Public Sector Training
Privacy Victoria provides a range of training services to assist Victorian public sector organisations to inform staff of the requirements of the Information Privacy Act 2000 and to comply with the Act. Most training services are provided free of charge to organisations subject to the Information Privacy Act.
Please direct all training enquiries to:
Email: training@privacy.vic.gov.au.
Phone: 1300 666 444
2009 Privacy Training Calendar
Workshop Prerequisites
Introduction to the Information Privacy Act (open to all Victorian public sector staff)
Introduction to the Information Privacy Act (local government staff)
Implementing privacy training workshops
Special topic workshops
Registration
Other training services
Request for on-site Privacy Victoria training
Completing the Privacy Training Needs Analysis form
Some things to consider
Training Materials (Information Privacy Act)
Training Materials (Joint Health Records Act and Information Privacy Act)
2009 Privacy Training Calendar
You can download the Training Calendar and Registration form (PDF, 186Kb). Additional training dates may be scheduled during 2009. This page is updated as new dates are announced.
| Session Type | Location | Date | Time |
  Introduction to the Information Privacy Act | Melbourne | Thursday, 3 December | 9:30 am - 1 pm |
 | Melbourne | Tuesday, 15 December | 9:30 am - 1 pm |
| Public Records and Privacy Training Days | Wangaratta | Tuesday, 17 November | 10:30 am - 1 pm |
 | Sale - flyer available (PDF, 187Kb) | Friday, 27 November | 9:30 am - 12 pm |
| Advanced privacy training: |  |  |  |
| Privacy Impact Assessments | Melbourne | To be advised | To be advised |
| Implementing privacy training workshop | Melbourne | To be advised | To be advised |
Workshop Prerequisites
Participants in the workshops MUST meet the following prerequisites:
| Privacy and Human Resources | Participants must:
- have attended an Introduction to the Information Privacy Act session (or have a good knowledge of the Information Privacy Act); and
- be currently either (a) in a HR or (b) Privacy Officer role
|
| Implementing privacy training | Participants must:
- have attended an Introduction to the Information Privacy Act session or have a good knowledge of the Information Privacy Act;
- be currently or will shortly be delivering privacy training to other staff; and
- have a working knowledge of their organisation’s privacy policy and procedures.
|
| Privacy Impact Assessments | Participants must:
- have attended an Introduction to the Information Privacy Act session (or have a good knowledge of the Information Privacy Act)
|
Introduction to the Information Privacy Act (open to all Victorian public sector staff)
During 2009, introductory privacy sessions have been scheduled for the Melbourne CBD and regional centres.
Introduction to the Information Privacy Act sessions are targeted at Victorian public sector staff who handle personal information and will be attended by staff from a number of different organisations. The following broad areas will be covered:
- Why do you need to know about privacy?
- What is 'information privacy'?
- A brief overview of the different privacy laws impacting on Victorian government organisations
- An overview of the Information Privacy Act 2000, particularly the 10 Information Privacy Principles
- Discussion and activities to enable participants to consider the application of the principles to the handling of personal information in their work context.
Please note that health related personal information is subject to the Health Records Act rather than the Information Privacy Act. The Health Records Act is touched on in the session but not covered in detail.
Melbourne venues
All Melbourne sessions are held at CBD venues. Venue details will be provided with confirmation of registration.
Regional venues
Details of regional venues will be advised when they have been confirmed.
Introduction to the Information Privacy Act (local government staff)
These sessions are targeted at Victorian local government staff who handle personal information. They cover the same content as the general introductory privacy sessions however all of the participants are from local government to allow the discussion and questions to focus on the privacy issues common to that sector.
Implementing privacy training workshops
Implementing privacy training workshops are targeted at Privacy Officers or public sector training staff who will be responsible for delivering privacy training. During the session participants are shown how to use Privacy Victoria's training materials to deliver basic privacy training sessions. The session aims to:
- introduce participants to the available privacy training resources and explore issues to consider in planning privacy training
- provide an opportunity for participants to consolidate their knowledge of the Information Privacy Act; and
- provide an opportunity for participants to network and share ideas.
Participants must:
- have attended an Introduction to the Information Privacy Act session at Privacy Victoria or have a good knowledge of the Information Privacy Act;
- be currently or will shortly be delivering privacy training to other staff; and
- have a working knowledge of their organisation’s privacy policy and procedures.
Special topic workshops
A series of special topic workshops are planned for 2009 as outlined in the calendar. This page and the registration form will be updated as session details are finalised.
To register your interest in attending sessions without a scheduled date, please email training@privacy.vic.gov.au indicating the workshop/s you are interested in. An email will be sent to you when the sessions are scheduled.
Registration
Bookings for all sessions are essential. Please complete the registration form (PDF, 186Kb) and fax it back to Privacy Victoria on 03 8619 8700 or toll free 1300 666 445. Confirmation or other advice will be provided via email as soon as possible after the form is received.
Note: An administrative fee of $55 (GST inclusive) per person will be applied to those organisations whose staff fail to advise of their non-attendance prior to the commencement of the training session.
Other training services
Request for on-site Privacy Victoria training
Privacy Victoria provides on-site training in metropolitan and country areas for organisations subject to the Information Privacy Act.
