Privacy and Information Sharing

Sharing information

School staff can share personal and health information of students, staff and others to carry out school and department functions or related purposes.

Information sharing can also occur in other limited circumstances, such as when there is a risk to health and safety.

‘Need to know’ framework

All staff can, and must, share information about students, staff and others on a ‘need to know’ basis. This means that staff only share information necessary for them to do their job that doesn’t breach the privacy rights of the individual.

It can also be shared for secondary purposes that would be reasonably expected by the person whose information is being shared.

For more information on primary and secondary purposes, refer to the Schools' privacy policy.

Sharing information helps schools and the department to:

• educate students by planning for individual needs and address barriers to learning
• support the students’ social and emotional wellbeing and health at school
• fulfil legal obligations towards students and the community.

Examples of the ‘need to know’ framework in practice are available at the end of this guidance chapter.

Student information

Sharing information about students

Under the framework, staff can share student information with other school staff and relevant members of the department.

The ability to share information allows the school to:

• provide for and support the student’s education
• support the student’s social and emotional wellbeing and health
• reduce the risk of reasonably foreseeable harm to students, staff or visitors (duty of care)
• make reasonable adjustments for the student’s disability (anti-discrimination law)
• provide a safe and secure workplace (occupational health and safety law).

Sometimes schools can legally share information with others outside the school or the department.

These situations include when:

• responding to Requests for Information about Students
• requesting and sharing confidential information with authorised services to promote child wellbeing or safety, or assess and manage family violence risk (Child and Family Violence Information Sharing Schemes)
• supporting a child who has been impacted, or is suspected to be impacted, by abuse (Child protection privacy and information sharing).

School transfers

When a student has been accepted at, and is transferring to or from, one school to another, the current school will send the student’s information to the new school. This includes students transferring from any Victorian government, non-government and/or interstate school.

This information shared can include copies of the student’s school records, including any health, wellbeing or safety related information.

Parental consent isn’t required to transfer this information between Victorian government schools. It is required when the student is transferring to or from a Victorian non-government school, including Catholic schools or interstate schools.

However, information sharing frameworks such as the Child and Family Violence Information Sharing Schemes allow for information sharing without consent where it is to promote the wellbeing or safety of children or to assess or manage family violence risk. Privacy laws also allow the department and schools to share information without consent when it is necessary to lessen or prevent a serious threat to an individual’s life, health, safety or welfare.

For guidance on transferring student information refer to our guide on Enrolment – Student transfers between schools.

Duty of care

School staff have a duty of care to students. All staff working with students must take reasonable steps to minimise the risk of reasonably foreseeable harm to students.

Staff must share pertinent information about students to enable other staff to take steps to reduce the risk of harm.

This could include sharing information about a student’s:

• behaviour
• disability
• family circumstances.

Staff can also share other information relevant to managing the risks, such as information in safety plans.

For example, staff must tell the principal (or other member of the school leadership team) if there is a reasonably foreseeable risk to anyone because a student:

• displays violent behaviours
• is a victim or perpetrator of bullying, assault or age-inappropriate sexualised behaviours
• has emotional, wellbeing or self-harm issues.

The principal can then share relevant information using the ‘need to know’ framework. This might include sharing information with other staff who work with or supervise the student in some capacity.

As soon as a school staff member becomes aware of a risk of harm to any student, they must act on that information. They must share the information with other staff who ‘need to know’, even if the student or parent asks them not to share that information.

For more information, refer to Duty of Care.

Anti-discrimination law

Under anti-discrimination law, schools must make reasonable adjustments for students with disabilities. This applies regardless of whether a student is eligible for disability funding.

This means that relevant information about a student’s disability and their needs must be shared with all staff who work with or supervise that student.

Sharing of this information allows the school and staff to:

• understand the student’s disability and how it affects their learning, and social and emotional wellbeing
• understand all recommendations made by the student’s treating practitioners
• make informed decisions about what adjustments are reasonable
• implement the reasonable adjustments at school.

Sharing information may also be required to meet the duty of care to that student. For example, if a student has a medical condition and may need treatment at school.

‘Need to know’ examples

Here are some examples of when school staff should share information with other staff who ‘need to know’. Sharing of information helps schools to provide the best education and support to students while also meeting legal requirements.

These examples don’t describe all steps needed to fulfil legal obligations. Instead, they focus on the appropriate amount of information sharing required for staff to take the necessary steps.

In most cases, schools would need to take steps in addition to sharing information, such as:

• offering wellbeing supports
• sharing information and working with parents and carers
• reporting to relevant agencies and the department's Incident Support and Operations Centre (ISOC).

