Privacy Protection Act 2012 & Privacy Act 1988

Southern Education respects the importance of securing any form of personal information which is collected from the student(s) and/or other Stakeholders. 

Why we collect your personal information

As a registered training organisation (RTO), we collect your personal information so we can process and manage your enrolment in a vocational education and training (VET) course with us.Information collected from students is only utilised for the purpose of gathering information on the student as part of their enrolment, training, assessment and certification process. All data is kept securely within a password protected database.

Types of information which will be collected and where it is held

Southern Education collects information for training purposes and compliance against the Standards for RTO’s to ensure quality service is given to its students in an open and transparent way.

The information collected and stored in Southern Education’s AVETMISS database includes;

• • • Student Name
    • Age, sex
    • Contact information
    • Record progress

How we disclose your personal information

Southern Education has an obligation under Commonwealth and State legislation to provide information to certain government departments for the purpose of reporting data to the government. On occasion, the government regulatory body will require access to student records for the purpose of auditing Southern Education against the Standards for RTO’s. No student files will be removed from Southern Education’s site, unless a student is notified beforehand.

Southern Education promotes and conducts the following policy in accordance with the privacy Amendment (enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2012, which amends the Privacy Act 1988.

We are required by law (under the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act 2011 (Cth) (NVETR Act)) 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.

Under the National VET Data Policy 2020, Southern Education is required to collect personal information about you and to disclose that personal information to the National Centre for Vocational Education Research Ltd (NCVER).

Your personal information (including the personal information contained on the enrolment form and your training activity data) may be used or disclosed by Southern Education for statistical, regulatory and research purposes.

Southern Education may disclose your personal information for these purposes to third parties, including:

• • • School – if you are a secondary student undertaking VET, including a school-based apprenticeship or traineeship.
    • Employer – if you are enrolled in training paid by your employer.
    • Commonwealth and State or Territory government departments and authorised agencies.
    • NCVER.
    • Organisations conducting student surveys; and
    • Researchers

How the NCVER and other bodies handle your personal information

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.

Surveys

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.

Contact information

At any time, you may contact Southern Education at info@southerneducation.com.au to:

• • • request access to your personal information
    • correct your personal information
    • make a complaint about how your personal information has been handled
    • ask a question about this Privacy Notice

VET Data Use Statement

Under the Data Provision Requirements 2012 and National VET Data Policy (which includes the National VET Provider Collection Data Requirements Policy at Part B), Registered Training Organisations are required to collect and submit data compliant with AVETMISS for the National VET Provider Collection for all Nationally Recognised Training. This data is held by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research Ltd (NCVER), and may be used and disclosed for purposes that include:

• • • populating authenticated VET transcripts
    • administering VET, including program administration, regulation, monitoring and evaluation
    • facilitating statistics and research relating to education, including surveys and data linkage
    • understanding how the VET market operates, for policy, workforce planning and consumer information.

NCVER is authorised by the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act 2011 (NVETR Act) to disclose to the following bodies, personal information collected in accordance with the Data Provision Requirements or any equivalent requirements in a non-referring State (Victoria or Western Australia), for the purposes of that body:

• • • a VET regulator (the Australian Skills, Quality Authority, the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority or the Training Accreditation Council Western Australia)
    • the Australian Government Department of Education, Skills and Employment
    • another Commonwealth authority
    • a state or territory authority (other than a registered training organisation) that deals with or has responsibility for matters relating to VET.

NCVER may also disclose personal information to persons engaged by NCVER to conduct research on NCVER’s behalf.

BlueFit Employees

If you are a BlueFit employee your statement of attainment may be shared with BlueFit for the purposes of ensuring your qualifications are completed and up to date.  

If you do not want your statements of attainments to be shared, please contact Southern Education at info@southerneducation.com.au to confirm your preference.

RTO Declaration and Understanding

• • • I declare that the information provided in this data submission is accurate and complete.
    • I declare I have had access to and read the National Vet data Policy document prior to commencement
    • I understand that information provided in this data submission about client training and outcomes may appear on authenticated VET transcripts.
    • I understand that:
      • information provided in this data submission will only be used, accessed, published and disseminated according to the National VET Data Policy
      • if that information also includes personal information, the Privacy Act 1988, the Australian Privacy Principles and the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act 2011 regulate the collection, use or disclosure of personal information.

I declare that the information I have provided to the best of my knowledge is true and correct.