Student Enrolment Privacy Notice

Victorian Government VET Student Enrolment Privacy Notice: The Victorian Government, through the Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry and Region (The Department), develops, maintains and funds vocational education and training (VET) in Victoria.  The Victorian Government is committed to ensuring that Victorians have access to appropriate and relevant VET services. Any personal information collected by the Department for VET purposes is protected in accordance with the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Vic) and the Health Records Act 2001 (Vic).

Collection of your data: TAFE Gippsland is required to provide the Department with student and training activity data.  This includes personal information collected in the TAFE Gippsland enrolment form and unique identifiers such as the Victorian Student Number (VSN) and Unique Student Identifier (USI).  The collection and use of information for the purposes of USIs is managed in accordance with the Student Identifiers Act 2014.  This Act states that TAFE Gippsland may need to collect personal information in order to apply for a USI on behalf of students.  If it does collect personal information for this purpose, the information must be destroyed as soon as the application for a USI has been made.

Use of your data: TAFE Gippsland provides data to the Victorian Department of Education in accordance with the Victorian VET Student Statistical Collection Guidelines, available at www.vic.gov.au/training-data-collection.  The Department uses student and training data, including personal information, for a range of VET purposes including administration, monitoring and planning, including interaction between the Department and Student where appropriate. The data may also be subjected to data analytics, which seek to determine the likelihood of certain events occurring (such as program or subject completion), which may be relevant to the services provided to the student.

A student’s USI may be used for specific VET purposes including the verification of student data provided by TAFE Gippsland; the administration and audit of VET providers and programs; education-related policy and research purposes; and to assist in determining eligibility for training subsidies. Information in this form may be used for the purpose of assessing your eligibility for the Higher Education Loan Program under the Higher Education Support Act 2003 and allocation of a Commonwealth Higher Education Student Support Number to you.

Disclosure of your data: As necessary and where lawful, the Department may disclose VET data, including personal information, to its contractors, other government agencies, professional bodies and/or other organisations for VET-related purposes. In particular, this includes disclosure of VET student and training data to the Commonwealth and the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER).   Under the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act 2011 and the Data Provision Requirements 2012, TAFE Gippsland 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 this enrolment form), may be used or disclosed by TAFE Gippsland for statistical, administrative, regulatory and research purposes. TAFE Gippsland may disclose your personal information for these purposes to Commonwealth and State/Territory government departments and authorised agencies, and NCVER.

Personal information that has been disclosed to NCVER may be used or disclosed by NCVER for the following purposes:

  • Populating authenticated VET transcripts
  • Facilitating statistics and research relating to education, including surveys and data linkage
  • Pre-populating RTO student enrolment forms
  • Understanding how the VET market operates for policy, workforce planning and consumer information; and
  • Administering VET – including program administration, regulation, monitoring and evaluation

You may be contacted to participate in a survey conducted by NCVER or a Department-endorsed project, audit or review relating to your training. This provides valuable feedback on the delivery of VET programs in Victoria. Please note you may opt out of the NCVER survey at the time of being contacted. NCVER will collect, hold, use and disclose your personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), the National VET Data Policy and all NCVER policies and protocols (including those published on NCVER's website at www.ncver.edu.au).

TAFE Gippsland may disclose your personal information to Australian Government agencies, including Services Australia, where this is required or authorised by Australian law. Information about your enrolment with TAFE Gippsland may be disclosed if you are claiming or receiving a payment from Services Australia. You are still required to notify Services Australia of any change in circumstances that may affect your payment. Personal information disclosed to Services Australia is protected by law, including the Privacy Act 1988. More information about the way Services Australia handles personal information can be found on their privacy webpage: www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/individuals/privacy

Legal and regulatory: The Department’s collection and handling of enrolment data and VSNs is authorised under the Education and Training Reform Act 2006 (Vic). The  Department is also authorised to collect and handle USIs in accordance with the Student Identifiers Act 2014 (Cth) and the Student Identifiers Regulation 2014 (Cth).

Consequences of not providing your information: Failure to provide your personal information may mean that it is not possible for you to enrol in VET and/or to obtain a Victorian Government VET subsidy.

Access, correction and complaints: You have the right to seek access to or correction of your own personal information. You may also complain if you believe your privacy has been breached. For further information, please contact TAFE Gippsland’s Quality Officer in the first instance by phoning 1300 133 717.

Further information: For further information about the way the Department collects and handles personal information, including access, correction and complaints, go to www.djsir.vic.gov.au/privacy website. For further information about Unique Student Identifiers, including access, correction and complaints, go to www.usi.gov.au/documents/privacy-policy.  You can find further information on how the Registrar collects, uses and discloses the personal information about you by contacting the Registrar on usi@education.gov.au or telephone the Skilling Australia Information line on 13 38 73.

Privacy Statement

TAFE Gippsland is committed to complying with State and Commonwealth privacy legislation. This includes the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Vic), the ten (10) Information Privacy Principles, the Commonwealth Privacy Act 1988 and the Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2012, as well as the Australian Privacy Principles contained therein. We will only collect personal information that is necessary and directly related to one of TAFE Gippsland’s functions.

We will ensure responsible collection and secure handling of your personal information, and your right to access the information we collect about you.  We will not divulge any of your personal information to any third party for any reason other than the primary purpose for which it was collected. However, personal information can be shared if:

  • It is necessary for the purpose for which it was collected or for a secondary purpose which is directly related to that purpose;
  • The disclosure is authorised by law, or for law enforcement or investigation;
  • The disclosure is necessary to lessen or prevent a serious and imminent threat to life, health or safety; and
  • The person consents to the disclosure

Individuals have the responsibility to notify the Institute of changes to their personal information. If you advise us of errors in your information, we will correct them. We have a Privacy Policy and Procedure, which can be viewed in the libraries and on our website. The Procedure includes a Complaints Procedure for investigation and rectification of breaches of this Policy.

Refund Statement

TAFE Gippsland will provide a full refund of fees for short course places cancelled 5 or more days prior to course commencement. Short course places cancelled within 5 days of course commencement will not be eligible for refund.