• Section 1 - Purpose
• Scope
• Section 2 - Policy
• Section 3 - Procedures
• Disclosure to Students
• Transcript/Academic Record
• Proof of Status
• Research
• Disclosure to Third Parties
• Section 4 - Guidelines
• Section 5 - Definitions

Section 1 - Purpose

(1) This Procedure outlines how Macquarie University Students can access their student records and the circumstances in which information can be disclosed to third parties.  

Scope

(2) This Procedure applies to all student records, regardless of format, held by or on behalf of Macquarie University (the University).

Section 2 - Policy

(3) Refer to the Privacy Policy.

Section 3 - Procedures

Disclosure to Students

(4) Students have the right to request access to information held by the University that concerns them. Students do not have the right to access the records of any other Student – past or present.

(5) An employee of the University will be present on all occasions during any inspection by a Student of their official record. Students will, on submission of a signed request and payment of the appropriate fee, have the right to receive official transcripts of their own academic record. Students who owe money to the University will not receive copies of their official transcript.

(6) For a Student to access information about themselves, they must provide photo identification or the identification requested by the Service Connect team.

(7) Requests for access to information should follow the Applying to Access Personal Information Guidance Note.

Transcript/Academic Record

(8) Access to Student academic records will be managed through Service Connect.

(9) A staff member may print out an internal student transcript to advise a Student about their program of study. They may give the transcript to the Student for no charge.

(10) A Student who wants a copy of their official transcript may purchase a copy via the Academic Transcripts webpage.

(11) A Student who wants access to their official grades can do so via eStudent.

(12) A past Student may contact a staff member about enrolling in another program of study, and the staff member may wish to access that Student’s record in order to give advice.

(13) A past or present Student may ask an academic for a reference, and the academic may wish to access the Student’s record in preparing the reference.

Proof of Status

(14) A Student who needs to prove they are a Student at the University for employment, visa, accommodation or similar purposes is to provide the organisation with a copy of their transcript or a Status Letter. The University will not provide proof of Student status directly to an organisation, except where the Student has provided written authorisation for the release of this information to the specific organisation.

Research

(15) In conducting research, researchers may wish to access student records to contact past and/or current Students in a particular program. This would require ethics committee approval.

(16) Aggregated Student data may be used for internal purposes (i.e. not for publishable research purposes) such as evaluating programs, reviewing correlations between educational background and mode of study, performance on the basis of English-language level on entry and other relevant circumstances. In these cases, individual Students will not be identifiable.

Disclosure to Third Parties

Non-public Information

(17) Apart from the publicly available information contained in the Graduate Register, the University will not release information about present or past Students to third parties without the written consent of the Student. This means that requests for information by any third party including, but not limited to, parents, spouses, work colleagues, friends, employers or credit bureaus will not be approved. Information is to be provided to the police and other law enforcement agencies where there is a legal requirement to do so. The University General Counsel must be contacted when such a request is received. Personal information will only be provided to the person who is the subject of the information.

Exceptions

(18) There are limited circumstances where the University may or must release information to a third party, such as:

1. where there is written authority and consent from the Student concerned to provide specific information to a specified third party;
2. when the Student has signed an agreement with a third party, where one of the conditions is to allow that third party to have access to specific information about them (e.g. financial aid);
3. where in the opinion of one of the following officers the disclosure of specific information is required to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to the health, safety or wellbeing of the Student or other persons:
   1. Registrar;
   2. Head, Workplace Health and Safety;
   3. Head, Student Wellbeing; or
   4. Campus Security Manager; and
4. where a request has been made under the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 or similar legislation and an exemption does not apply.

(19) There are also limited exceptions where the University must release information to a third party, such as where the University is required by law to release the information (e.g. in response to a court order or subpoena). In such cases, the third party will be given information specific to the request/agreement/purpose/court order/subpoena only.

Section 4 - Guidelines

(20) Nil.

Section 5 - Definitions

(21) The following definitions apply for the purposes of this Procedure:

1. Student means any undergraduate, postgraduate, graduate research, or non-award Student currently enrolled or formerly enrolled at the University, whether based on or off-campus.