Office of the Queensland College of Teachers
Privacy Statement
BACKGROUND
The Queensland College of Teachers (the QCT, or the College) is an independent statutory authority for the teaching profession, established by the Education (Queensland College of Teachers) Act 2005 on 1 January 2006. The functions of the College are to promote the profession of teaching and to regulate the members of the teaching profession. It is a legal requirement for all school teachers to be registered with the College in order to be employed in a school.
The activities of the QCT are governed by the requirements of the Education (Queensland College of Teachers) Act 2005. The Act is administered by the QCT.
The QCT is also subject to the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act 1992, and other acts relating chiefly to the financial activities of the College.
THE QCT'S APPROACH TO PRIVACY
The QCT is committed to protecting the privacy, confidentiality and security of teachers' personal information and adheres to the Information Privacy Principles based on the Privacy Act (1988) (Cth).
The purpose of the Queensland privacy scheme is to establish a regime for the responsible collection and handling of personal information in the Queensland public sector. This statement supports the QCT's need to collect information and the right of the individual to privacy. The QCT recognises the right of individuals to have their information handled in ways that they would reasonably expect and in ways that protect the privacy of their personal information.
WHAT INFORMATION DOES THE QCT COLLECT?
The QCT collects personal information to meet the purposes required under the Act. The College ensures that teachers supplying personal information know why the information is collected and how it will be handled.
Section 288(1) of the Education (Queensland College of Teachers) Act 2005 requires the QCT to keep a register about approved teachers. The information held in the register is as stipulated under section 288(3) of the Education (Queensland College of Teachers) Act 2005.
HOW DOES THE COLLEGE USE OR DISCLOSE PERSONAL INFORMATION?
A teacher's personal information is only used for, or disclosed to persons or organisations, for the purposes required under the Act.
Under section 289(1) of the Education (Queensland College of Teachers) Act 2005 the publicly available part of the register must be kept open for inspection at the office by members of the public during ordinary office hours. Section 289(2) stipulates that the College must, on request, give a person a copy of the publicly available part of the register or a part of the publicly available part of the register.
Enquiries in relation to the register should be forwarded to the Manager, Registration, Queensland College of Teachers, PO Box 389, Toowong, Qld 4066, or directed to the Privacy Officer.
The details of approved teachers contained on the register are provided when application for registration or permission to teach is made, and are updated when the teacher provides details of a change of address or name, or the award of an educational qualification. The information is used to determine eligibility for registration or permission to teach, and subsequently for the issue of annual fee notices, renewal of registration or permission to teach, and the compilation of general statistics.
The application completed by the teacher, subsequent correspondence relating to the application for registration or permission to teach, the reports from Principals and any other correspondence from or to the teacher are contained in paper records. When a teacher’s name is removed from the register, the information is retained until such time as it is determined that the teacher will not seek restoration to the register.
No information contained on the register or in paper records is sold, re-used, loaned or otherwise disclosed to a third party except under the terms of the Education (Queensland College of Teachers) Act 2005 or when provided by the College in confidence to generate the notices for payment of the annual fee and renewal of registration in accordance with the College’s lawful requirements. QCT staff engaged in assessment of qualifications, registration and fee status matters, and the annual fee and census matters, have access to the information. The information may also be accessed in the event of any disciplinary or inquiry matters which come to the attention of the College.
Other information held by the QCT includes:
o personal information of staff members which is required so that appropriate human resource management functions can be carried out.
o Details of vendors to allow normal business process to take place in accordance with usual commercial practice.
Any inquiries relating to privacy issues should be directed to the Privacy Officer, Queensland College of Teachers, PO Box 389, Toowong, Qld 4066.
ACCESS AND CORRECTION
Teachers have the right to request access to their personal information held by the QCT. Teachers also have the right to request that the QCT correct their information where necessary. Requests for access to documents containing personal information and in the control of the College are handled in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 1992 or Information Privacy Principle 6. Such requests can be made to the QCT by contacting the Freedom of Information Officer.