Privacy Policy
Aim
At Bossy Boots Early Learning Centre (the ‘Centre’ or ‘Bossy Boots ELC’) our aim is to provide you with the highest standard of service. In order to do this our Education and Care Service is required to collect personal information from you about your child, and their parents/guardians, before and during the course of a child’s enrolment at our Centre. We are committed to protecting your privacy and we abide by the Australian Privacy Principles contained within the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).
Privacy of your personal information is important to us and we conduct our business with respect and integrity.
Who is affected by this policy?
Children, Educators/Staff, Families, Management
Implementation
Collection of Information
What is personal information?
In the Privacy Act personal information is defined as ‘information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable:
(a) whether the information or opinion is true or not; and
(b) whether the information or opinion is recorded in a material form or not.’
What is sensitive information?
Sensitive information refers to information such as a person’s racial or ethnic origin, religious, or health information and requires a higher level of protection because of the sensitive matters it relates to.
For detailed information about the legislation go to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner’s website: www.oaic.gov.au. If you have any concerns or questions about the way your personal information is managed please contact the Approved Provider or Nominated Supervisor.
What types of information do we collect and hold?
We collect and hold personal and sensitive information from you (parents and guardians) about you that is reasonably necessary or related to our activities and the services we provide. The information collected may include your: name, date and place of birth, gender, addresses, phone numbers, fax numbers, email addresses, bank account or credit card details, tax file number, Centrelink Customer Reference Number (CRN), date of birth for CRN holder, custody arrangements and parenting orders, family background and employment arrangements (e.g. two parent family/single parent family, self-employed/ employed full-time or part-time, languages spoken at home, ethnic and religious
background etc.)
In addition, we collect personal and sensitive information relating to your child. The information collected may include child’s name, date and place of birth, gender, addresses, CRN, immunisation status, Medicare number, health and medical information such as allergies, any other medical conditions, dietary requirements, likes and dislikes, additional needs, languages spoken, and other family background (as listed above in relation to parent/guardian/s information),routines, as well as photographs and videos of children and samples of their work, and general information about your family and child, that enables us to endeavour to provide the best individualised education and care
possible.
The contact names, addresses and phone numbers of emergency contact persons who can collect your child or be contacted in an emergency are also collected.
How do we collect information?
Generally personal and sensitive information is collected from you directly through use of standard forms on enrolment of your child at the Centre, and at times throughout the duration of your child’s attendance at the Centre (to ensure we have up to date personal information, including their current interests and home activities etc.). In addition, personal information may be collected from time to time from communication with you in person, by email or phone. Photos and videos of children and their work are collected at the Centre.
The contact names, addresses and phone numbers of emergency contact persons are collected from parents/guardians providing that information to us.
On occasion, personal information about you or your child may be collected indirectly because it is unreasonable or impractical to collect personal information from you. We will usually notify you about these instances in advance, or where that is not possible, as soon as reasonably practicable after the information has been collected.
If a student has a valid training requirement, that involves the gathering of certain information pertaining to your child or family (e.g. to complete observations), the student must have the written consent from the parent/guardian and the consent of the Approved Provider and/or Nominated Supervisor.
Why is the information collected, and how is it used?
The personal information that is collected about you and your child is that which is reasonably necessary for, or related to, our activities and the services we provide, including to enable us to endeavour to provide the best service and individual care for your child, and for processing payments. This includes collecting and holding information relating to various Centrelink benefits which you may
be entitled to claim (such as Child Care Benefit (CCB), Child Care Rebate (CCR)) and occasionally other special assistance).
Some of the information we collect is to satisfy the Centre’s legal obligations under the Education and Care Services National Regulations [NSW] and to comply with our obligations in operating a Child Care Service Management System (CCMS) (the software that links with Centrelink to process payments).
Personal information about you and your child will be used: for providing individualised education and care programs, to advocate for the wellbeing, protection and development of children, to manage children’s current or prospective enrolment, to provide you with information about our centre, services and to request information about the centre and our services through communication such as letters newsletters, emails, or other communication channels used by the centre.
