Privacy Policy

To support your learning experience, we collect and securely store your personal data. It will only be used for administrative purposes.

This Privacy Policy applies to the Technical and Further Education Commission (ABN 89 755 348 137), a statutory body established under the Technical and Further Education Commission Act 1990 (NSW) (TAFE NSW, we, us or our). TAFE NSW respects the personal information of its customers, students and service providers.

TAFE NSW handles your personal information in accordance with the:

• Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (NSW)
• Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 (NSW)
• Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) where applicable. 

This Privacy Policy sets out how we generally collect, store, use and disclose your personal information and your rights, in relation to that personal information.

‘Health information’ is defined in section six of the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 (NSW). ‘Personal information’ is defined in section four of the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (NSW), section five of the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 (NSW) and section six of the Privacy Act 1988 (Commonwealth). ‘Privacy Officer' means any person nominated as a privacy officer for TAFE NSW.

We may need to change this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we do so, we will post the updated version on our website at www.tafensw.edu.au, and it will apply to all your personal information held by us at that time.

TAFE NSW 19 Mary Ann Street, Ultimo 2007.

Last updated: 7 February 2020

We collect information about you when you interact with us, use our products or services, or visit our websites. This includes when you contact us (for example, to ask about a course), enrol in a course, make a payment or use our facilities.

The type of personal information we gather depends on how you engage with us, but it may include:

• identification and contact information, including your name, address, date of birth, gender and citizenship status
• health information and other sensitive information, including information about your racial and ethnic origin
• financial information, including your tax file number and credit card details
• information about your education and other related information if you are a student registered with us, including unique student identifier and course details
• information about your employment history
• background checks, including police checks and working with children checks if you apply for employment or other positions that require such checks
• location information, including IP address and third party sites you access while using TAFE NSW facilities and systems
• information about how you use our products and services, including information you provide when giving feedback or in response to surveys or competitions.

We may collect your personal information in several ways, including:

• directly from you or your authorised representatives, such as when you or they provide information to us in person, by phone, email, through an application or survey, during a competition, when applying for VET student loans, enrolling in a TAFE NSW course, using our websites, or in any other interaction with us
• through the use of surveillance cameras on TAFE NSW sites
• from third parties such as your employer and our business partners, subcontractors and other service providers we use in connection with your enrolment at TAFE NSW
• from publicly available sources of information
• from social media sites and applications (for example, Facebook and Twitter) when you contact or otherwise engage with us through those sites and applications.

We take all reasonable steps to protect your personal information from unauthorised access, use, modification, or disclosure. However, since the internet is not always secure, we cannot guarantee the safety of any information you transmit online.

We may use your personal information for the purpose it was collected, for purposes directly related to it, or other purposes you have agreed to. 

This may include to:

• ascertain or confirm your identity
• assess your eligibility to enrol with us, including any eligibility for funding or other assistance 
• assess and process any application for enrolment submitted to us
• assess any applications for employment with us
• conduct appropriate credit and background checks
• assess any applications for employment with us
• communicate with you and your authorised representatives, including any nominated parent/guardian or homestay provider
• process a VET student loan application and submit information to the Australian Government – Department of Education and Training
• submit information to other government agencies, regulatory authorities, and other organisations as necessary
• facilitate any student and/or work placements with us, our customers or business partners
• provide our products and services to you (including related information)
• assist you with your enquiries or to investigate any complaints, including any alleged misconduct or illegal activities
• improve our service delivery to you, including to improve or develop our products and services, to perform research and analysis and to conduct surveys
• administer and manage our business, including the products and services we provide to you and for billing and account purposes,

as permitted or required by law, including assisting law enforcement, government agencies and regulatory authorities.

If you decide not to provide your information, you may not be able to enrol in a TAFE NSW course or access certain products and services from us.

TAFE NSW, our business partners and third-party service providers may use your personal information to:

• promote products
• services
• special offers
• share news, events, education programs, competitions

and other updates that may interest you.

This marketing could be done through email, SMS/MMS, social media and our websites. It may continue even after you stop using our products or services unless you choose to opt-out by calling 131 601, or clicking the unsubscribe link in our emails.

We may share your personal information within TAFE NSW to help us provide  our products and services.

We may also disclose your information in these cases:

• If you are a school-based apprentice/trainee or in a TAFE NSW TVET course, we may share information with your school, the NSW Board of Studies and Australian Apprenticeship Centres.
• If you are an apprentice/trainee, we may share information with your employer and Australian Apprenticeship Centres.
• If your TAFE NSW training is arranged or paid for by your employer or another organisation, we may share information with them.
• If you're doing training or work experience through TAFE NSW with another organisation, we may share information with that organisation.
• If you're in a TAFE NSW course eligible for higher education credit, we may share information with the higher education provider and Universities Admission Centre.
• If you're an international student, we may share information as outlined in your agreement with TAFE NSW.
• If you are under 18, we may share information with your parent/guardian unless you've requested otherwise.
• We may also share information with government agencies, regulatory authorities, law enforcement, business partners, credit-reporting bodies, debt collectors, insurers and professional advisors.
• As required or permitted by law.

Some of your personal information may be disclosed, stored, or processed outside of Australia by our third-party service providers, such as those located in the United States or other countries.

When you visit our websites, we may use cookies, web beacons and other tools to gather information about your visit. This could include the pages you view, the time of your visit, your IP address, and your preferences. We use this data for security and to improve your experience. 

Cookies are small files stored on your computer to remember your settings and enhance your browsing. Web beacons are images from third-party sites that track visitor activity. If you prefer, you can disable these tools in your browser, but some website features might not work properly. 

Our websites may link to third-party sites or apps that may collect your information. We aren’t responsible for these sites or apps, so please review their privacy policies before using them.

To access any of your personal information that we hold, you’ll need to:

• complete and sign a Request for Access to Personal Information form, and
• email it to us at privacy@tafensw.edu.au

 We may also need to confirm your identity before releasing any personal information. This could involve providing a certified copy of appropriate photo identification.

There’s no fee to request a copy of your personal information. However, if the volume of information is excessive, we may charge a small administrative cost (fees for photocopying), which you’ll be notified of beforehand.

It is important we have your correct information and take reasonable steps to ensure that all personal information we hold is accurate.

You can confirm and amend your personal information by contacting our Privacy Officer at privacy@tafensw.edu.au.

If you wish to make a complaint in relation to a breach of your privacy, you can contact our Privacy Officer at privacy@tafensw.edu.au.

We take all privacy complaints seriously and investigate any complaints confidentially. We’ll inform you of the outcome of the investigation within a reasonable timeframe.

To find out how we protect your personal data, you can view the summary of our Privacy Policy and disclosure log.