Our Privacy Policy & Privacy Collection Statement

YOTS is a not-for-profit youth services organisation that supports 12–24-year-olds experiencing or at risk of homelessness and complex disadvantage.

YOTS offers a complete range of services, including:

• crisis accommodation and housing services
• accredited independent high schools which provide an alternative education setting
• cultural and wellbeing support for First Nations children and young people
• 1-1 casework support
• alcohol and other drugs counselling
• youth justice programs
• domestic and family violence education and support
• vocational training courses
• a national scholarship program
• life skills and capacity-building workshops
• mentoring support
• youth drop-in centres and community outreach, among other services and programs.

We collect different types of personal information depending on your relationship with us.

The scope and nature of information will vary according to the services or functions involved, and we only collect what is necessary for our activities or otherwise required or authorised by law.

All service participants

When you enquire about, are referred to, or participate in our programs or services, including where you are a family member, guardian, or carer receiving support through our programs, we create a record that contains the information needed to deliver those services. This generally includes your basic identity and contact details. Depending on the service, we may also collect health and wellbeing information, details of your family or carers, and other information relevant to assessing and supporting your needs. The information collected may include:

• name, date of birth, gender, address, phone number, email, emergency contact and family information
• health and medical information, including disability or mental health information
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander identity and cultural information
• case records including intake assessments, referrals, and support plans
• information relating to legal or youth justice matters, housing, or financial circumstances
• CCTV footage collected at our premises.

Students and parents or guardians

When a student enrols in one of our schools, we collect only the personal information that is reasonably necessary to administer the enrolment, deliver education services, and comply with our legal obligations. This information includes identity and contact details, nationality or visa status, and where relevant, Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander identity and cultural affiliation.

We also record family arrangements and care responsibilities, so we can engage appropriately with parents, guardians and carers. Education records are central to our work, and we maintain attendance, academic progress, assessment outcomes and support plans to ensure students are properly supported. We also collect health and legal information to safeguard the wellbeing of students and to meet our child protection obligations.

The information collected may include:

• name, date of birth, gender, address, phone number and email
• nationality, residency or visa status, passport details, and date of arrival if born overseas
• language spoken at home, interpreter needs, cultural background, and, if disclosed, religious/spiritual beliefs
• parent, guardian or carer details, household arrangements, emergency contacts, out-of-home care status, and sibling information
• enrolment forms, attendance records, school history, NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) identifier, school reports, academic results, learning or behaviour support plans, and records of special provisions
• counselling and assessment records, including psychologist reports and psychometric testing, where relevant to the student’s education and wellbeing
• medical information such as Medicare or healthcare card details, immunisation records, medication requirements, and health management plans (for example, ASCIA and asthma plans), together with GP or specialist details
• court orders, information from the Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ), apprehended violence orders, and youth justice or probation officer details where relevant to student safety and welfare
• records of parental consents, including for offsite activities, transport, the use of student works, and participation in programs involving IT, social media or AI learning tools
• images, audio and video of school activities with consent
• CCTV footage collected at school premises.

Registered Training Organisation students

When you enrol in training delivered by our Registered Training Organisation (RTO), we collect personal information necessary to administer your enrolment and comply with RTO standards and government reporting obligations. This information is required under the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act 2011 (Cth). This includes your identity and contact details, your Unique Student Identifier (USI), and records of your training and assessment.

We may also need to collect information about your language, literacy and numeracy skills to assess training suitability, and details of prior learning to determine credit transfers or recognition of prior learning. For students accessing subsidised training, we are required to collect evidence of eligibility, which may include concession or visa details.

In addition, we are legally required to report statistical information to government through the Australian Vocational Education and Training Management Information Statistical Standard (AVETMISS) framework, which includes cultural background, Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander status, disability information, and prior education levels.

