Privacy Policy

What is UAC's Policy Statement?

When you apply to the Universities Admissions Centre (NSW & ACT) Pty Ltd (UAC) you provide a lot of personal information, sometimes including health information.

UAC recognises the importance of protecting this personal information and is bound by the following legislation:
• Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (NSW)
• Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 (NSW)
• Privacy Act 1998 (Cth) as amended in the Privacy Amendment (Private Sector) Act 2000 (Cth)

This means that UAC must uphold the NSW State Information Protection Principles, the NSW Health Privacy Principles and the National Privacy Principles.

UAC is committed to upholding these principles and has implemented policies and procedures to ensure these principles are met.

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What information does UAC collect?

The type of personal information UAC collects includes:
• your contact details (including name, address, telephone number, email address)
• your date of birth
• your gender
• your citizenship details
• details of your education and employment
• details of your professional qualifications
• information related to any disability you may suffer
• information related to your health or the health of a family member
• details of your proficiency in English
• your HSC and other examination results
• your Universities Admission Index (UAI)
• your status as an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.

Provision of your email address is optional. In collecting personal information UAC will only collect information for lawful purposes related to its function.

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How does UAC hold this information?

Your personal information is held in an archive database at UAC.

If you are a current NSW Higher School Certificate student, your Year 12 results will be held along with Year 12 results from other states and territories in Australia, in an archive database at UAC. If you are eligible for a Universities Admission Index (UAI) or a Limited UAI, these will also be held in the database. Your results, including your UAI if you are eligible, will also be held on similar archives at tertiary admissions centres in other states in Australia. Results held on these archives will only be accessed by the relevant tertiary admission centre if you initiate an application for tertiary study through that centre, or if you submit an application for tertiary study directly with an institution participating in that centre.

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How does UAC use this information?

UAC uses this information to process applications for admission to tertiary education institutions. This includes providing universities, other tertiary institutions and tertiary admission centres in other states and territories in Australia with the information that you have provided to us.

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What about third parties?

To perform certain business functions, UAC may contract the services of third parties, such as printing specialists.

In these circumstances, where necessary, some of your information may be shared with these third parties for the express purpose of undertaking the specified service and for no other purpose. The same National Privacy Principles bind these contractors as UAC.

Your information may also be shared with any authorised representative/s that you have nominated, and with any organisations with which we are required by law to share the information.

UAC does not buy or sell mailing lists.

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Declaration and authority

All UAC applicants are asked to sign a Declaration and authority which, among other things, outlines what UAC does with your personal information in the application process.

The Declaration and authority states that you:

• have read and understand information published by UAC under the headings of Applicants’ Rights and Responsibilities, Policy statement on untrue or incomplete information submitted by applicants, and Collection of personal information
• authorise UAC and the participating institutions to obtain available official records from any educational institution you have attended
• authorise UAC to verify any information you have provided
• authorise UAC to provide all information and documents provided with and/or obtained in connection with this application to any institution to which you have applied
• authorise UAC to collect, receive, store, transfer and use any information provided by me, or any information obtained in connection with your application, and to disclose such information to all participating institutions, the Australian Vice-Chancellors’ Committee (AVCC), AVCC member institutions, the members of the Australasian Conference of Tertiary Admissions Centres (ACTAC), and any other authority or tertiary educational institution either in Australia or overseas, where UAC reasonably considers it is necessary to make such disclosure
• authorise any future educational institution you attend as a result of this application to provide all of your results from future studies to UAC or a person nominated by UAC. You authorise UAC or the nominated person to collect, receive, store, transfer and use all such information and all information in or connected with this application for research purposes. You give these authorities on condition that all information provided pursuant to them is deidentified by UAC or the nominated person
• understand that UAC may disclose the personal information you have given in this application to the Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) and that DEST will collect and store your personal information for use in connection with the Higher Education Information Management System (HEIMS)
• understand that UAC and the participating institutions have the right to vary or cancel an application or enrolment made on the basis of what UAC or a participating institution determines to be untrue or incomplete information from any source
• understand that UAC, on behalf of the participating institutions, makes offers based on the information provided by you and on advice received from UAC. If a participating institution subsequently finds that the information or advice was incorrect, it may withdraw the offer
• understand that offers to successful applicants from the Distance, Early, Preliminary, Main and Late rounds will be published in the media on the official offer publication dates and that you must notify The Managing Director, UAC, in writing if I do not wish your name and the course you have been offered to be published
• understand that all fees paid to UAC in connection with your application are not refundable under any circumstances

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How do I access my information?

Under the National Privacy Principles, you are generally entitled to access the information UAC holds about you, but we will require proof of identity – and some requests can be refused. The time it takes to respond to your request depends on the type of information you require, and a fee may be charged.

You may be able to access some personal information on UAC's website using your UAC PIN and UAC application number. No personal information is posted on the internet.

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What do I do if the information UAC holds about me is incorrect?

Please contact us. We want our records to be accurate, complete and up to date. Unless we disagree with you about the accuracy or completeness of a record, we will generally correct it upon request, or suggest alternative arrangements for updating our records.

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What do I do about a breach of privacy?

To make a complaint about an alleged breach of your privacy, write to the Managing Director, and explain what has happened.

If possible, include the name/s and position/s of staff at UAC or at the institution/s who have contacted you. Include your UAC application number and copies of any correspondence that illustrates your problem.

The Managing Director will ensure that your concerns are investigated and will write to you as soon as possible. Your application will not be jeopardised in any way.

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What are my rights?

Institutions that participate in UAC are committed to observing a Code of Ethical Practice.

The Code is designed to protect the rights of applicants, as follows:
1. Participating institutions must NOT use UAC data to:
• contact you unless you have included a course at the institution concerned among your preferences
• transfer information about you to third parties such as university companies.

2. Participating universities may contact you for specific purposes, such as to:
• advise you about changes to the course or to the selection criteria or methods since the UAC Guide was published
• advise you about dates, times and other arrangements for special selection tests
• advise you about changes to the availability of the courses
• provide you with additional information about the institutions and/or courses
• advise you about the likelihood of your receiving an offer.

If contacting you by email, institutions must provide accurate information about the sender of the message and a way for you to unsubscribe so that you do not receive such messages in the future.

3. You may seek access to personal information about you collected by UAC. Access may, however, be denied as permitted under relevant privacy laws.

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How can I contact UAC?

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What about changes to this Policy?

UAC reserves the right to review and amend this policy from time to time and to notify you by posting an updated version on this website.

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How do I find out more?

For more information about privacy and the National Privacy Principles, visit the website of the Office of the Federal Privacy Commissioner at www.privacy.gov.au.

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