Access Student Records Policy

1. What is this policy about?
   1. This policy supports the Education Directorate (the Directorate) in meeting legislative requirements and community expectations in relation to the sensitive management of academic, personal and other records relating to current and past students of ACT public schools and of those who access Directorate programs and services including home education and Australian School-Based Apprenticeships.
2. Policy Statement
   1. The Directorate will safeguard student records from unauthorised access and will use and disclose personal information only within the requirements of privacy and other legislation.
   2. Individuals have a right to seek access to their own personal information and personal health information.
   3. In compliance with privacy legislation, the Directorate publishes a privacy policy that explains how it collects, uses, shares and stores personal information and how it can be accessed and corrected. The policy is available on the Directorate’s policy webpage and About Us page of its website.
   4. Student and parent access to records: Parents and students can request access to records held by a school or by the Directorate and can request amendments where they believe the record is incorrect, out of date, incomplete or misleading. In general, a student’s parents are able to obtain access to their child’s records, at least until the child turns 18. This will always depend on the particular circumstances surrounding the request for access.
   5. Access by interstate schools: All education authorities have agreed to implement a national system for the transfer of student information between schools when children or young people move from one state to another.
   6. Access by external agencies: In addition to student information being disclosed with the consent of the individual or parent, access may be provided to student records in other circumstances. Most commonly this occurs if information is required or authorised by law such as through subpoenas or notices for non-party production, by agencies such as Centrelink, the Australian Federal Police or the Fair Work Ombudsman.
   7. Access and use by Directorate staff: Student records are used by staff for purposes such as administration, providing appropriate education opportunities and support for individual students and meeting duty of care responsibilities towards students. Information is also used for the purpose of effectively managing the public education system including contacting parents and individuals as part of surveys.
   8. Research: Anyone seeking to undertake research projects in ACT public schools and the Australian School-Based Apprenticeship system should refer to information located on the Research in ACT public schools page on the Directorate’s website.
3. Who does this policy apply to?
   1. This policy applies to all ACT public schools, principals, Directorate staff, students and parents.
4. Context
   1. The Directorate collects and generates a range of information to support the education of individual students, effective management of the public school system and programs such as home education and Australian School-Based Apprenticeships.
   2. Student records are used by staff for purposes such as administration, providing appropriate education opportunities and support for individual students and meeting duty of care responsibilities towards students. Information is also used for the purpose of effectively managing the public education system including contacting parents and individuals as part of surveys.
   3. Access to student records is governed by legislation, including that relating to personal information and personal health information. Access to student information may also be restricted by orders made under legislation such as Family Court orders and personal protection orders and legislation relating to child protection.
5. Responsibilities
   1. School principals and managers are responsible for the secure management and storage of records and the proper use and disclosure of personal information.
   2. Policy Owner: The Director, Governance and Community Liaison is responsible for this policy.
6. Monitoring and Review
   1. The Policy Owner monitors the policy. This includes an annual scan of operation and review. A full review of the policy will be conducted within a three year period.
7. Contact
   1. For support contact the Governance and Community Liaison Branch on (02) 6205 9159 or email EDULegalLiaison@act.gov.au.
8. Complaints
   1. Any concerns about the application of this policy or the policy itself, should be raised with:
      • the school principal in the first instance;
      • the Directorate’s Liaison Unit on (02) 6205 5429.
      • online at https://www.education.act.gov.au/about-us/contact_us.
      • see also the Complaints Policy on the Directorate’s website.
9. References
   1. Definitions
      • Personal information: means information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable whether the information or opinion is true or not, and whether the information or opinion is recorded in a material form or not, but does not include personal health information about the individual which is covered by the Health Records (Privacy and Access) Act 1997.
      • Personal health information: means any personal information in relation to the health, an illness or a disability of a person (a consumer under the Health Records (Privacy and Access) Act 1997). This includes any information, recorded or otherwise, where the identity of the person is apparent, whether the information is fact or opinion or true or false. A health record means any record (or part of a record) that is held by a health service provider and contains personal information or any record that contains personal health information. (Health Records (Privacy and Access) Act 1997).
      • Record keeper: is any entity that has the possession or control of personal information or a personal health record.
      • Parent: is a person having parental responsibility for a child or young person under the Children and Young People Act 2008, including a carer under that Act.
   2. Legislation
      • The Information Privacy Act 2014 and the Health Records (Privacy and Access) Act 1997 contain principles governing the collection, safeguarding, access to, use and disclosure of personal information and personal health information.
      • The Public Sector Management Act 1994 sets out a number of obligations for public employees including that of confidentiality of information.
      • The Freedom of Information Act 1989 provides a right to seek access to government documents and sets out a number of exemptions allowing for non-release of documents including that of unreasonable disclosure of personal information.
      • The Territory Records Act 2002 sets out requirements for record keeping and authorises disposal schedules detailing the periods for which records must be retained by the Directorate.
   3. Implementation Documents:
      • Accessing Student Records - Procedures (87.6kb)
      • Access to Student Records - Guidelines for Staff (207kb)

Access to Student Records Policy: ASR201705 is the unique identifier of this document. It is the responsibility of the user to verify that this is the current and complete version of the document, available on the Directorate’s website at http://www.education.act.gov.au/publications_and_policies/policies.