What is NAPLAN?
The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is an annual assessment for all students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. It tests the types of skills that are essential for every child to progress through school and life. The tests cover skills in reading, writing, spelling, grammar and punctuation, and numeracy. The assessments are undertaken every year in March. NAPLAN is run at the direction of the Education Council.
The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) is the independent statutory authority responsible for the overall management of the Australian National Assessment Program, in collaboration with representatives from all states and territories and non-government school sectors.
The VCAA
The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) is a statutory authority continued under the Education and Training Reform Act 2006 (Vic). The VCAA is responsible for curriculum, assessment and reporting in year levels Foundation to 12 for all Victorian school students. The VCAA is also the Test Administration Authority responsible for the administration and delivery of NAPLAN in Victoria.
Personal information about children and their parents/guardians is collected by the VCAA for the purposes of administering and delivering NAPLAN. This notice describes what personal information the VCAA collects, how the VCAA uses that information and to whom the information is disclosed.
Collection of information
The VCAA collects personal information within the meaning of the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Vic) (PDP Act) about all Victorian school students who sit NAPLAN in years 3, 5, 7 and 9. The VCAA collects this information from schools. The VCAA may also collect personal and health information within the meaning of the Health Records Act 2001 (Vic), for example, when a student applies for disability adjustments to undertake NAPLAN testing.The VCAA collects personal information about students each time they sit NAPLAN tests. This includes student's name, school, year level, Victorian Student Number (VSN), sex, date of birth, country of birth, language background, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status, parental occupation and parental education. The VCAA also collects student NAPLAN test responses for the primary purpose of assessing and reporting on student learning against the proficiency standards. This helps to improve learning outcomes. NAPLAN test responses may be reported to a student's past and current school, or any future school they attend. The test responses may also be reported across school sectors (e.g. Government and Non-Government) and to other Government agencies and statutory bodies, in order to improve learning outcomes for a particular student.
Use and disclosure of information
The personal information collected by the VCAA will be used by VCAA employees and disclosed to and used by VCAA contractors for and in connection with the abovementioned purposes, and for analysis and research associated with the VCAA's statutory functions.
If personal information is not provided, student test responses cannot be assessed and reported for the purposes set out above.
The VCAA discloses personal information as set out below:
NAPLAN test results are given to the student's parent/guardian;
Student name, date of birth, sex, language background, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status and NAPLAN test results will be given to the student's past and current school, as well as any future school they attend. This data may also be given to different school sectors (e.g. Government and Non-Government).
The VCAA discloses de-identified and aggregated data:
to another State of Australia or the Commonwealth Government upon request or to comply with reporting requirements;
on request from the Victorian Registration and Qualification Authority (VRQA) in relation to the VRQA's statutory functions, including the registration of schools and training organisations; and
third party researchers, for the purposes of analysis and research related to education, health and other policy issues. Personal information will only be provided to researchers where they have written consent from parents or students for the VCAA to disclose that personal information.
The following information is disclosed to ACARA for national reporting and education policy purposes and to Educational Services Australia Limited (ESA), a national not-for-profit company owned by all Australian education ministers, for the administration of NAPLAN Online:
- VCAA Student identifier
- Sex
- Date of birth
- Country of birth
- Language background
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status
- Parent/guardian occupation and education
- Parent languages
- Test responses
- Year level and classes
- School
Personal information (first name, surname, DOB, gender) as well as NAPLAN results and a range of 'background information' (sex, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status, language background, school parent/guardian occupation and education) are provided to education sector authorities (e.g. Victorian Department of Education and Training, Catholic Education Commission Victoria, and Independent Schools Victoria).
Personal information collected for the abovementioned purposes will not otherwise be used or disclosed by the VCAA, except with the prior consent of the student (or student's parent or guardian where applicable) and in accordance with the PDP Act, or if the VCAA is required or otherwise permitted by law to do so.
Access and correction
An individual may request access to personal information, if any, the VCAA holds about them, and request its correction if inaccurate. Contact the VCAA NAPLAN helpdesk on 1800 648 637 or
vcaa.naplan.help@education.vic.gov.au.
Further information
Further information about NAPLAN is available on the VCAA’s website at
www.vcaa.vic.edu.au.
The VCAA Privacy Policy can be found at
www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Footer/Pages/Privacy.aspx.
Information about ACARA’s collection, use and disclosure of personal information about NAPLAN is available on the ACARA website:
www.acara.edu.au/contact-us/privacy#PartC.
ESA’s Online National Assessment Platform (Assessment Platform) Privacy Policy is available at:
https://www.assessform.edu.au/privacy-policy.