Personal information collected and held by QUT falls into the following six broad categories:
- Student records
- Staff records
- Records on human research participants
- Links to the community
- Business and financial information
- IT records
The records listed are kept for variable periods according to the applicable provisions of the QUT General Disposal Schedule, which is approved by Queensland State Archives.
The steps that can be taken by persons wishing to obtain access to information concerning them are outlined in access and amendment rights.
Student records
One of QUT's primary functions is the education of its students. Consequently, the University collects and holds personal information about students for the purposes of administering their academic progress and to facilitate access to support and information services, for example counselling, library and information technology services. The nature of information held by the University about its current, and where required former students, includes:
- Personal details, including date of birth, postal and permanent home address, emergency contact information
- Statistical information, including equity group membership and educational background
- Admission, enrolment, course progress and attendance records
- Records relating to student examinations and assessment, including student grades
- Records relating to industrial experience, practicums or clinical placements undertaken by students
- Details relating to payment of fees and charges and/or HECS contribution (which may include tax file number information)
- Records relating to student welfare matters, including use of student support services in areas such as health, disability, learning assistance and personal and careers counselling; and student complaints and grievances
- Records relating to applications for and award of prizes, scholarships and grants and other forms of student assistance
- Library borrowing records
- Graduation records, including information on graduate employment outcomes;
- Immunisation status and first aid qualifications (for students in specified courses only)
- Records of student members on University and faculty committees.
The major repository of personal and academic information related to students is the student information system which is managed by the Student Business Services department. Additional information regarding student activity may also be found in other electronic systems including QUT's corporate records system TRIM, Research Master and Razor's Edge.
Student records may also be held by other organisational units. The faculty which administers the course in which the student is enrolled may hold records relating to the management of prizes and scholarships, work experience and clinical and teaching placements, and immunisation status. Records relating to student welfare matters or student usage of services will be held by the organisational unit which provides the service (for example, Health Services, Teaching and Learning Support Services, Library).
Staff of the University are granted access to these records only as required to carry out their duties. Access to student records within the student information system is managed by Student Business Services on behalf of the University. As a general principle, nominated Data Custodians are responsible for managing access and security arrangements to data for those systems within their control.
Access to student records held in other parts of the University is necessarily more limited, both by functional requirements, and occasionally, by the need to treat these other records with greater confidentiality. In general, access to these records will be limited to the staff of the organisational unit concerned, although the records may be released to other staff where appropriate and authorised.
Where necessary, student personal information will be disclosed outside the University to:
- Government departments, including the Australian Taxation Office, Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, Centrelink and Department of Immigration and Citizenship
- Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre (and other tertiary admission organisations in other states)
- External organisations in which students undertake industrial or clinical placements or professional experience
- Consultant student service providers (for example mailing houses)
- Student's financial institution (where required for payment of student fees and charges)
- Law enforcement, intelligence gathering or revenue protection agencies (where reasonably necessary for the enforcement of the criminal law or of a law imposing a pecuniary penalty, or for the protection of the public revenue).
Staff records
Personal information concerning QUT staff is used to administer human resource management functions, to maintain staff electoral rolls for election of members to various University committees, and for other elections in which staff participate, and to facilitate access to library, information technology and other services which are available to staff, such as parking. Records relating to current and former staff may include the following:
- Recruitment records, including position applications, records of selection processes, records of any employment checks, evidence of previous qualifications and information relating to relocation and removal of appointees
- Appointment records (including records of casual staff) and records of leave and attendance
- Personal details, such as date of birth, home address and phone number, emergency contact details
- Salary and payroll information, including banking details and tax file number information, and salary packaging benefits
- Superannuation records
- Personal development and training records
- Performance planning and management records and evaluations of teaching performance (academic staff)
- Records of staff health and safety requirements (including, where required, vaccination status and details of first aid certificate holders) and of accidents and injuries, including compensation and rehabilitation arrangements
- Records relating to staff welfare matters, such as staff study assistance
- Records relating to grievances and complaints, and industrial issues affecting individual staff
- Staff equity data
- Personal promotion information (academic staff)
- Library borrowing records, and other records where staff use QUT services such as the Health Service
- Information concerning visiting researchers or adjunct staff, and other individuals providing services to the University in a voluntary capacity
- Information concerning grants, awards, honours and recognition schemes for staff
- Information concerning staff research output and publications, and staff participation in external and commercial consultancies
- Information concerning staff travel
- Records of staff membership on University and faculty committees.
Much staff personal information, particularly as it relates to recruitment, appointment, attendance and other personnel or industrial or workers' compensation processes, is held in QUT's computerised staff information system, or in the physical records of the Human Resources Department. Access to information is restricted to staff of the Human Resources Department, and to other staff only as required to carry out their duties.
Some functions for the management of staff are the responsibility of the organisational unit in which the staff member is employed, and consequently, some records may be held in faculties or schools or in the relevant department within a division (for instance, timesheets and attendance records).
In addition, information concerning research grants and research output are the responsibility of the Division of Research and Commercialisation, and teaching evaluation information will be held within the Division of Technology, Information and Learning Support.
Access to staff records held in other parts of the University is necessarily more limited, both by functional requirements, and occasionally, by the need to treat these other records with greater confidentiality. In general, access to these records will be limited to the administrative and executive staff of the organisational unit concerned, though the records may be made available to other senior staff if necessary.
Disclosure outside the University occurs only in limited circumstances to:
- Australian Taxation Office
- Superannuation providers
- WorkCover and rehabilitation providers
- Staff member's financial institution (payment information only)
- Health insurers (contribution payment information only).
