The Department of Education manages personal information in accordance with the requirements of the Personal Information Protection Act 2004.
NB There are Guidelines for schools and colleges on the Department of Education Intranet.
The Department of Education is responsible for providing public education, vocational education and training, library and archives services throughout Tasmania. The services of the department are focused in three main areas:
as required by the:
The Department of Education is also responsible for the provision of Adult Education and Online Access Centres.
Under the Personal Information Protection Act 2004 (Tas), the Department of Education is the custodian of that information. The collection, use and disclosure of information which is to be used by the department is governed by the Act.
The type of personal information we collect includes names and addresses, together with any specific information about a person that may be required for the purpose of providing effective education, training, and public information services.
We take reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information we hold is accurate, complete and up to date. Where practicable, we will check the accuracy of your personal information before we use it.
Sensitive information includes for example health information, criminal record, racial origin and sexual preference. Generally, we will only collect sensitive information with your consent if it is necessary, or if the collection of that information is required by law.
If you are making a general enquiry, it may not be necessary to identify yourself. However, if you want to use some of our services, identification may be necessary.
We do not assign unique identifiers to people unless it is necessary for us to carry out our functions efficiently or it is required by law. We do not adopt as our unique identifiers the unique identifiers from another organisation. However, we may collect the unique identifiers assigned to you by another organisation, but we will not disclose these without lawful authority.
You can access your personal information that is held by the Department of Education.
If you consider the personal information to be incorrect, incomplete, out of date or misleading, you can request that the information be amended.
Requests to access or correct your personal information should be addressed in writing to the principal of the school or the head of the relevant business unit. Requests will be processed in accordance with the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 1991.
If you are unsatisfied with the handling or outcome of your request for access to or correction of your personal information you may wish to lodge a further request by directly contacting the FoI Officer, Department of Education, PO Box 169, Hobart Tas 7001, Ph: 03) 6233 6092 or Email: legal@education.tas.gov.au. Depending upon the nature of the request a fee may be charged for this service.
If you remain unhappy with the department's handling or the outcome of your request you can lodge a complaint with the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman's Office can be contacted on 03 6233 6217, or 1800 001 170 (cost of local call outside Hobart area), and by email at ombudsman@justice.tas.gov.au.
All staff of the Department of Education are bound by the confidentiality requirements specified in the State Service Act 2000. Staff restrict their access to information required to carry out their functions within the Department.
Personal information will be used only for the purpose described in the Information Collected section above. Otherwise, your personal information will only be disclosed with your consent, or if it is required or authorised by law.
For example, there may be a need or requirement to disclose some or all information we collect to contractors and agents of the Department, law enforcement agencies, courts, other public sector bodies, or other authorised organisations under legislation administered by the Department and other relevant State and Commonwealth Acts including but not limited to the Social Security Act 1991 and the Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000.
The Personal Information Protection Act permits the disclosure of "basic personal information" (that is, name, address, date of birth and gender) that is collected in conjunction with the provision of a service to other public sector bodies for data quality purposes.
Some de-identified personal information we have collected may be used in research, statistical analysis, state or national reporting, awareness programs, public statements or training, but not in a way to compromise the protection of personal information. Personal information in written submissions on policy matters or matters of public consultation may be disclosed in reports that are made public, unless the submission was submitted and/or accepted on a confidential basis.
We use a number of procedural, physical, and technical safeguards, including access controls, secure methods of communication and back-up and recovery systems to protect information from misuse and loss, unauthorised access, modification and disclosure.
Generally, there is an intention that information is destroyed or permanently de-identified when it is no longer required, but this can only be done in accordance with processes approved by the State Archivist under the Archives Act 1983.
This page has been produced by the Department of Education
Questions concerning its content may be directed by email to ServiceCentre@education.tas.gov.au or telephone 1800 816 057.
This page was last modified on 9th December 2008. The URL for this page is: http://www.education.tas.gov.au/dept/legislation/pip/policy.
You are directed to the disclaimer and copyright notice and a Personal Information Protection statement governing the information provided.
