in an email may be unexpected and extremely widespread.

You should never use the Internet or email for the following purposes:

• to abuse, vilify, defame, harass or discriminate (by virtue of sex, race, religion, national origin or other);
• to send or receive obscene or pornographic material;
• to injure the reputation of the School or in a manner that may cause embarrassment to your employer;
• to spam or mass mail or to send or receive chain mail;
• to infringe the copyright or other intellectual property rights of another person; or
• to perform any other unlawful or inappropriate act which includes any act that may be interpreted as being against the ethos of NCS.

Email content that may seem harmless to you may in fact be highly offensive to someone else.   You should be aware, therefore, that in determining whether an email falls within any of the categories listed above, or is generally inappropriate, the School will consider the response and sensitivities of the recipient of an email rather than the intention of the sender.

Comments that are not appropriate in the workplace or school environment will also be inappropriate when sent by email.   Email messages can easily be misconstrued. Accordingly, words and attached documents should be carefully chosen and expressed in a clear, professional manner.

You should be aware that use of the School's computer network in a manner inconsistent with this policy or in any other inappropriate manner, including but not limited to use for the purposes referred to in paragraph 4 of this policy, will give rise to disciplinary action, including the possible termination of an employee's employment or contractor's engagement.

Privacy

In the course of carrying out your duties on behalf of the School, you may have access to, or handle personal information relating to others, including students, colleagues, contractors, parents and suppliers.   Email should not be used to disclose personal information of another except in accordance with the School's Privacy Policy or with proper authorisation.

The Privacy Act requires both you and the School to take reasonable steps to protect the personal information that is held from misuse and unauthorised access.   We stress therefore, that you take responsibility for the security of your personal computer and not allow it to be used by an unauthorised party, which specifically includes anyone who is not an employee of the School.

You will be assigned a log-in code and you will also select a password to use the School's electronic communications facilities.   You should ensure that these details are not disclosed to anyone else.   We suggest that you take steps to keep these details secure.   For example, you should change your password regularly and ensure that your log-in code and password are not kept in writing close to your working area.

You are encouraged to either lock your screen or log-out when you leave your desk.   This will avoid others gaining unauthorised access to your personal information, the personal information of others and confidential information within the School.

In order to comply with the School's obligations under the Privacy Act, you are encouraged to use the blind copy option (BCC) when sending emails to multiple recipients where disclosure of those persons' email addresses will impinge upon their privacy.

In addition to the above, you should familiarise yourself with the National Privacy Principles (' NPPs ') and ensure that your use of email does not breach the Privacy Act or the NPPs .   If you require more information on the Privacy Act and how to comply, please contact the School Principal or the Bursar.

Distribution and Copyright

When distributing information over the School's computer network or to third parties outside the School, you must ensure that you and the School have the right to do so, and that you are not violating the intellectual property rights of any third party.

If you are unsure of whether you have sufficient authorisation to distribute the information, we recommend that you contact the Librarian.

In particular, copyright law may apply to the information you intend to distribute and must always be observed.   The copyright material of third parties (for example, software, database files, documentation, cartoons, articles, graphic files and downloaded information) must not be distributed through email without specific written authorisation to do so.

Encryption and Confidentiality

When email is sent from the School to the network server and then on to the Internet, the email message may become public information.   Encryption will reduce the risk of third parties being able to read email and should be used in cases where you feel additional security is required.   If you require more information in relation to encrypting messages, you should contact Glen Ryan.

As mentioned above, the Internet and email are insecure means of transmitting information.   Therefore, items of a highly confidential or sensitive nature should not be sent via email.   You should note that there is always a trail and a copy saved somewhere, not necessarily only on the School's network server.

This confidentiality requirement applies even when encryption is used.

Email sent over the Internet may be truncated, scrambled, or sent to the wrong address.   There is a possibility that outgoing email sent over the Internet may arrive scrambled or truncated, may be delayed, may not arrive at all, or may be sent to the wrong address.   Where outgoing email is important or urgent, you should verify that the recipient has received the email in its entirety.

You must ensure that all emails that are sent from your email address contain the School's standard disclaimer message, which will read as follows:

The contents of this email are confidential.   Any unauthorised use of the contents is expressly prohibited.   If you have received this email in error, please advise immediately and then delete/destroy the email and any printed copies.   Thank you.

There is a risk of false attribution of email.   Software is widely available by which email messages may be edited or 'doctored' to reflect an erroneous message or sender name.   The recipient may therefore be unaware that he or she is communicating with an impostor.   Accordingly, you should maintain a reasonable degree of caution regarding the identity of the sender of incoming email.   You should verify the identity of the sender by other means if you have concerns.

Please delete old or unnecessary email messages and archive only those email messages you need to keep.   Retention of messages fills up large amounts of storage space on the network server and can slow down performance.   You should maintain as few messages as possible in your in-boxes and out-boxes. If there are items in your email which you require at later date, please ensure that these are saved in your network directory so that appropriate backups are made School wide.

Viruses

All external files and attachments must be virus checked using scanning software before they are accessed.   The Internet is a potential host for computer viruses.   The downloading of infected information from the Internet is potentially fatal to the School computer network.

A document attached to an incoming email may have an embedded virus.

