Complaints - Privacy and Confidentiality
Information privacy
The VRQA handles complaints in accordance with the requirements of the Information Privacy Act 2000 (Vic), Whistleblowers Protection Act 2001 (Vic) and Privacy Act 1988.
When handling your complaint, the VRQA will:
- only collect, use and disclose personal information where it is necessary to do so
- secure any personal information we collect to prevent loss, misuse, unauthorised access or disclosure.
Confidentiality
The VRQA treats all complaints as confidential. Unless you give us permission to do so, we will not disclose the details of your complaint, or your identity as the complainant, to:
- the school or provider you are complaining about
- other units of the VRQA
- other government agencies
When the VRQA investigates a complaint, however, it may be necessary to for us to reveal certain details to give the school or provider a chance to respond.
If your complaint is about an issue that only affects you, it may not be possible for the VRQA to fully investigate without identifying you as the complainant.
When you make a complaint, the VRQA will seek to determine which details of your complaint you permit being released.
Anonymous complaints
The VRQA accepts anonymous complaints.
However, if you do not identify yourself as the complainant the VRQA may be limited in our ability to investigate your complaint.
We will generally only investigate anonymous complaints if:
- the matter raised is serious
- you have provided enough information to make an investigation feasible.