My Skills privacy notice:
Information available on My Skills, or collected through a My Skills account registration, is obtained in the following ways:
- individuals may provide information through their VET Alumni Account (further information about privacy is available through the VET Alumni registration process),
- RTOs may provide information by registering for an RTO Account;
- Information available on training.gov.au about RTOs and the courses they offer is migrated from the training.gov.au website;
- Fee information, about courses for which people may be eligible for VET student loans, is required to be published on My Skills under the VET Student Loans Rules 2016.
Any personal information is collected for the primary purpose of ensuring that My Skills remains the is the national directory of vocational education and training (VET) organisations and courses, to enable consumers to search for, and compare, VET courses and training providers.
Your personal information is protected by law, including the Privacy Act 1988. The Australian Government Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (the department), which manages the site, may also use your personal information for the purposes of corresponding with you about My Skills, including sending you specific information about your Registered Training Organisation or general information about the My Skills website and to assist the department with the management of My Skills, including complaints handling and surveys for the purposes of program management or improvement. The consequence of not providing some or all of your personal information is that the department may not be able to effectively communicate with you about My Skills matters.
Your information may also be used by the department or given to other parties, but only where you have agreed to that or where it is required or authorised by law (including for the purposes of research or investigations). The department may also disclose your personal information to certain third party providers who deliver web-based services to the department, including MailChimp and SurveyMonkey. Both MailChimp and SurveyMonkey store their data on servers located outside of Australia; further detail on the department’s use of these providers is below.
You can find more information about the way in which the department will manage your personal information, including how to access and correct your information, and how to make a complaint, in the department’s privacy policy at https://www.dese.gov.au/privacy, or by requesting a copy from the department by emailing privacy@dese.gov.au.
Mailchimp
To provide our news or information the department may use MailChimp. MailChimp provides online platforms that can be used to create, send, and manage emails. In providing this service, MailChimp may collect personal information, including your email address and other information relating to that email address. For further information about the type of personal information MailChimp collects, please refer to their Privacy Policy.
The department may use this information to manage emails relating to the work of the department, measure email news performance and to improve the features of our My Skills website and email news service. MailChimp may transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on MailChimp’s behalf. MailChimp uses cookies, Web Beacons and Flash player code to collect information about when you visit the website, when you use the services, your browser type and version, your operating system, and other similar information.
MailChimp is based in the United States of America (USA) and the information generated by cookies about your use of the website (including your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored by MailChimp on servers located outside Australia.
You can opt out of our mailing list if you choose the ‘unsubscribe’ service provided by MailChimp in every email, or by contacting the department by emailing MySkillsHelp@dese.gov.au. You can also disable or refuse cookies or disable Flash player; however, you may not be able to use the services provided by MailChimp if cookies are disabled. Should you wish to contact MailChimp, you can find contact details on the Contact MailChimp page.
If you do not unsubscribe or contact the department to opt out of the mailing list you:
- consent to your personal information being collected, used, disclosed and stored as set out in MailChimp’s Privacy Policy and agree to abide by Mail Chimp’s Terms of Use;
- understand and acknowledge that this service utilises a MailChimp platform, which is located in the USA and relevant legislation of the USA will apply; and
- understand and acknowledge that MailChimp is not subject to the Commonwealth Privacy Act 1988and the department will not have an obligation to take reasonable steps to ensure that MailChimp does not breach the Australian Privacy Principles in relation to personal information that is given to MailChimp and that you will need to seek redress under the laws of the USA for any privacy breaches by MailChimp.
MailChimp has the endorsement of TRUSTe’s Privacy Seal, which means their privacy policy has been reviewed by TRUSTe for compliance with their program requirements including transparency, accountability, and choice related to the collection and use of your Personal Information. TRUSTe is an independent third party that operates a globally-recognised privacy trustmark.
SurveyMonkey
The department will only use this information if you choose to respond to our invitation to participate in a survey, and for the purpose of receiving and analysing your answers.
SurveyMonkey is based in the USA and the European Union (EU) and the information generated by cookies about your use of the website (including your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored by SurveyMonkey on servers located outside Australia.
If you choose to respond to one of our surveys you:
- consent to your personal information being collected, used, disclosed and stored as set out in SurveyMonkey’s Privacy Policy and agree to abide by SurveyMonkey’s Terms of Use;
- understand and acknowledge that this service utilises a SurveyMonkey platform, which is located in the USA and the EU, and relevant legislation of those countries will apply; and
- you understand and acknowledge that SurveyMonkey is not subject to the Commonwealth Privacy Act 1988, and the department will not have an obligation to take reasonable steps to ensure that SurveyMonkey does not breach the Australian Privacy Principles in relation to personal information that is given to SurveyMonkey and that you will need to seek redress under the laws of the USA and the EU for any privacy breaches by SurveyMonkey.
Survey Monkey also has the endorsement of TRUSTe’s Privacy Seal, which means their privacy policy has been reviewed by TRUSTe for compliance with their program requirements including transparency, accountability, and choice related to the collection and use of your Personal Information. TRUSTe is an independent third party that operates a globally-recognised privacy trustmark.