Privacy at The University of Western Australia

The University of Western Australia holds the privacy of its students, staff, and community members in the highest regard. UWA is committed to managing personal information legally and responsibly.

The University has obligations regarding the collection, use and management of personal and health information under various pieces of legislation.

The University must comply with the Privacy and Responsible Information Sharing Act 2024 (the PRIS Act), which came into force on the 1 July 2026. UWA also must comply with the Privacy Act 1988 (Commonwealth), in relation to students’ personal information obtained for the purposes of chapter 3 and 4 of the Higher Education Support Act 2003 (Commonwealth). The University has further obligations in relation to the personal data it collects and manages under the Health Services Act 2016 (WA) and the Freedom of Information Act 1992 (WA).

The University has an Information Privacy Policy that applies to all areas of the University. Anyone interacting with the University can expect that their personal information will be handled in accordance with this policy.

The University’s Information Privacy policy can be accessed through the Information Privacy Policy [DOC 217 kb], and is accompanied by the Information Privacy Guideline [DOC 388 kb], along with links to other supporting material.

An updated Information Privacy Policy along with the development of a new Information Breach Policy will be published shortly to align with the requirements of the PRIS Act.

In addition to the policies UWA Staff, Students and the Community should also read the information specific to them, as found in the University Privacy Collection Notices.

The University’s Privacy Office operates out of the Risk, Integrity, Safety and Compliance (RISC) Directorate as a part of the University’s Information Governance team.

The Privacy Office is responsible for;

• University’s information Privacy policy and policy guideline;
• Guidance and advice on privacy obligations and responsibilities;
• Providing training and awareness for University staff on the collection and management of personal information;
• Facilitating Privacy Impact Assessments (PIA) with UWA stakeholders and experts, and the wider community;
• Managing enquiries, concerns and complaints about the University’s collection and management of personal information
• Managing requests for access to, or correction of personal information, and rights afforded under the GDPR; and
• Assessing suspected data breaches (in collaboration with UWA’s Cyber security team and other business teams).

You can contact the UWA Privacy Office at privacy@uwa.edu.au with full details in any of the below situations, or call ext. 1706 (+61 8 6488 1706) from 9am to 3pm Monday to Friday for an informal discussion;

• You wish to request access to, or correction of your personal information held by UWA and if you have been unable to do this as a student through Student Central.
• You wish to request access to, or correction of your personal information held by UWA, and if you been unable to do this as a Staff member through your P&C Business Partner.
• You wish to invoke a right conferred by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
• You believe that there has been a breach of the Information Privacy policy by the University, or a member of its staff in the collection and management of your personal information or another person’s Personal Information.
• You believe there has been an information breach involving Personal Information.

If you believe you have been a victim of cyber-crime, or suspect that malicious activity has occurred, or may still be occurring please report this directly to University IT.

The Privacy Office is made up of the following staff;

• Privacy Champion – the Chief Risk Officer
• Privacy Officer – Senior Manager, Information Governance
• Privacy Coordinators – Information Governance Specialists

These staff are supported by expert advice and services from UWA Legal Services, Risk Assurance team and Uni-IT’s Cyber Security Team.

If you have any questions, please refer to our Frequently Asked Questions page, or for further enquiries contact privacy@uwa.edu.au.