We will work with you to make the program best meet your needs. If you need to, please contact our training officers to discuss your privacy training needs, including assistance with what information should be included on the Training Needs Analysis form.
Privacy Victoria trainers can provide training on the general privacy legislative context, and privacy guidelines etc and can discuss the privacy issues your staff face. However, they do not know your organisation’s specific context, nor will they be familiar with its information handling policies and procedures. It is therefore important that any training for your organisation includes input from management and your privacy officer (or the person responsible for privacy matters).
Bear in mind that Privacy Victoria’s training resources are limited and that an effective program will take some time to plan.
To ensure that the training sessions have value and are as effective as possible in educating and motivating participants to become privacy aware and compliant, prior to booking the session, we require:
1. A brief privacy training needs assessment to be undertaken; and
2. A training plan to be developed.
A template form for this purpose is available (MS Word, 54Kb).
Completing the Privacy Training Needs Analysis form
The Privacy Training Needs Analysis form should be completed by the person responsible for organising the training. Privacy Victoria staff will then liaise directly with them to arrange the training and/or other support.
As there is significant demand for training services the form should be completed well in advance of the period for when training is being requested. Email training@privacy.vic.gov.au. or phone 1300 666 444, Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm.
Some things to consider
Costs
To enable Privacy Victoria to provide training in outer metropolitan or regional areas, organisations are asked to meet the costs of transport, accommodation and travel expenses. Where more than one organisation is to be trained, the expenses may be shared between organisations.
Privacy Victoria will meet the costs of the trainer's time and materials.
Maximising training outcomes
In our experience, there are some factors which impact on the effectiveness of privacy training:
- Explicit management support for the training;
- Matching training sessions to the participants’ needs. Sending staff to the same training over and over or to training that is not relevant to their work may be very de-motivating;
- Involvement of the organisation’s privacy officer and/or the relevant manager with the trainer to ensure that the content is relevant to the specific work context;
- Active participation by the privacy officer and/or manager in the session; and
- Follow up after the training to ensure that issues raised are resolved, procedures are clarified etc and that learning has been integrated back into the workplace.
Training model/activities
There are many different approaches to privacy training. Privacy Victoria’s on-site training services for organisations subject to the Information Privacy Act may include:
- Management group training to identify privacy risks and encourage good privacy practice from the top-down;
- Implementing Privacy Training (Train-the-trainer) session for key staff from relevant areas to equip them to run sessions for remaining staff;
- Topic specific training and workshops, for example Privacy and Human Resources, Privacy Impact Assessments;
- Presentations to motivate staff and refresh their awareness of privacy law; and
- Training session/information sessions jointly delivered by a Privacy Victoria trainer and the organisation’s privacy officer, including:
- 2 hour information session covering an overview of privacy and the Information Privacy Principles with a couple of activities and discussion of the participants’ questions and scenarios;
- Privacy lecture with Q & A (large audiences); and
- Interactive training including training activities, scenarios etc (maximum 30).
A summary of Privacy Victoria's training and awareness services for organisations subject to the Information Privacy Act is available (PDF, 458Kb).
Training Materials (Information Privacy Act)
Privacy Victoria Training Materials - September 2009 are based on earlier Privacy Victoria training materials and provides expanded and updated content. The materials comprise Powerpoint slides with background notes, training activities and a trainers' guide.
Earlier training packages (Training Package 01 Privacy in Victoria – What you need to know, Training Package 02 Preparing for the Information Privacy Act, Training Package 03 Privacy Revealed – What you need to know, Training Package 04 Privacy revealed – The essentials and Training Packages 05/06 Understanding Privacy) remain available in their original form from the archive.
A training DVD is also available to provide an introduction to the Information Privacy Act.
Training Materials (Joint Health Records Act and Information Privacy Act)
These training materials have been jointly developed by Privacy Victoria and the Office of the Health Services Commissioner. They have been developed from the more detailed training materials already available on this website regarding the Information Privacy Act and from the Office of the Health Services Commissioner regarding the Health Records Act.
Most Victorian government organisations are subject to both the Information Privacy Act and the Health Records Act and their staff need to have an understanding of the requirements of both laws. While there are some key differences between the two laws, there are also many similarities so most organisations decide to use combined training materials. The appropriate balance of content will depend on how much health related personal information is handled by the organisation.
The presentation Privacy in Victoria – an introduction to the Information Privacy Act and the Health Records Act (Powerpoint, 284Kb) provides an introductory overview of the two Acts. It can be downloaded as a Powerpoint file and includes speaker’s notes providing background information on the content.
A series of training scenarios (Word, 60Kb) covering application of the Health Privacy Principles and the Information Privacy Principles are available for use in conjunction with the slides. An answer guide (Word, 74Kb) for the scenarios is also available.
The slides and training scenarios are intended to be used flexibly and can be edited to suit the organisation’s specific needs. Please read the Disclaimer and Copyright Notice (PDF, 15Kb) for more information.
Note: when downloading the Powerpoint or Word files, choose the save option rather than open to access all of the content.
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Last reviewed on 13 November 2009. © 2009 Privacy Victoria - an independent statutory office