The information collected may include:

• name, date of birth, gender, address, phone number and email
• USI, National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) data, and nationally recognised training qualification records
• enrolment details, attendance, course progress, assessments and outcomes
• Language, Literacy and Numeracy assessment results and evidence of prior learning or credit transfer
• fee and payment information, and documents supporting government funding eligibility
• AVETMISS data as required by law.

Employees and volunteers

When you apply for a role with us, we collect information necessary to assess your application and suitability. This includes identity and contact details, qualifications, work history, and referee reports. We may also collect information from third parties, such as recruitment agencies or referees you have nominated.

Before offering a position, we may collect information necessary to complete background checks, including Working With Children Checks (WWCC), National Police Check (NPC) and medical information where relevant to the role. If you become a staff member, we will collect payroll and employment details such as your tax file number, superannuation information and bank account details.

Other individuals

We may collect personal information about individuals who are not service participants. This includes donors, funders, partners, members of the public who attend our events, individual service providers and contractors, and others who interact with us in a commercial or professional capacity. The personal information we collect will depend on how you engage with us. It usually includes your name, contact details and information about our interactions with you.

We may also collect personal information about individual researchers who are involved in a research partnership or external research project with us. This may include your name and contact details, your role in the project, your qualifications or institutional affiliation, and information required to assess the research proposal.

If you are participating in an event we are managing or delivering, we may take images or audio-visual recordings of the event. In limited circumstances, we may collect information which is considered sensitive information. For example, if you are injured at an event promoted or delivered by us, we may collect health information about you in an emergency or otherwise with your consent.

You can always decline to give us any personal information we request, but that may mean we cannot provide you with some or all of the services you have requested. If you have any concerns about personal information we have requested, please let us know.

We collect personal information only where it is reasonably necessary for our functions and activities, or where collection is required or authorised by law. The purposes for which we collect and use personal information will depend on the services or relationship involved, but are always connected to delivering support, operating our schools and training, managing our workforce and volunteers, meeting legal obligations, and engaging with our community.

In practice, we may collect and use your personal information to:

• deliver education, support, and case management services
• assess eligibility and tailor services to individual needs
• provide culturally safe First Nations programs in partnership with communities
• meet legal, reporting, and funding obligations
• manage employment and volunteer engagement
• process donations, manage fundraising activities, and engage with donors
• conduct research, service evaluation, and quality improvement
• ensure safeguarding, child safety, and risk management
• administer corporate and financial operations
• communicate with you about services, events, and opportunities.

We generally collect personal information directly from you. We may collect and update your personal information over the phone, by email, over the internet or social media, or in person. We may also collect personal information about you from other sources, for example:

• parents, guardians, or carers
• health professionals or other service providers involved in your care or education
• government agencies and regulators
• referral partners and contracted service providers
• recruitment agencies or nominated referees.

In New South Wales, we can request and share information under Chapter 16A of the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 (NSW). In Queensland, information can be requested and shared under Chapter 5A of the Child Protection Act 1999 (Qld), which allows prescribed entities and service providers to exchange information to promote a child’s safety and wellbeing. We must also comply with mandatory reporting obligations in both states. If we become aware that a child or young person is at risk of significant harm, this must be reported to the relevant authority, such as the NSW Department of Communities and Justice or the Queensland Department of Child Safety, Seniors and Disability Services.

In addition to supporting service delivery, we may use personal information for research, evaluation, program design, and for the acquittal of funding and regulatory requirements. Any such use will be undertaken in compliance with the Privacy Act and, where relevant, the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 (NSW), other applicable statutory obligations, and recognised ethical standards. Wherever practicable, personal information used for these purposes will be de-identified or aggregated to protect individual privacy. Identifiable health information will not be used for research without the individual’s consent or a lawful authorisation.

For children and young people under the age of 16, we generally require consent from a parent or guardian to collect, use and disclose their personal information, unless the young person has sufficient maturity to make their own decisions about their privacy. We assess this on a case-by-case basis in accordance with recognised legal principles.