For guidance on dealing with incidents, refer to Managing and Reporting School Incidents (Including Emergencies).

Student displaying anti-social behaviour

A social worker is working with a student who is displaying anti-social behaviours and acting out.

Over several sessions the social worker learns the student often does dangerous things during lunch, such as climbing onto the school roof and jumping into the sandpit. The social worker tells the principal who then informs all staff due to the level of risk. This helps staff to make sure the student and others stay safe.

Refer to Student Support Services for information on how social workers support schools in assisting students facing barriers to learning.

Student with diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder with sensory sensitivity

A student with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experiences sensitivity to loud noises. The schoolyard is often quite noisy during lunchtime.

On a few occasions, the school has found the student trying to leave the school grounds. The student told staff that they were trying to go to the park across the road from the school where it is quieter for them.

The principal tells all school staff about this. This information helps staff to understand the situation and how to help if the student tries to leave without permission. As a result, staff have all the necessary information to keep the student safe.

For guidance on ways to support students with disability, refer to Students with Disability.

Student displaying problematic sexualised behaviour

A student has engaged in age-inappropriate sexualised behaviour with younger students. The school develops a safety plan to ensure the safety of all students.

The principal provides the safety plan to staff who undertake yard duty. These staff ‘need to know’ about the plan so they can take appropriate steps to protect students.

For further guidance, refer to Student Sexual Offending and Problem Sexual Behaviour.

Student victim of sexual assault

A student informs a social worker that they were sexually assaulted on the weekend by another student. The social worker advises the principal and they inform the relevant authorities.

The social worker and the principal develop a safety plan for the student who reported the assault. The staff also prepare a management plan for the other student involved and offer counselling support. The principal shares each plan with all staff who supervise the students to make sure the students are safe and supported at school.

For further guidance, refer to Student Sexual Offending and Problem Sexual Behaviour.

Student experiencing family violence

A student tells a Visiting Teacher (VT) that there is family violence in their home. The VT advises the principal that they have a reasonable belief that the student is at risk of physical abuse.

Together they make a mandatory report as outlined in Protecting Children – Reporting and Other Legal Obligations and Report child abuse in schools. The VT and principal share their concerns about the possible family violence with other staff who work with or supervise the student. This helps staff to continue to monitor the student and their safety.

For more guidance, refer to Family Violence Support.

Student who has attempted suicide

A student recently left the school grounds during school hours and attempted suicide at a nearby shopping centre. The student was taken to hospital and referred to mental health services for ongoing treatment.

The student’s mother informs the principal about the incident and asks the principal not to tell anyone else at the school. However, the principal decides to share this information with the wellbeing staff so that they can offer support to the student at school.

The principal also informs other staff who supervise the student so they can act quickly if the student goes missing during the school day. The principal explains the decision to the parent and the reasons for sharing the information.

For guidance on responding to an attempted suicide, refer to Self-Harm and Attempted Suicide Response.

Student with a diagnosis of severe language disorder

A speech pathologist receives a referral for a student from the school. The referral notes that the student seems to have limited vocabulary in the classroom based on the teacher’s observations.

After completing a language assessment, the speech pathologist diagnoses the student with a severe expressive language disorder and moderate receptive language disorder. They write a detailed report with recommendations to make reasonable adjustments for the student in class.

The report is given to the principal, who shares only the recommendations with the student's teachers. Additional details from the report aren’t shared unless necessary to implement the adjustments. The principal also sets up a process to share the student’s needs with any future teachers.

If other staff need to support the student, they access information about the adjustments. However, staff who don’t play a role in supporting the student won’t have access to the report or recommendations.

For information on how speech pathologists support schools, refer to Student Support Services.

Student with a diagnosis of conduct disorder

A parent gives the school a medical report showing their child has a diagnosis of conduct disorder. The report also includes recommendations for reasonable adjustments to help the student access their education.

The recommendations include:

• de-escalation strategies
• access to a calming space or wellbeing staff when necessary
• modifications to the curriculum.

The student’s Student Support Group discuss the report and develop an Individual Education Plan (IEP). The principal gives the report recommendations and IEP to the student’s classroom teachers and wellbeing staff. This helps the school to implement the reasonable adjustments for the student at school.

For information about IEPs, refer to Individual Education Plans.

Staff information

Staff information must be shared using the ‘need to know’ framework to allow other staff to carry out their job. This may include sharing necessary information with the relevant school, regional or central office staff.

Examples include:

• to recruit and pay staff
• support their health and wellbeing
• comply with the department’s legal obligations, policies and staff codes of conduct.