Disclosure of information
Bossy Boots will only disclose the personal and sensitive information collected about you or your child for the purpose it was collected, or a reasonably expected or related secondary purpose. From time to time the centre may be required to disclose personal and sensitive information to others for administrative purposes. This includes the Early Childhood Education and Care Directorate, NSW Department of Education and Communities, Department of Human Services (e.g. Centrelink, Families Assistance), Department of Health, Family Law Courts, Department of Social Services (Families and Children), and other education and care professionals, including any organisation you may receive benefits or funding from (e.g. Gowrie NSW, Brighter Futures). We may also disclose personal or sensitive information about you or your child to child protection or family support agencies if we reasonably believe that a child is at risk of significant harm, as required by our Child Protection Policy. Bossy Boots Kingscliff will otherwise not disclose personal or sensitive information to a third party for any other purpose, without your consent, unless it is authorised or required by law.Privacy of your personal information is important to us and we conduct our business with respect and integrity.
Keeping information up to date
We will take reasonable steps to endeavour to ensure that the details that we hold about your family are accurate, complete and up to date. We request your assistance with this, and ask that you inform us as early as possible of any changes to your or your child’s or family’s details (including any changes to emergency contact phone numbers).
Access to and correction of Information
You may at any time request access to your and your child’s personal and sensitive information. Generally, we will ask that your request be made in writing to the Director/Nominated Supervisor, Centre Manager or Approved Provider. Other employees of Bossy Boots Kingscliff will generally not be able to provide you with access to this information. We will provide access without undue delay, and this access might be by inspection of your child’s records or providing copies of the information. In some cases, which are specified in the Privacy Act (e.g. where access to records may place another person at risk of harm, or unreasonably impact the privacy of others), Bossy Boots Kingscliff may decline access to your or your child’s personal or sensitive information. In these circumstances we will inform you of our reasons for doing so.
Information storage and security
We assure you that we will take reasonable steps to protect your personal and sensitive information from misuse, loss, unauthorised access or disclose. Our educators and other staff are committed to respecting these principles at all times. All documentation (whether hardcopy or electronic) containing personal or sensitive information, will be kept in a safe and secure area. Bossy Boots Kingscliff may
store electronic or hardcopy records in safe and secure locations away from the centre. Only authorised employees from Bossy Boots Kingscliff and any third party service providers who assist in operating our business will have access to your personal and sensitive information, and this access will be structured in such a way to ensure the use and disclosure as stated in this policy.
Amendments to this privacy policy
From time to time Bossy Boots Kingscliff may amend this privacy policy, without prior notice. When any amendments are made to this policy the new/updated policy will be made available for review at our front office or from the Director/Nominated Supervisor.
Privacy Act 1988 (Cth)
This privacy policy is provided for your information, and is not intended to limit or exclude your rights under the Privacy Act.
Complaints and Feedback
If you wish to make a complaint about a breach of the Privacy Act, Australian Privacy Principles, or a privacy code that applies to us, please contact us as set out below and we will take reasonable steps to investigate the complaint and respond to you. If you are not happy with our response you make complain directly to the Australian Information Commissioner.
If you have any queries or concerns about our privacy policy, or the way we handle your personal and sensitive information, please contact our Approved Provider as follows:
By Post:
Approved Provider
Bossy Boots Early Learning Kingscliff
4 Shell Street,
Kingscliff NSW 2487
Or by Email: Candis@bossybootskingscliff.com.au
Or phone: (02) 6674 3966 and leave a message with the Nominated Supervisor that you would like the Approved Provider to phone you.
Legislation and Sources
Privacy Act 1988 (Cth)
Children (Education and Care Services) National Law (NSW)
Education and Care Services National Regulations [NSW]
National Quality Standard
ACECQA Guide to the National Quality Standard (Updated January 2017)
Child Care Service Handbook 2020
NSW Department of Education http://www.education.nsw.gov.au
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner http://www.oaic.gov.au/
Review
The policy will be reviewed annually by management.
Reviewed: February 2021
Next Review: February 2022