All service participants

If you are a service participant, the way we use and disclose your personal information will depend on the support or program you are engaged in. For example, we may share your information with health professionals, referral agencies or other service providers where this is relevant to your care and support. With consent, or where required by law, we may also disclose information to government agencies responsible for child protection, youth justice, or funding oversight.

We may also disclose personal information to law enforcement agencies, including police, where this is required or authorised by law. This includes situations where disclosure is necessary to prevent or respond to a serious threat to the life, health or safety of a child, young person or another individual, to support investigations into alleged offences, to ensure the safety and wellbeing of service participants, or to comply with a lawful request, warrant, subpoena or direction.

If you are enrolled in one of our schools or RTO programs, we may disclose your personal information to regulators and reporting bodies such as NESA, ASQA and NCVER, to meet statutory requirements. We may also provide information to parents, guardians or carers as appropriate, and to health professionals or allied services supporting your education and wellbeing. From time to time, images or audio-visual recordings of students may be used for promotional or educational purposes where consent has been provided, or where you would reasonably expect this to occur.

Other individuals

If you are a donor, sponsor or event participant, we may disclose personal information to venues, event organisers, or our corporate partners where this is necessary for the conduct of the event. We may also use photographs or recordings from events for fundraising or promotional purposes, in circumstances where you would reasonably expect this.

If you are involved in a research partnership or external research project, we may use or disclose your personal information for purposes connected to the research. This may include sharing your information with university partners, evaluators or approved research bodies where this is necessary for the conduct of the project, and only where you have provided consent or where the use or disclosure is required or authorised by law. We may deidentify information wherever possible before it is used for research.

Contractors and service providers

We may engage third parties to provide specialist functions that support our work. Where necessary, we may disclose personal information to contractors and service providers for purposes such as:

• information technology services, cloud storage, and system support
• data processing, data analysis, and reporting
• customer satisfaction and program evaluation surveys
• website hosting, maintenance, and development
• printing, mailing, archiving, and records management
• market research and fundraising support.

Administrative and management purposes

We also use and disclose personal information for legitimate administrative, management and operational purposes, including:

• administering billing, payments, and debt recovery
• planning, managing, monitoring, and evaluating our services
• conducting quality improvement and assurance activities
• statistical analysis and reporting
• training staff, contractors, and volunteers
• risk management, insurance, and the management of legal claims
• responding to enquiries, feedback, and complaints
• obtaining advice from consultants and professional advisers
• complying with subpoenas, lawful directions and other legal obligations.

Other uses and disclosures

In some cases, we may use or disclose your personal information for additional purposes explained to you at the time of collection, or otherwise consistent with this Privacy Policy and the Privacy Act.

Government-related identifiers

We do not adopt, use or disclose government-related identifiers, unless this is necessary for service provision, or required/authorised by law.

We store personal information in both paper-based files and electronic systems, including secure databases provided by trusted third-party providers in Australia and, where necessary, overseas. Paper records may be converted into electronic form for storage, with originals either archived or securely destroyed. We take reasonable steps to protect personal information from misuse, interference and loss, and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. Measures include:

• physical security at our premises, such as locks and alarm systems
• IT safeguards including firewalls, user identifiers, passwords, and restricted access controls
• policies and training for staff and volunteers on privacy, and information security.

Our websites do not necessarily use encryption or other technologies to ensure secure transmission of information online. Users should take care in transmitting personal information over the internet. We also take steps to securely destroy or de-identify information when it is no longer required for our functions, unless we are required by law to retain it.

We will provide individuals with the opportunity of remaining anonymous or using a pseudonym in their dealings with us where it is lawful and practicable (for example, when making a general enquiry, providing feedback, or making an anonymous donation.)

We primarily hold personal information in Australia. However, in some circumstances we may disclose or store personal information with trusted third-party providers located overseas. This may occur where we use cloud-based services, software platforms, or specialist contractors to support our operations.

When disclosing personal information overseas, we take reasonable steps to ensure that the recipient will handle the information in a way that is compliant with the Privacy Act and the Australian Privacy Principles. These steps may include contractual commitments, due diligence, or de-identifying information before transfer.

