4. Privacy considerations

The Education (Stand-down, Suspension, Exclusion, and Expulsion) Rules 1999 require that:

• the principal must report to the board on the suspension; [ 14]; and
• the principal’s report, and any other material about the suspension that is to be presented by the principal or board at the suspension meeting, must be made available to the student and parents.

[Rules 15(2)(c) and 20(2)(c)].

This meets the requirement of natural justice that a person is entitled to know the case against them.

There may be situations where the principal’s report, or other material to be used in the suspension hearing, includes information about other individuals (such as informants or witnesses to an incident). No guarantees of confidentiality or name protection can be given in such situations, as each case must be considered on its own facts and circumstances.

Whether or not such third party information will be needed at a suspension meeting will depend on the circumstances of each suspension, and the issues that might be in dispute at the board meeting. For example, if there is an agreed statement of the facts, or an admission by the suspended student, then further information may not be necessary, either in the principal’s report or at the meeting.

If the principal’s report or other material to be used at the suspension meeting does contain information about other people (or information which identifies other people), then the board needs to consider whether there is any privacy interest which needs to be protected. For example, there may be a risk of harm to a witness.

The board should consider the information as if a request for access to it had been made to the board by the suspended student under the Privacy Act 1993. The board will then need to consider the right of access to personal information under the Privacy Act, as against any grounds in the Privacy Act that might justify withholding the particular information in the context of the particular situation at hand.

If the board considers there is an interest that should be and can be protected, consideration will need to be given to withholding only that information which needs to be withheld, in order to protect the privacy interest of the third party.

References in the Privacy Act that can assist are:

• Principle 6 - Access to Personal Information;
• Sections 27(1)(d), 29(1)(a) and 29(1)(d) - some of the reasons for refusing access to personal information which may apply in these situations; and
• Section 30 - Refusal not permitted for any other reason.