Human research participants
Research involving humans is conducted in a large number of disciplines in most faculties of the University. Consequently, QUT researchers (including students undertaking research training) may collect or use research data in the form of personal information about identified individuals, to advance knowledge or test theories or hypotheses in an area of scholarship.
The type of personal information which may be collected, used and stored for research purposes is varied, but is naturally dependent on the subject of the research project. QUT conducts behavioural or social sciences research in fields such as education, psychology, public health and management. In addition, QUT conducts research in health and biomedical fields. Personal information will therefore include medical or health information about research participants (including biological or genetic information). The research data of a personal nature may be collected directly from participants (for example, by observation or by completing questionnaires, other surveys or interviews) or it may be obtained from another organisation. Where a researcher proposes to use personal information collected for another purpose, an initial approach to the potential participant is generally made by the custodian of the information.
The use of personal information generated from research involving human participants may take various forms. For instance, the identity of the individual may remain linked to the data at all times. Alternatively, the identifying information may be replaced by the use of a code, where that code is available to re-identify the individual concerned. Where any identifying information has been completely removed from the research data, then no personal information is involved.
Use of personal information about human research participants is tied to processes for obtaining ethical approval for the conduct of the research. Prior to obtaining ethical approval, a researcher must specify the particular personal information collected, describe how it will be used in the research project and explain how these processes will be explained to potential participants. To the extent possible, researchers are encouraged to obtain the informed consent of research participants prior to the collection or use of the research data.
QUT's Code of Conduct for Research specifies that research data is held in the faculty, school or centre in which the research was conducted. The responsibility for maintenance and retention of the data will lie with the head of the relevant school, centre or research concentration in which the research was generated. Individual researchers may hold copies of the data. Research data is held for a minimum of five years following publication. For clinical research, a period of 15 years is generally recommended. For further information please consult the Retention and Disposal Schedules for Queensland Universities.
The raw research data may be accessed by members of the research team, members of the research funding body (if appropriate), academic and administrative staff who require access to assist the researcher(s) in a supporting role, and by senior staff of the University in limited circumstances.
Raw research data involving personal information is not normally disclosed outside the University. If data is to be disclosed to a third party, prior consent for the disclosure will be obtained at the time of collection, when consent for participation in the research project is obtained, or in some limited circumstances prior to disclosure.
Links to the community
One goal of QUT is to enhance links to the community we serve and to the professions for which we train our graduates. Consequently, QUT maintains personal information relating to members of the community and the professions who are supporters of QUT teaching and research programs or who use our community services and facilities. Records containing personal information include:
- Database of QUT alumni, former staff, donors and other prospective donors
- Mailing lists for members of the professions and users of other University facilities such as QUT Cultural Precinct
- Records of members of the community and the professions who serve on University and faculty committees
- Records of continuing professional education participants;
- Patient records for clients of University clinics.
Records relating to QUT's links to the community will be held in the organisational unit which has responsibility for maintaining and enhancing these links. For instance, records relating to alumni and donors are the responsibility of the Division of International and Development, and consequently, records are maintained there, both in physical and electronic formats. The relevant faculty or school will maintain clinic records and records of community members involved in the teaching and research programs of the faculty or school.
Access to records is granted to staff only as required to carry out their duties. In general, access will be limited to administrative and/or academic staff who are directly responsible for the administration of the function involved, and other senior staff in limited circumstances where required. However, as University clinics operate in conjunction with the teaching programs of the relevant faculty or school, access to patient records will also be granted to students under the supervision of qualified teaching staff and only for teaching and learning purposes.
The records are not generally disclosed outside the University, though continuing professional education records may be disclosed to the Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre where a participant seeks admission into a QUT award course.
Business and financial information
Personal information such as name, address for payment, and bank account details, is collected from vendors, suppliers, customers and contractors to facilitate electronic ordering or payment of accounts as part of normal business processes. Information concerning vendors, customers, suppliers and contractors will frequently relate to business entities rather than individuals, but personal information in the form of company representatives or contacts may be collected.
Financial records containing personal information may include:
- Records of accounts payables and receivables, including creditors and debtors of the University
- Customer records of business operations, such as the QUT Bookshop and the Gardens Theatre
- Job tracking systems for service providers within the University, such as QUT Printing Services or Publications
- Lists of contractors providing professional services in the building and project management area
- Tender documents.
Most of the records listed above are maintained in financial management information systems maintained by Financial Services. Other areas such as Commercial Services, Facilities Management or the Bookshop will maintain business records relevant to their operations as appropriate.
Access to records is granted to staff only as required to carry out their duties. In general, and subject to systems limitations, access will be limited to administrative staff who are directly responsible for the function involved, and other senior staff in limited circumstances. External auditors from the Queensland Audit Office, and staff of both Corporate Finance and Assurance and Risk Management Services will also have access to these records as required.
These records are not routinely disclosed outside the University.
Information technology records
QUT's information technology management systems and networks routinely carry, enable processing of, and store for varying periods, much of the core business and the support services of the University.
Information technology records encompass both internal electronic transactions and external transactions, including telephone, email and internet activity. The great bulk of the personal information records within the QUT network environment are described above. However, in addition, there are some personal information records specifically tailored to IT systems administration, such as authentication and identification card systems, and usage tracking systems.
These records are not routinely disclosed outside the University, though in limited circumstances, information about staff will be supplied to outside organisations such as the Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre to facilitate access by those staff to external IT systems if required for business processes.
The records are generally accessible only to IT support staff.