Professional conduct, privacy, and policy responsibilities
QA1, QA2, QA4, QA6, and QA7
Privacy, confidentiality, and record keeping
Privacy and accurate records protect children, families, staff, and NERPSA. Information must be handled carefully, respectfully, securely, and only for proper service purposes.
Privacy
Only access what you need
Staff should only access information needed for their role or for a clear child safety, service, legal, regulatory, or organisational purpose.
Confidentiality
Do not share casually
Confidential information must not be discussed in public areas, with people who do not need to know, or outside approved NERPSA processes.
Records
Keep records factual
Records should be accurate, respectful, timely, objective, and stored in the correct place.
Before sharing or recording information
Think first
Privacy decisions happen in everyday moments
Staff may need to record or share information as part of daily work. This can include child information, family information, medical information, incident records, enrolment details, staff information, child safety concerns, learning documentation, attendance records, or service records.
Before information is shared, discussed, emailed, uploaded, printed, stored, recorded, or accessed, staff should check whether the action is necessary, appropriate, secure, and consistent with NERPSA procedure.
Is there a clear service, safety, legal, regulatory, or organisational reason?
Does this person need the information for their role?
Is the information accurate, necessary, and respectful?
Am I using an approved NERPSA system, form, platform, or pathway?
Could the information be shared more privately or securely?
Should I pause and ask before proceeding?
If you are unsure, pause
If you are unsure whether information can be shared, where it should be stored, who should access it, or how it should be recorded, seek guidance before proceeding.
Quick guide
Privacy and record keeping guide
Open this guide for practical checks before discussing, sharing, emailing, uploading, printing, storing, or recording information.
Privacy in practice
Use approved systems
Use NERPSA-approved systems, forms, platforms, and storage locations for service information, records, child information, family information, and staff information.
Limit access
Only access or share information where it is needed for your role, child safety, service operation, legal obligations, or approved organisational purposes.
Choose the right place
Do not discuss private information in public areas, shared spaces, hallways, social settings, or anywhere it may be overheard.
Be careful with digital information
Do not send child, family, staff, or service information to personal email, personal devices, personal cloud storage, or informal messaging apps.
Record keeping
Factual records
Records need to be accurate, timely, and clear
Records help NERPSA meet legal, regulatory, child safety, employment, service management, and quality requirements. They also help staff communicate clearly and make safe decisions.
Records should be factual, timely, objective, respectful, and stored in the correct place. Record what was seen, heard, said, reported, and done. Avoid assumptions, blame, gossip, labels, emotion, or unnecessary personal comments.
Child safety records
Records support child safety and lawful decision-making
Records are not just paperwork. They help protect children, families, staff, and NERPSA by showing what happened, what was known, what action was taken, who was told, and what needs to happen next.
Staff may need to complete or contribute to records about:
child attendance;
delivery and collection;
authorised nominees;
court orders or parenting arrangements;
incidents, injuries, trauma, and illness;
medication;
medical conditions;
sleep and rest;
child safety concerns;
disclosures;
complaints;
behaviour or supervision concerns;
excursions, transport, and safe arrival;
visitors, students, volunteers, and external providers;
staff records and training evidence.
Use the correct record
Staff must not keep informal child records in personal notebooks, personal phones, personal emails, private cloud storage, or messaging apps.
Examples
Records may include
- enrolment and authorisation information;
- attendance, delivery, and collection records;
- incident, injury, trauma, and illness records;
- medication and medical condition records;
- child safety concerns, complaints, and related actions;
- staff, volunteer, and student records where required.
Storage
Store records securely
Records must be stored safely and securely. Staff should not leave records where they can be accessed by people who do not need them.
Printed records, digital files, forms, photos, and notes must be handled according to NERPSA procedure.
Factual language
Objective records
Write what was seen, heard, said, reported, and done
Good records are clear, respectful, and factual. They separate observable information from assumptions, opinions, explanations, or blame.
This is especially important for child safety concerns, incidents, complaints, illness, injuries, behaviour, family communication, medical information, and staff or service matters.
Less helpful
“The parent was angry and rude and did not care about the policy.”
More factual
“The parent raised their voice and said, ‘I do not agree with this process.’ The educator asked the parent to speak with the Nominated Supervisor.”
Information sharing and child safety
Need to know
Confidentiality does not mean keeping safety concerns secret
Confidentiality is important, but it must not prevent staff from reporting child safety concerns, family violence concerns, reportable conduct concerns, unsafe practice, incidents, legal matters, or regulatory matters through the correct pathway.
Child safety information must be shared carefully, respectfully, and only with people who need it for child safety, legal, regulatory, reporting, investigation, service management, or support purposes.
Escalate promptly
Do not keep child safety concerns to yourself
If information relates to a child safety concern, disclosure, suspected harm, family violence, concerning adult behaviour, serious incident, privacy breach, or immediate risk, follow the correct NERPSA reporting pathway promptly.
Escalation guide
When information must be escalated
Some information needs to be escalated promptly so the right people can respond, support, report, investigate, or manage risk.
If you are unsure
Pause and check
Ask before sharing or storing information in the wrong place
If you are unsure whether to access, share, record, store, print, email, upload, retain, or delete information, pause and check the correct process.
Do not create your own records, save information to personal devices, forward information to personal accounts, or share information informally because it feels quicker.
NERPSA policies connected to this section
Policy connection
Policies that support privacy and records
Key connected policies include Privacy and Confidentiality, Child Safe Environment and Wellbeing, Code of Conduct, Safe Use of Digital Technologies and Online Environments, Compliments and Complaints, Incident, Injury, Trauma and Illness, Delivery and Collection of Children, Safe Arrival of Children, Excursions and Service Events, Dealing with Medical Conditions, Medication Administration, and Staffing.
These policies support decisions about confidential information, child and family records, staff information, digital files, photos, complaints, incidents, child safety information, attendance, authorised nominees, court orders, delivery and collection, excursions, transport, safe arrival records, and staff records.
Useful resources
NERPSA Safe Use of Digital Technologies
Current NERPSA policy for digital technologies and online environments.
Open policyNERPSA Child Safe Environment
Current NERPSA child safe environment and wellbeing policy.
Open policy
Required induction activity
Think before sharing information
Choose one type of confidential information you may come across in your role, such as child information, family information, medical information, incident records, enrolment details, staff information, child safety concerns, or learning documentation.
Think about where it should be stored, who should access it, how it should be recorded, and what you would do if you were unsure whether it could be shared.
Optional extension activities
- Think about why accurate, factual, respectful, and confidential records matter. Consider the risks of informal sharing, personal devices, personal email, assumptions, unnecessary detail, or discussing private information with someone who does not need to know.
- Rewrite a hypothetical record from informal language into factual language. Remove assumptions, blame, emotion, unnecessary detail, and opinions. Keep only what was seen, heard, said, reported, and done.
Privacy is part of professional trust
Careful handling of information protects children, families, staff, and NERPSA. Access information only when needed, keep records factual, use approved systems, and ask before sharing or storing information in the wrong place.