Virus checking is done automatically through the virus protector software   installed on the network server. If you are concerned about an email attachment, or believe that it has not been automatically scanned for viruses, you should contact the IT coordinator.

Absence

In cases where you are likely to be absent from work for any period of time, you should make arrangements for your emails to be accessible by the School or ensure that an 'out of office reply' is automatically set.   This automatic reply will alert those trying to contact you that you are away from work and that important queries should be directed to a nominated colleague.   If you require assistance in installing this feature, please contact the IT coordinator .

Policy Updates

This policy may be updated or revised from time to time.   The School will not notify you each time the Policy is changed.   If you are unsure whether you are reading the most current version, you should contact the Principal or review the latest School policies on the School's intranet.

General

The terms and recommended conduct described in this Policy are not intended to be exhaustive, nor do they anticipate every possible use of the School's email and Internet facilities.   You are encouraged to act with caution and take into account the underlying principles intended by this Policy.   If you feel unsure of the appropriate action relating to use of email or the Internet, you should contact the School Principal.

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Nowra Christian School

Personal Information Collection Notice

The following information is collected on enrolment and annually. It is in accordance with the requirements of the National Privacy Legislation.

• The School collects personal information, including sensitive information about pupils and parents or guardians before and during the course of a pupil's enrolment at the School.   The primary purpose of collecting this information is to enable the School to provide schooling for your son/daughter.
• Some of the information we collect is to satisfy the School's legal obligations, particularly to enable the School to discharge its duty of care.
• Certain laws governing or relating to the operation of schools require that certain information is collected.   These include Public Health and Child Protection laws.
• Health information about pupils is sensitive information within the terms of the National Privacy Principles under the Privacy Act.   We ask you to provide medical reports about pupils from time to time.
• The School from time to time discloses personal and sensitive information to others for administrative and educational purposes.   This includes to other schools, government departments, medical practitioners, and people providing services to the School, including specialist visiting teachers, coaches and volunteers.
• If we do not obtain the information referred to above we may not be able to enrol or continue the enrolment of your son/daughter.
• Personal information collected from pupils is regularly disclosed to their parents or guardians.   If you do NOT agree to this you must advise us now by placing a cross in the box.
• On occasions, student information such as academic and sporting achievements, pupil activities and other news is published in School newsletters, magazines, promotional material and on our website. If you do NOT agree to this you must advise us now by placing a cross in the box.
• Parents may seek access to personal information collected about them and their son/daughter by contacting the School.   Pupils may also seek access to personal information about them.   However, there will be occasions when access is denied.   Such occasions would include where access would have an unreasonable impact on the privacy of others, where access may result in a breach of the School's duty of care to the pupil, or where pupils have provided information in confidence.
• As you may know the School from time to time engages in fundraising activities.   Information received from you may be used to make an appeal to you. It may also be disclosed to organisations that assist in the School's fundraising activities solely for that purpose. We will not disclose your personal information to third parties for their own marketing purposes without your consent.
• We may include your contact details in a School directory for other parents' information.   If you do NOT agree to this you must advise us now by placing a cross in the box.
• If you provide the School with the personal information of others, such as doctors or emergency contacts, we encourage you to inform them that you are disclosing that information to the School and why, that they can access that information if they wish and that the School does not usually disclose the information to third parties.

Acknowledgement: I/we have read and understand the personal information collection notice of Nowra Christian School.

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Nowra Christian School

Employment Collection Notice

1. In applying for this position you will be providing Nowra Christian School with personal information.   We can be contacted by telephone on 02-44221199.
2. If you provide us with personal information, for example your name and address or information contained on your resume, we will collect the information in order to assess your application.
3. You agree that we may store this information until the selection process is completed and a person appointed.
4. You may seek access to your personal information that we hold about you if you are unsuccessful for the position.   However, there will be occasions when access is denied.   Such occasions would include where access would have an unreasonable impact on the privacy of others.
5. We will not generally disclose this information to a third party without your consent. We usually disclose this kind of information to the following types of organisations superannuation and insurance companies.
6. We are required to conduct a criminal record check and collect information regarding whether you are or have been the subject of an AVO and certain criminal offences under Child Protection law.
7. If you provide us with the personal information of others, we encourage you to inform them that you are disclosing that information to the School and why, that they can access that information if they wish, that the School does not usually disclose the information to third parties and that we may store their information until the selection process is completed and a person appointed.

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Nowra Christian School

Volunteer Collection Notice

1. In applying to provide your services you will be providing Nowra Christian School with personal information.   We can be contacted by telephone on 02-44221199.
2. If you provide us with personal information, for example your name and address or information contained on your resume, we will collect the information in order to assess your application.   We may also make notes and prepare a confidential report in respect of your application.
3. You agree that we may store this information for as long as is required.
4. Access to this information may be available to you if you ask the School for it.
5. We will not generally disclose this information to a third party without your consent.
6. We are required to conduct a criminal record check and collect information regarding whether you are or have been the subject of an Apprehended Violence Order and certain criminal offences under Child Protection law.
7. If you provide us with the personal information of others, we encourage you to inform them that you are disclosing that information to the School and why, that they can access that information if they wish and that the School does not usually disclose the information to third parties.