Privacy Policy

About this policy

Peppertree Early Education Centre is operated by NZAUS Group Pty Ltd (ABN 39 614 906 160) (“Peppertree”, “we”, “us”, “our”). We are a family-focused early education and care service in Oxley Park, in Sydney’s west, and we understand that families trust us with some of the most important information they have: information about their children.

This policy explains what personal information we collect, why we collect it, how we look after it, and the choices you have. It applies to families who enquire with or enrol at our centre, children in our care, authorised nominees and emergency contacts, job applicants, students on placement, and visitors to our website and social media pages.

We handle personal information in line with:

• the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs);
• the Education and Care Services National Law and the Education and Care Services National Regulations, which set out the records we must keep and how we keep them confidential;
• family assistance law, which governs information we handle for the Child Care Subsidy (CCS);
• the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 (NSW), where it applies to health information we hold;
• the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 (NSW) and the Children’s Guardian Act 2019 (NSW), including our child safe and mandatory reporting obligations; and
• the Spam Act 2003 (Cth) for any marketing emails and SMS we send.

What personal information we collect

When you enquire or book a tour

If you contact us by phone, email, our website, or social media and online advertising forms (including Facebook and Instagram lead forms), we may collect your name, phone number, email address, suburb, your child’s name and age, preferred days and start date, and any other details you choose to share with us.

When you enrol

To enrol your child and provide safe, high-quality care, we collect information about you and your family, which may include:

• parent and guardian names, addresses, contact details, dates of birth, occupations and workplace details;
• your Centrelink Customer Reference Number (CRN) and your child’s CRN, so we can administer the Child Care Subsidy;
• billing and payment details (such as bank account or card details for direct debit);
• details of authorised nominees and emergency contacts, and people authorised to collect your child;
• any court orders, parenting orders or parenting plans relevant to your child’s care; and
• languages spoken at home, cultural background and family information that helps us support your child.

About your child, we may collect their name, date of birth, gender, address, birth certificate details, Medicare number, doctor’s details, immunisation history, dietary requirements, allergies, medical conditions and management plans, additional needs, and information about their development, interests and routines.

While your child attends

While your child is with us, we create records such as attendance and sign-in/sign-out records, observations and learning documentation, samples of your child’s work, photographs and videos, and records of any incidents, injuries, illness or trauma, and medication given.

Job applicants, staff and students

If you apply to work or complete a placement with us, we collect your contact details, resume, qualifications, employment history, referee comments, Working With Children Check details and other information relevant to your suitability for the role. Records about current and former employees may be exempt from the Privacy Act, but we still treat them confidentially and keep them as required under the National Regulations.

Website and online activity

We do not currently use analytics or advertising tracking tools on our website. Like most websites, our website host may automatically record basic technical information, such as your IP address, browser type and the pages you visit, to keep the site running securely. If you interact with our Facebook or Instagram pages or ads, Meta handles that information under its own privacy policy. If we introduce analytics or advertising tools in future, we will update this policy.

Sensitive information

Some information we collect is “sensitive information” under the Privacy Act, such as your child’s health information, cultural or religious background, or information about a disability or additional needs. We only collect sensitive information with your consent, or where the law requires or authorises it. For example, the National Regulations require us to hold details of your child’s medical conditions and immunisation status, and NSW public health laws require us to see immunisation records before enrolment.

We use this information only to keep your child safe and healthy and to plan an inclusive program that meets their needs.

How we collect personal information

We usually collect personal information directly from you: through enquiry and enrolment forms, our childcare management software and family app, OWNA, emails, phone calls, and conversations at the centre.

Sometimes we receive information from other people or organisations, such as Services Australia (about your CCS entitlements), your child’s doctor or allied health professionals (with your consent), inclusion support agencies, or another parent or guardian. If we receive information about you that we did not ask for and do not need, we will destroy or de-identify it where it is lawful and reasonable to do so.

Why we collect and use your information

We collect, use and hold personal information so we can:

• respond to your enquiry, arrange a tour and discuss availability;
• manage your child’s enrolment, attendance, fees and Child Care Subsidy;
• provide safe, individualised education and care, and document your child’s learning;
• respond to health needs, incidents and emergencies;
• communicate with you about your child, our centre, events and changes to our service;
• meet our legal, regulatory and child protection obligations; and
• recruit and manage staff, students and volunteers.

We will only use your information for the purpose we collected it, or for a related purpose you would reasonably expect, unless you consent or the law allows or requires otherwise.