If you would like further detail about whether your personal information is likely to be disclosed overseas, you may contact us using the details set out at the end of this Privacy Policy.

We may use or disclose your personal information to inform you about our services, programs, fundraising campaigns, promotions and events, or other opportunities to support our work.

You may opt out of receiving direct marketing communications at any time. If you choose to opt out, we will respect your preference and ensure you no longer receive marketing materials.

Even if you opt-out of direct marketing, we may still contact you in relation to your ongoing relationship with us, for example about enrolments, service participation, donations you have made, or other non-marketing matters.

If you do not wish to receive direct marketing communications from us, you can let us know by using the unsubscribe link in our emails or by contacting us directly at:

Email: info@youthoffthestreets.com.au

Telephone: +61 2 9330 3500

Post: Opt Out
Youth Off The Streets
PO BOX 6025
Alexandria NSW 2015

You may visit our website https://youthoffthestreets.com.au/ without identifying yourself. If you identify yourself (for example, by providing your contact details in an enquiry), any personal information you provide to us will be managed in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

Our website use cookies. A “cookie” is a small file stored on your computer’s browser, which assists in managing customised settings of the website and delivering content. We collect certain information such as your device type, browser type, IP address, pages you have accessed on our websites and on third-party websites. You are not identifiable from such information.

You can use the settings in your browser to control how your browser deals with cookies. However, in doing so, you may be unable to access certain pages or content on our website.

Our website may contain links to third-party websites. We are not responsible for the content or privacy practices of websites that are linked to our website.

We also use Google Analytics to monitor visits to our website. Google Analytics reports website trends without identifying individual visitors. Data collected may include the number of visits and the pages viewed. You can optout of Google Analytics tracking by installing the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on which works with Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Microsoft Edge.

We do not make decisions that have a legal or similarly significant effect on individuals solely through automated means. All decisions about service provision, student enrolment, employment, or other significant matters are made by appropriately qualified staff.

We may, however, use computer systems and digital tools to assist in the administration of services. For example, we may use software to:

• process enrolment and training data for reporting
• generate automated reminders about appointments, attendance, or payments
• flag incomplete information in applications or forms
• support analysis of de-identified data for research and evaluation purposes.

These processes assist our staff but do not replace their judgement.

You are entitled to access your personal information held by us on request. To request access to your personal information please contact our Privacy Officer using the contact details set out below.

You will not be charged for making a request to access your personal information, but you may be charged for the reasonable time and expense incurred in compiling information in response to your request.

We will take reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information we collect, use or disclose is accurate, complete and up to date. You can help us to do this by letting us know if you notice errors or discrepancies in information, we hold about you and letting us know if your personal details change.

If you consider any personal information that we hold about you is inaccurate, out-of-date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading you are entitled to request correction of the information. After receiving a request from you, we will take reasonable steps to correct your information.

We may decline your request to access or correct your personal information in certain circumstances in accordance with the APPs. If we do refuse your request, we will provide you with a reason for our decision and, in the case of a request for correction, we will include a statement with your personal information about the requested correction.

You may contact us at any time if you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or about the way in which your personal information has been handled. You may submit your feedback or concern about privacy to the Privacy Officer at the contact details set out below.

The Privacy Officer will first consider your complaint to determine whether there are simple or immediate steps which can be taken to resolve the complaint. We will generally acknowledge your complaint within a week.

If your complaint requires more detailed consideration or investigation, we may ask you to provide further information about your complaint and the outcome you are seeking. We will then typically gather relevant facts, locate and review relevant documents and speak with individuals involved. In most cases, we will investigate and respond to a complaint within 30 days of receipt of the complaint. If the matter is more complex or our investigation may take longer, we will let you know.

If you are not satisfied with our response to your complaint, or you consider that we may have breached the APPs or the Privacy Act, a complaint may be made to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC). The OAIC can be contacted by telephone on 1300 363 992 or by using the contact details on the OAIC website.

