Privacy Policy

As a Registered Training Organisation, Edna Training College has a responsibility to collect, use and store personal and sensitive information on our students, clients and staff members. Under the Privacy Act 1988 and the Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2012 (s6(1)), personal and sensitive information is defined as follows:

• Personal information – information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable: (a) whether the information or opinion is true or not; and (b) whether the information or opinion is recorded in a material form or not.
• Sensitive information – information or opinion about an individual’s:
  • Racial or ethnic origin, or nationality
  • Indigenous status
  • Languages spoken
  • Political opinions or membership of a political association
  • Religious beliefs, affiliations, or philosophical beliefs
  • Membership of a professional or trade association, or a trade union
  • Sexual preferences or practices
  • Criminal record
  • Health such as one’s disability or long-term impairment status, and dietary requirements
  • Genetics (that is not otherwise health information)
  • Biometric (used for the purposes of automated biometric verification or biometric identification)
  • Biometric templates

General Privacy Protection Principles

Edna Training College does collects, uses and stores personal and sensitive information in compliance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Standards for Registered Training Organisations 2015, with authority under the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act 2011 and as specified in the Data Provision Requirements 2011 which is one of five legislative instruments that Edna Training College must comply with as a condition of our registration. The data provision requirements require Edna Training College to collect personal and sensitive information where a student enrols into a nationally recognised training program in accordance with the Australian Vocational Education and Training Management Standard (AVETMISS) and retain and store the information for up to 30 years. The Standards for RTOs 2015 also require Edna Training College to report training activity information.

Where a student or client enrols into a non-accredited course, your personal and sensitive information will be kept for a period of up to 5-years and it not be shared wtih any other party, except where required to by law.

Edna Training College collects personal information, either directly or indirectly, that is reasonably necessary for, or directly related to the delivery of our services. Some of the information collected can be regarded as personal and sensitive, such as student contact information – name, organisation, position, address, telephone, and e-mail address, which is used for communication and compulsory reporting purposes; employment-related information such as our staff members’ full legal and preferred name, contact numbers, emergency contact details, bank account details, taxation information and superannuation fund and membership details. Edna Training College also collects information relating to student and employer satisfaction surveys to help inform us on our current and future services, practices, systems, policies, procedures and strategies, as well as for complaints and appeals handling purposes.

Legislated Requirements

In accordance with Part B, Clause 7.2 of the National VET Data Policy and the Data Requirements 2020, Edna Training College provides a privacy notice on our website. Edna Training College also provides a privacy notice at the start of the Enrolment Form for enrolments in any nationally recognised course so that students and clients are aware of the collection of their personal and sensitive information at the point of enrolment.

In our Privacy Notice, we outline the following information:

• Why we collect personal information;
• How we use the personal information collected;
• Who we are legally obliged to disclose the personal information collected to;
• How we disclose the personal information collected;
• How NCVER and other bodies handle the personal information collected;
• Surveys that students may receive from a government department of an NCVER employee, agent, third-party contractor or another authorised agency; and
• Who can be contacted to request access to the personal information we have collected, how to correct the personal information we retain, how to make a complaint about how the personal information collected has been handled, and to ask questions about the Privacy Notice.

Edna Training College is required by law to make student information available to Government bodies and agencies such as the National Centre for Vocational Education and Research, the Australian Skills Quality Authority, or any relevant State or Territory Training or Funding Authority where nationally recognised training has been undertaken.

Under the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator (Data Provision Requirements) Instrument 2020, we are required to collect personal information about students undertaking a nationally recognised training program and disclose that personal information to the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER). NCVER is responsible for collecting, managing, analysing and communicating research and statistics about the Australian VET sector.

NCVER will collect, hold, use and disclose your personal information in accordance with the law, including the Privacy Act 1988 and the NVETR Act 2011. This information may be used and disclosed by NCVER 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:

• Populating authenticated VET transcripts;
• Administering vocational education training, including program administration, regulation, monitoring and evaluation;
• Facilitation of statistics and research relating to education, including surveys and data linkage; and
• Understanding the VET market, such as how the VET industry operates, for policy development purposes, workforce planning and consumer data.

NCVER may also disclose personal information to persons engaged by NCVER to conduct research on NCVER’s behalf and NCVER does not intend to disclose your personal information to any overseas recipients. You can refer to NCVER’s Privacy Policy here for more information on how NCVER handles your personal information.

If you undertake any nationally recognised training with Edna Training College, you may receive a student survey which may be run by an Australian government department or an NCVER employee, agent, third-party contractor or another authorised agency. Please note, you have the right to opt-out of the survey at the time of being contacted.

Data Collection Methods

Edna Training College endeavours to notify individuals of the collection of their personal and sensitive information before, or at the time of collection, or as quickly as possible thereafter. Notifications are usually in writing but may be verbal. Edna Training College also provides a privacy notice at the start of the Enrolment Form so that students and clients are aware of the collection of their personal and sensitive information at the point of enrolment.