Photos, videos and social media

We take photos and videos of children to document their learning and share it with their families, usually through the OWNA app. We will ask for your written consent before we use any image of your child in newsletters, on our website, on social media or in advertising, and you can withdraw that consent at any time by letting us know. We ask all families not to share photos or videos showing other people’s children without their parents’ permission.

Who we share information with

We do not sell or rent your personal information. We may share it, where needed, with:

• Services Australia and the Australian Government Department of Education, to administer the Child Care Subsidy;
• the NSW Department of Education (as the regulatory authority) and the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA), for licensing, assessment and compliance;
• NSW Health and public health units, for example during outbreaks of infectious disease;
• the Department of Communities and Justice (Child Protection Helpline), NSW Police or other authorities where we reasonably believe a child is at risk of significant harm, or where otherwise required by law;
• ambulance, medical and emergency services, if your child needs urgent care;
• allied health professionals, inclusion support agencies and schools, with your consent;
• service providers who help us run our centre, such as OWNA (our childcare management software and family app), payment and direct debit providers, IT and website providers, accountants and legal advisers; and
• advertising platforms such as Meta (Facebook and Instagram), where you have submitted an enquiry through their forms.

We require our service providers to keep your information confidential and use it only to provide services to us.

Overseas disclosure

Our childcare management software, OWNA, stores enrolment, child and family records in Australian data centres. Some other service providers we use may store or process information outside Australia. In particular, enquiries submitted through Facebook or Instagram forms are handled by Meta, which may store information in the United States and other countries, and our email provider may also store messages on overseas servers, including in the United States. We take reasonable steps to make sure these providers handle personal information in a way consistent with the Australian Privacy Principles.

Direct marketing

If you have enquired with us or are a current family, we may send you information about our centre, such as availability, open days and events. We only ever contact you about Peppertree Early Education Centre. You can opt out at any time by using the unsubscribe link in our emails, replying STOP to our SMS messages, or contacting us. Opting out of marketing will not affect important communications about your child’s care.

Storage, security and retention

We store personal information securely in our childcare management software and other secure electronic systems, and in locked storage at the centre for paper records. Access is limited to staff and service providers who need it. We take reasonable steps to protect information from misuse, interference, loss, and unauthorised access, change or disclosure, including password-protected systems, staff confidentiality obligations and privacy training.

We keep records for as long as the law requires. For example, under the National Regulations, records of any incident, injury, trauma or illness involving a child are kept until the child turns 25, and most other records about a child are kept for 3 years after they last attend. Child Care Subsidy records are kept for 5 years. Enquiry information for families who do not enrol is kept for 12 months and then securely destroyed. When information is no longer needed, we securely destroy or de-identify it.

Data breaches

If a data breach occurs that is likely to result in serious harm to anyone, we will notify the people affected and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) as required under the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme.

Dealing with us anonymously

You can make a general enquiry without giving your full name, or by using a pseudonym, where this is practical. However, we cannot enrol a child or provide care without identifying information.

If you don’t provide information

If you choose not to give us some information, we may not be able to respond to your enquiry fully, enrol your child, claim the Child Care Subsidy on your behalf, or meet our legal obligations. In some cases, this may mean we cannot provide care. We’re always happy to talk through why we are asking for particular information.

Accessing and correcting your information

You can ask to see the personal information we hold about you or your child, or ask us to correct it if it is inaccurate, out of date or incomplete. Please contact the Peppertree Early Education Team using the details below. We will respond within 30 days and there is no charge to make a request. In limited circumstances the law allows us to refuse access, for example if giving access would pose a serious threat to someone’s safety, unreasonably affect another person’s privacy, or conflict with a court order. If we refuse, we will explain why in writing and tell you how to complain.

Making a complaint

If you have a concern about how we have handled your personal information, please contact the Peppertree Early Education Team first. We will acknowledge your complaint within 5 business days, look into it, and aim to give you a written response within 30 days.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you can contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at www.oaic.gov.au or on 1300 363 992. For concerns about health information, you can also contact the NSW Information and Privacy Commission at www.ipc.nsw.gov.au.

Contact us

Peppertree Early Education Team

28 Adelaide Street, Oxley Park NSW 2760

Phone: 02 8855 2211

Email: info@peppertree-eec.com.au

Changes to this policy

We review this policy regularly and may update it to reflect changes in the law or how we operate. The latest version will always be on our website, and a copy is available at the centre on request. We will let enrolled families know about any significant changes.

Last updated: September 2026