Unique Student Identifier Privacy Notice
Your Privacy Rights Regarding the USI
Background
From 1st January 2015 all students enrolled in an Australian Vocational Education & Training (VET) course must apply for a Unique Student Identifier (USI) from the USI Registrar.
A USI is a reference number that gives you access to your USI account. A USI will link your USI account to the National Vocational Education and Training (VET) Data Collection, allowing you to see all of your training results from all providers including all completed training units and qualifications.
Your USI will stay with you for life and be recorded with any nationally recognised VET course that you complete after 1st January 2015. Navitas will be prohibited from issuing certificates, statements of attainment or nationally recognised qualifications to students who have not provided their USI.
Therefore, your application to enrol in a Navitas course implies consent for the college to use personal information provided by you during the enrolment process to:
- Generate a USI on your behalf; or
- Validate your USI after you have provided it to the college
If Navitas applies for a Unique Student Identifier on your behalf
If Navitas applies for a USI on your behalf, they will provide the following items of personal information about you to the USI Registrar:
- your name, including first or given name(s), middle name(s) and surname or family name as they appear in an identification document;
- your date of birth, as it appears, if shown, in the chosen document of identity;
- your city or town of birth;
- your country of birth;
- your gender; and
- your contact details.
When Navitas applies for a USI on your behalf, the USI Registrar will verify your identity through the Document Verification Service (DVS), which is managed by the Attorney-General’s Department and is built into the USI online application process if you have provided Navitas with documents such as a Medicare card, birth certificate, driver licence, Australian passport, citizenship document, certificate of registration by descent, ImmiCard or Australian entry visa.
- If you do not have a document suitable for the DVS and Navitas is authorised to do so by the USI Registrar, the college may be able to verify your identity by other means.
- If you do not have any of the identity documents mentioned above, and Navitas is not authorised by the USI Registrar to verify your identity by other means, the college cannot apply for a USI on your behalf and you should contact the Student Identifiers USI Registrar.
If you ask Navitas to make an application for a student identifier on your behalf, they will have to declare that they have complied with certain terms and conditions to be able to access the online student identifier portal and submit this application, including a declaration that Navitas has given you the following privacy notice:
Navitas USI Privacy Notice
You are advised and agree that you understand and consent that the personal information you provide to Navitas in connection with your application for a USI:
- is collected by the USI Registrar for the purposes of:
- applying for, verifying and giving a USI;
- resolving problems with a USI; and
- creating authenticated vocational education and training (VET) transcripts;
- may be disclosed to:
- Commonwealth and State/Territory government departments and agencies and statutory bodies performing functions relating to VET for:
- the purposes of administering and auditing Vocational Education and Training (VET), VET providers and VET programs;
- education related policy and research purposes; and
- to assist in determining eligibility for training subsidies
- VET Regulators to enable them to perform their VET regulatory functions;
- VET Admission Bodies for the purposes of administering VET and VET programs;
- current and former Registered Training Organisations to enable them to deliver VET courses to the individual, meet their reporting obligations under the VET standards and government contracts and assist in determining eligibility for training subsidies;
- schools for the purposes of delivering VET courses to the individual and reporting on these courses;
- the National Centre for Vocational Education Research for the purpose of creating authenticated VET transcripts, resolving problems with USIs and for the collection, preparation and auditing of national VET statistics;
- researchers for education and training related research purposes;
- any other person or agency that may be authorised or required by law to access the information;
- any entity contractually engaged by the Student Identifiers USI Registrar to assist in the performance of his or her functions in the administration of the USI system; and
- Commonwealth and State/Territory government departments and agencies and statutory bodies performing functions relating to VET for:
- will not otherwise be disclosed without your consent unless authorised or required by or under law.
Protection of Personal information
In accordance with section 11 of the Student Identifiers Act 2014 Cth (SI Act), Navitas will securely destroy personal information which they collect from you solely for the purpose of applying for a USI on your behalf as soon as practicable after the USI application has been made or the information is no longer needed for that purpose, unless they are required by or under any law to retain it.
The personal information about you that they provide to the USI Registrar, including your identity information, is protected by the Privacy Act 1988 Cth (Privacy Act). The collection, use and disclosure of your USI are protected by the SI Act.
USI Registrar’s Privacy Policies and Complaints
You can find further information on how the USI Registrar collects, uses and discloses the personal information about you in the USI Registrar’s Privacy Policy or by contacting the USI Registrar:
- Email: usi@industry.gov.au
- Telephone: 13 38 73
The USI Registrar’s Privacy Policy contains information about how you may access and seek correction of the personal information held about you and how you may make a complaint about a breach of privacy by the USI Registrar in connection with the USI and how such complaints will be dealt with.
You may also make a complaint to the Information Commissioner about an interference with privacy pursuant to the Privacy Act, which includes the following:
- Misuse or interference of or unauthorised collection, use, access, modification or disclosure of USIs; and
- A failure by Navitas to destroy personal information collected only for the purpose of applying for a USI on your behalf.
Navitas Privacy Policy
For information about how Navitas collects, uses and discloses your personal information generally, including how you can make a complaint about a breach of privacy, please refer to the Privacy Policy which can be found here.
The Navitas Privacy Policy covers:
- What is personal information?
- What other information do they collect?
- What does Navitas do with the information?
- Minors and privacy
- What won’t they do with the information?
- Is data stored in a secure way?
- Does Navitas publish personal information on their website?
- What about external links?
- Can you access and correct your personal information?
- Contact details