Privacy Notice for students

The Office of the Student Identifiers Registrar’s privacy obligations require us to:

• be open and transparent about how we hold, use and disclose personal information
• have a privacy policy in place that is reasonably available to the public
• take reasonable steps to ensure the security of personal information and protect it against intentional or unintentional misuse, loss, interference, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure
• take reasonable steps to ensure the personal information that is held, used or disclosed is accurate, up to date, complete and relevant.

We are committed to ensuring the proper handling of your personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 ('Privacy Act'). We are an 'APP entity' that must comply with the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) which are set out in Schedule 1 of the Privacy Act. The Privacy Act and APPs regulates how entities must collect, use, disclose and hold personal information, and how people may access and correct their personal information.  

The information you provide through the USI application process is collected by the Student Identifiers Registrar for the purposes of:

• processing my application for a USI 
• verifying and providing a USI
• resolving problems with a USI and creating authenticated Vocational Education & Training (VET) transcripts.

The information may be disclosed to:

• a number of organisations, departments, regulators and other persons where it is reasonably necessary for the purposes of performing functions or exercising powers 
• the Oversight Authority in instances pertaining to digital identity to enable them to perform their functions
• current and former registered education and training providers to: 
  • enable them to deliver VET and Higher Education courses
  • meet their reporting obligations under the VET and Higher Education standards and government contracts
  • assist in determining eligibility for training subsidies and higher education funding
• schools for the purposes of delivering VET courses to me and reporting on these courses 
• the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) for the purpose of:
  • creating authenticated VET transcripts
  • resolving problems with USIs 
  • collecting, preparing and auditing 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 Registrar to assist in the performance of his or her functions in the administration of the USI system and will not otherwise be disclosed without their consent unless authorised or required by or under law. 

Detailed information on the use of your information can be found in Division 5 - Collection, use or disclosure of student identifiers of the Student Identifiers Act 2014, and in the USI’s Privacy Policy.

Your personal information and the USI application process

The USI application process requires personal information, including your: 

• name 
• date and place of birth 
• gender 
• contact details 
• identification documents. 

This information is used to confirm your identity and ensure your USI is unique.

The USI Registry System only keeps information about your name, date and place of birth, gender, contact details and the type of identification provided. 

The USI Registry System doesn’t retain details from the ID used to create your USI. 

If you’ve authorised a third party to create a USI on your behalf, typically an education or training provider, they’re required by law to destroy your personal information as soon as possible after making the USI application. 

USI VET transcripts

For USI account holders who are undertaking VET studies, the National Centre for Vocational Education and Research (NCVER) holds your training information, which is used to electronically create authenticated VET transcripts.  

The Office of the Student Identifiers Registrar does not hold or store the information received from NCVER for this purpose. 

NCVER is authorised to disclose information to the:

• Australian Government Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR)
• Commonwealth authorities and State and Territory authorities (other than registered training organisations) that deal with matters relating to VET and VET regulator

for the purposes of:

• the administration of VET, including program administration, regulation, monitoring and evaluation
• the facilitation of research relating to education, including surveys and data linkage 
• understanding how the VET market operates, for policy, workforce planning and consumer information. 

NCVER may also disclose personal information to persons engaged by NCVER to conduct research on NCVER’s behalf. 

NCVER does not intend to disclose your personal information to any overseas recipients.

For more information about how NCVER will handle your personal information please refer to NCVER’s Privacy Policy.