Edna Training College uses the following avenues to collect information:

• Student and client personal and sensitive information is collected directly from our students and clients using enrolment forms. From time to time, where the situation requires, this personal and sensitive information is also collected through various administrative forms such as enrolment interview forms, recognition of prior learning application forms, credit transfer forms, complaint forms, appeal forms, and payment refund forms. This information is entered into Our Student Management System and the physical forms or documents are scanned into the learner’s folder and stored electronically with any hard copies destroyed responsibly.
• Student and client personal information such as personal contact information may also be collected at the enquiry stage directly from individuals.
• Edna Training College also collects information relating to our performance as an RTO and this information are usually collected in hard copy formats. The responses are recorded electronically, and the information analysed, and the hard copies are then destroyed.
• Staff personal and sensitive information is collected from individuals when they come in for an interview and upon commencement of their employment or contractual period with Edna Training College.

Access, disclosure, and correction of personal information

Individuals may request access to the personal and sensitive information held by Edna Training College where the information has been collected directly from individuals, subject to certain exceptions prescribed by the Australian Privacy Principles. Request for access to the personal and sensitive information should be made in writing.

Edna Training College does not sell or share your personal and sensitive information to third-parties for marketing purposes. We do not disclose any personal and sensitive information other than for the purpose which it was collected for, if an individual has consented to a secondary purpose or would reasonably expect, or if required to by law.

You have the right to access information we retain that relates to you. You can do so by viewing the information on your online learning platform, or by completing a Student Information Release Form and we will action your request within 2 business days.

Where a third-party requests for personal information about you, we will seek written permission from you before disclosing any information. The only exception is where an employer or a job network provider has paid for your training and they have requested for your training activity information and outcomes, or where we require the services of an organisation for the purposes of our operations such as a Compliance Consultant and sharing your personal information is required, or where we are bound to by law such as with the national regulator – ASQA, and with NCVER.

We may share information with the Commonwealth and state governments in accordance with any contractual obligations such as funding contracts. In these circumstances, Edna Training College will take reasonable steps to inform and seek consent from the individuals concerned at the point of enrolment.

Whilst we endeavour to ensure the personal and sensitive information we collect, use or disclose is accurate, current, and complete, we rely on individuals to help us manage the accuracy, currency, and completeness of the information.

Where the information has changed or requires updating, Edna Training College will update the information held in Our Student Management System of the concerned individual.

Management of personal information

Any personal and sensitive information collected is stored on servers in Australia. Edna Training College does not retain any personal and sensitive information collected on servers overseas. We take steps to protect personal information from misuse, interference and loss, and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure of the information.

If Edna Training College should receive any unsolicited personal or sensitive information, it will be treated and managed according to the Australian Privacy Principles.

Edna Training College have systems and an internal network which is protected from unauthorised access and minimise the risk of unauthorised access. Data transferred over the internet through Edna Training College’s website, Learning Management System, and Our Student Management System is protected by a Secure Socket Level protocol (SSL). Access to our website, Learning Management System and Our Student Management System is protected through user log-on and password, and assignment of user access privileges.

All hard copy documents containing personal and sensitive information is to be scanned and saved in the respective folders, the information entered into Our Student Management System or the relevant system or register, and the hard copy document shredded and disposed of securely. No personal and sensitive information should be left unsecured or in view of others who are not authorised access.

Edna Training College retains personal information for a period of 30-years (only applicable to students who undertake nationally recognised training with us), when personal information is no longer necessary for our business operations. Where it is lawful to do so, Edna Training College will destroy the information by permanently deleting the relevant electronic files.

Direct Marketing

Edna Training College respects an individual’s right to not receive any marketing material. We provide an option within communications and on our website for individuals to unsubscribe from receiving any marketing material from us. We conduct our marketing communications and dissemination of service information in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principle 7 – Direct Marketing, the Spam Act 2003, and the Do Not Call Register Act 2006. It is important to note that it is not Edna Training College’s practice to make any unsolicited calls for the purpose of marketing our products and services.

Google Analytics and Cookies

Google Incorporated provides a web service known as Google Analytics which gives businesses the ability to track and report website traffic, and the tools a business would need to better understand your customers and strategise future operations. Cookies, which are packets of data that a computer receives, and then sends back without changing or altering it and is stored in a file located in the web browser. Cookies helps our website track our visitors and their activity, and record log-in information.

These cookies are stored on Google’s servers in the United States where they are used to generate reports on website activity. Google may transfer this information to third-parties, if required by law, or for information processing on its behalf.

No personal information is recorded, and this data is only used for website management and improvement. It is possible to disable cookies by changing a web browser’s settings and to opt-out of Google Analytics. It is important to note that by disabling the Google Analytics function may affect a user’s experience on our website.

If you have concerns about this Privacy Notice, or about how we are managing your personal and sensitive information, we encourage you to reach out to us.

Under the Privacy Act 1988, you have the right to make a complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) about the handling of your personal information by us.