In five weeks, the most comprehensive changes to Australia’s privacy regulations since the introduction of the Privacy Act in 1988 will come into effect.

The new laws will carry increased obligations with respect to how non-government schools handle personal information of students, parents and staff as well as others including volunteers, suppliers, alumni and visitors.

It will not be enough for schools just to have a privacy policy to comply with the new laws. Non-government schools will be required to show they have practices, procedures and systems in place that comply with the 13 new Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) that underpin the new privacy laws.

To ensure compliance with the key APPs, schools will need to:

• Implement practices, procedures and systems to ensure they can handle inquiries and complaints from individuals;
• Conduct a comprehensive audit of what personal information is currently being collected, where it is stored and how it is used;
• Destroy or de-identify “unsolicited” personal information which would not have been collected for a primary purpose;
• Provide individuals the option of not identifying themselves, or using a pseudonym;
• Only use personal information for secondary purposes, such as direct marketing, in certain specific circumstances; and
• Ensure any overseas recipients of personal information (including cloud service providers) do not breach Australian Privacy Law.

Note this list is not exhaustive.

While there has been a plethora of material published by The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC), law firms and industry bodies, in relation to how organisations (including schools) can comply with the new Privacy Laws, most of this material is daunting to the average Principal or business manager whose job it is to ensure compliance in their school.

In just understanding how to interpret the 13 APPs, the OAIC has published 183 pages of guidelines. Many industry bodies have also published lengthy pro forma manuals, usually with a healthy disclaimer at the front making it clear that the material is provided with all care but no responsibility.

Whilst it may be tempting for some schools simply to put their logo on the front of a proforma manual and claim compliance, the reality is that compliance with the new Privacy Laws, in particular “privacy by design” requires the establishment of integrated systems which are designed to ensure compliance on an ongoing basis.

Consulting firm CompliSpace will launch an integrated Privacy Program for schools on Friday 14^th of February. On this day CompliSpace Managing Director David Griffiths will be leading a live webinar specifically focusing on the issues that non-government schools will need to deal with in ensuring ongoing compliance with the new laws.

To ensure that you get the most out of this presentation CompliSpace invites you to submit any questions you would like to have answered by close of business on Wednesday 12^th February.

Registrations for the webinar have now opened.