SAGSE

The Scholarships for Australian-German Student Exchange Inc (SAGSE) is a not-for-profit exchange organisation, exchanging senior high school students between Australia and Germany.

Your personal information

The Society holds personal information about its members, volunteers, and participants. This personal information comprises: names; dates of birth; current and previous addresses; telephone/mobile phone/fax numbers; email addresses; occupations; grades from secondary school records; information as to interests, hobbies and activities; information about health and medical needs.

If we do not collect this information from our members, volunteers and participants, we may not be able to effectively manage the operations required to administer the exchange program, such as the matching of exchange students to host-families, and the selection of students for scholarships.

How we collect personal information

SAGSE collects personal information in a number of ways:

• directly from members, participants and volunteers through:
• • directly from members, participants and volunteers through:
  • applications to host an exchange student and related communications.
• from third parties such as;
• • the schools and teachers of scholarship applicants; and
  • our related organisations in Germany, New Zealand and other Australian states.

How we use personal information

Your personal information is used in order to:

• assess your suitability for a scholarship (if you are a scholarship applicant);
• match you to a suitable host-family (if you are an exchange student); assess your suitability to be a host-family (if you are an applicant host family);
• match you to a suitable exchange student (if you are a hosting family);
• distribute to you information about the exchange program (news, events, etc.) (if you are a member, exchange student, host family, sponsor or volunteer); and
• enable SAGSE to perform the above functions, any further functions incidental to those functions and to comply with its legal obligations.

We only use your personal information to administer the operations of the exchange and to communicate with you about the exchange program. For example, we only use health or medical information to make sure that exchange students’ health or medical needs are met. We do not use your personal information for any other purpose.

When we disclose your personal information

For the purposes set out above, we disclose your personal information to:

• SAGSE committee members and office bearers;
• Scholarship Selection Committee members;
• our related organisations;
• • SAGSE New South Wales;
  • SAGSE New Zealand;
  • SAGSE Western Australia;
  • GASS (German Australian Students’ Society) Victoria;
  • GASS New South Wales;
  • GASS Western Australia;
  • GASS New Zealand; and
  • Gesellschaft für Deutsch-Australischen und Neuseeländischen
  • Schüleraustausch (GDANSA);
• our professional advisers, including our auditors and legal advisors;
• government and regulatory authorities and other organisations, as required or authorised by law;
• participant host-families;
• participant exchange students;
• participant schools; and
• volunteer workers of SAGSE.

When we provide personal information to bodies in other states or countries we endeavour to ensure that the recipient protects your privacy on the same terms that we do.

Unless required by law, we do not disclose your personal information to any other person or organisation.

Help us to ensure we hold accurate information

SAGSE endeavours to ensure that the personal information we collect, use and disclose is accurate, complete and up-to-date. The accuracy of that information depends to a large extent on the information you provide. We recommend that you:

• advise us of any errors in your personal information that you become aware of; and
• keep us up to date with changes to your personal information (such as name and contact details).

Your right of access

You are entitled access to any personal information we hold about you unless:

• that information was provided on the condition or expectation that it remain confidential, e.g. references for, or assessments of, scholarship or host-family applicants; or
• disclosure of the information to you would be contrary to law.

PRIVACY PRINCIPLES & PROCEDURES

Principles

• Information is only collected for the proper administration of exchange activities (the awarding of scholarships; selection of host families; matching of exchange students to host families; the communication of information about the exchange and activities incidental to the foregoing).
• Information is only used or disclosed for the activities in paragraph 1 immediately above.
• Steps are taken to ensure that the information collected, used and disclosed is accurate, complete and up-to-date.
• Steps are taken to ensure personal information is kept safe from unauthorised access, and to de-identify personal information which is no longer required for any purpose mentioned in paragraph 1 immediately above.
• Information about privacy policies is readily available.

Procedures

Scholarship Applications

• The Chairperson of the Selection Committee has responsibility for the handling of Scholarship Applications.
• Copies of Scholarship Applications may be made for all members of the Selection Committee for the purposes of conducting interviews.
• Once scholarships have been awarded for a particular year, only the applications of successful candidates will be retained for SAGSE records. All others will be destroyed, with two exceptions:
• • The applications of unsuccessful applicants from year 11 may be retained in the event that that student reapplies for the scholarship in year 12. If the student is unsuccessful with their subsequent application, both of their applications will be destroyed;
  • A small number of applications may be retained, in the event that further scholarships become available in that year, or a scholarship winner pulls out of the program. These forms will constitute a reserve list. Once the program is finalised for that particular year, any remaining forms of unsuccessful candidates will be destroyed.

Host Family Applications

• The Host-Family Liaison Officer has responsibility for the handling of Host Family Applications.
• The administration of Host Family Applications may be delegated to the GASS Host Family Coordinators.
• Copies of the Host Family Applications may be made for all members of the interviewing panel for host families.
• Once host families have been selected and matched, only the applications of selected host families will be retained for SAGSE records. All others will be destroyed, with the following exceptions:
• • If an unsuccessful applicant host family has indicated through the application and interview process that they would like to be considered in the future, and the Host-Family Liaison Officer considers the unselected host family to be suitable, their application will be retained. If, upon further contact with that host family in the future, they no longer wish to be considered, their application will be destroyed; and/or
  • A small number of families may be required to act as back-up families, in the event that the relocation of an exchange student is required. If an unselected host family consents to being listed as a back up, their application will be retained until such time as the exchange students of that year have left the country. Their application will then be destroyed, unless they have indicated future interest, as above.

Database of Members etc

• Databases of information are kept for SAGSE records, recording:
• • the students who have received a scholarship and participated in the exchange each year;
  • the families that have hosted each year;
  • current sponsors and SAGSE members;
• These persons’ contact details are retained for the purposes of disseminating information about SAGSE and its activities.
• If at any stage any of these persons notifies SAGSE that they no longer wish to receive information about SAGSE and its activities, the sending of such information to those persons shall cease. SAGSE will then retain those persons’ names only for the purpose of recording their past participation in the exchange program.