You are welcome to contact us with any questions, concerns or complaints about how we manage personal information. We will make every effort to respond promptly and thoroughly.

Where it is lawful and practicable, you may contact us anonymously or under a pseudonym. However, depending on the nature of your enquiry, this may limit our ability to provide assistance.

Contact details

Email: privacyofficer@youthoffthestreets.com.au

Telephone: +61 2 9330 3500

Post: The Privacy Officer
Youth Off The Streets
PO BOX 6025
Alexandria NSW 2015

Website: Contact us

Please note that the Privacy Act contains certain exemptions that may permit us to use or disclose personal information in particular ways. Where an exemption applies, it will override the terms of this Privacy Policy to the extent of any inconsistency.

We may amend this Privacy Policy from time to time, with or without notice to you. We recommend that you visit our website regularly to keep up to date with any changes.

We may collect your personal information in a number of ways, including:

• directly from you (for example, when you visit our website or contact us by telephone.
• from third parties (for example, our professional marketing and fundraising service providers).
• from our website software (for example, cookies and other digital tracking and analytics).
• from publicly available sources.

We need to collect this information so that we may do one or more of the following:

• process your donation or direct debit agreement.
• verify your identity.
• enable you to participate in our activities or fundraising campaigns, or provide you with information about our activities or fundraising campaigns including newsletters and community fundraising appeals and other events.
• provide you with a tax receipt at tax time.
• gain an understanding of your communication needs or perform research and analysis to improve the way in which we engage with you.

We also use your information for direct marketing and targeted marketing. We use your information to promote our activities, fundraising opportunities and other services that we think will interest you. This marketing may be by email, phone, SMS, post or online. You can opt out of direct marketing at any time by emailing community@youthoffthestreets.com.au or calling 1800 062 288.

The primary purpose of collecting your information will typically be one or more of the following:

• to process your donation.
• to enable you to participate in our activities or events.
• to provide you with direct marketing.
• to provide you with a newsletter (if you have signed up on the website).

The secondary purpose of collecting your information may be to:

• keep you informed about our activities, campaigns and appeals.
• profile our supporters and people who may be interested in Youth Off The Streets and conduct data analytics and data matching so that we better understand and connect with our supporter base and provide you with the high quality service and information that you expect from us.
• personalise your experience with Youth Off The Streets digital services, and to suggest appeals, events and services that might be of interest to you.
• display your name on our website for a fundraising leaderboard when participating in events.
• prevent and detect fraud.
• better understand who our supporters and others who deal with us are.

If we do not collect this information from you we may not be able to process your donation, provide you with a donation receipt, enable you to participate in our activities, provide you with direct marketing or inform you about other services, products or campaigns that may be of interest to you.

We may disclose your information to third parties that provide services to us. These services include technology service providers, social media platforms and professional marketing and fundraising organisations who provide us with services such as letter printing, digital marketing, fundraising and data analysis. These organisations may provide us with other similar services. We may also disclose your information to organisations that provide us with information technology and banking services. We may also disclose your information if we are legally required to provide this information, for example by the Australian Taxation Office.

Information about accessing your information and requesting corrections is set out in our Privacy Policy.

Privacy concerns or complaints can be sent to:

Website: Complaints (External) | Folio

Phone: 02 9300 3500 and ask to speak to the Privacy Officer

Email: privacyofficer@youthoffthestreets.com.au

Write: The Privacy Officer
Youth Off The Streets
PO BOX 6025
Alexandria NSW 2015

Information about how to complain is in the Youth Off The Streets Privacy Policy. There is also a link under the Contact us page on our website. You can also complain directly to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at oaic.gov.au

Youth Off The Streets stores Personal Information within Australia where possible; however, some third-party systems or cloud providers may process or store data overseas.

You can make a request not to receive direct marketing at any time by emailing community@youthoffthestreets.com.au or calling 02 9330 3500.