LCOOS – PRIVACY & CONFIDENTIALITY POLICY

1. NQS

- - QA4 – 4.2.1 – Professional standards guide practice, interactions and relationships.
  - QA5 – 5.2.3 – The dignity and the rights of every child are maintained at all times
  - QA7 – 7.1.1 – Appropriate governance arrangements are in place to manage the service

2. National Regulations

- - Regs – 181 – Confidentiality of records kept by approved provider
  - Regs – 181-184 – Confidentiality and storage of records

3. Aim

Privacy Statement

Our service recognises that every individual has the right to ensure their personal information is accurate and secure, and only used or disclosed to achieve the outcomes for which it was initially collected. Personal information will be managed openly and transparently in a way that protects an individual’s privacy and respects their rights under Australian privacy laws.

4. Related Policies

- - Educator and Management Policy
  - Record Keeping and Retention Policy
  - Social Media Policy

5. Implementation

Our Privacy Notice and Disclosure Statement are at the end of this Policy.

Our Service practices are consistent with the Australian Privacy Principles.

Collection of personal information

We collect personal information if it is necessary for us to carry out Service operations or to comply with our legal obligations. This includes information required to comply with the National Education and Care Law and Regulations and to promote learning under the My Time Our Place educational framework. Information may also be collected to comply with other Laws including State or Territory Health Laws.

During the enrolment process the Nominated Supervisor will collect information such as:

Personal information includes name, address, date of birth, gender, family contact details, emergency contact details, authorised nominee details, parents’ occupations, cultural background, home language, religious beliefs, payment details, child care benefit information, immunisation records, medical information, medical management plans, photos of children and family members and information about children’s strengths, interests, preferences and needs, including special needs. Personal information also includes “government related identifiers” like Medicare numbers and CCB references.

We usually collect personal information directly from a parent or guardian either in writing or verbally, for example during enrolment, when completing waiting list applications, or as we establish a partnership with families in caring for and educating a child. We may also collect information through our website, social media page, Family Law court orders or agreements, special needs agencies and training courses.

We may occasionally request information from other organisations which you would reasonably agree is necessary for us to educate and care for a child. For example, we may request a copy of a child’s immunisation records where they are transferring to us from another Service, or where we request information about a child from a special needs educator or organisation. We will not request information without obtaining the consent of the individual (or parent) concerned.

In most cases, if we are unable to collect relevant personal information, we will be unable to enrol a child at the Service.

Use or disclosure of personal information

We will not use personal information for any purpose that is not reasonably needed for the proper or effective operation of the service. Personal information may be accessed by and exchanged with staff educating and caring for a child or by administrative staff.

We do not disclose your personal information to others unless you would have reasonably expected us to do this or we have your consent. For example, personal information may be disclosed to:

- - emergency service personnel so they can provide medical treatment in an emergency
  - special needs educators or inclusion support agencies
  - volunteers, trainees and work experience students (with consent)
  - trainers or presenters if children participate in special learning activities
  - another Service to which a child is transferring where you have consented to the transfer.
  - the new operator of the Service if we sell our business and you have consented to the transfer of enrolment and other documents listed in Regulation 177 of the National Education and Care Regulations.

We may disclose personal information where we are permitted or obliged to do so by an Australian law. For example, personal information may be disclosed to:

- - authorised officers when our service is assessed and rated under the National Education and Care Law and Regulations
  - Government employees (eg for CCSS, Immunisation, Medicare purposes)
  - software companies that provide child care management systems
  - management companies we may engage to administer the Service
  - software companies that provide tailored computer based educational tools for children
  - lawyers in relation to a legal claim.
  - officers carrying out an external dispute resolution process
  - a debt collection company we use to recover outstanding fees
  - authorities if we are taking action in relation to unlawful activity, serious misconduct, or to reduce or prevent a serious threat to life, health or safety.

We do not disclose personal information to any person or organisation overseas or for any direct marketing purposes.

Quality of personal information

Nominated Supervisor will:

- - regularly remind families via newsletters, emails or through displays on the family notice board to update their personal information including emergency contact details and their child’s health information.
  - ask parents to update their enrolment details annually, or whenever their circumstances change.
  - verify the information is accurate, current and complete before disclosing it to any external organisation or person.

6. ACCESS TO INFORMATION

There may be rare occasions when we are unable to provide access to parents because we believe:

- - giving access would be unlawful, the information relates to unlawful activity or serious misconduct, or it may prejudice the activities of a law enforcement body.
  - there is a serious threat to life, health or safety.
  - giving access would unreasonably affect the privacy of others.
  - the request is frivolous or vexatious, for example to harass staff.
  - the information relates to legal proceedings (eg unfair dismissal claim) between the Service and the individual.
  - giving access would reveal sensitive information about a commercial decision.

We may, however, provide the information in an alternative way for example by:

- - deleting any personal information which cannot be provided
  - providing a summary of the information
  - giving access to the information in an alternative format
  - allowing the individual to inspect a hard copy of the information and letting them take notes.

We will advise you promptly if we are unable to provide access to the information, or access in the format requested. The advice will include the reasons for the refusal to provide the information (unless it is unreasonable to do this) and information about how to access our grievance procedure.

7. Website

When you visit our website

- - When you come to our website (www.lcoos.com), we may collect certain information such as browser type, operating system, website visited immediately before coming to our site, etc. This information is used in an aggregated manner to analyse how people use our site, such that we can improve our service.

- - We may from time to time use cookies on our website. Cookies are very small files which a website uses to identify you when you come back to the site and to store details about your use of the site. Cookies are not malicious programs that access or damage your computer. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies but you can choose to reject cookies by changing your browser settings. However, this may prevent you from taking full advantage of our website. Our website may from time to time use cookies to analyses website traffic and help us provide a better website visitor experience. In addition, cookies may be used to serve relevant ads to website visitors through third party services such as Google AdWords. These ads may appear on this website or other websites you visit.

Third party sites

- - Our site may from time to time have links to other websites not owned or controlled by us. These links are meant for your convenience only. Links to third party websites do not constitute sponsorship or endorsement or approval of these websites. Please be aware that LCOOS is not responsible for the privacy practises of other such websites. We encourage our users to be aware, when they leave our website, to read the privacy statements of each and every website that collects personal identifiable information.

8. Complaints

If you believe we have breached Privacy Laws or our Privacy Policy may lodge a complaint with the Parent Management Committee by telephone on 0294284263 or by mail 178 Longueville Road LANE COVE. The Parent Management Committee will follow the Service’s grievance procedure to investigate the complaint. Individuals who are unhappy with the outcome of the investigation may raise their complaint with the Office Australian Information Commissioner www.oaic.gov.au GPO Box 5218 Sydney NSW 2001 or GPO Box 2999 Canberra ACT 2601, phone 1300 363 992 or email enquiries@oaic.gov.au

9. Sources

- - National Quality Standard
    Education and Care Services National Regulation
  - Privacy Act 1988 (includes Australian Privacy Principles)
  - United Nations Convention of the Rights of a Child

10. Review

The policy will be reviewed annually by:

- - Management
  - Employees
  - Families
  - Interested Parties