Footprints in Time participant privacy

Survey participant privacy

Your privacy is very important to us. Strict procedures ensure that only authorised people have access to your information. Interviewers, researchers and others involved in the study comply with the Privacy Act 1988(Opens in a new tab/window) (Cth). 

Parents/guardians taking part in the study

You can participate in either a face-to face or telephone interview. 

We may collect personal information about you from the participant and the other parent. 

Examples of personal information include: 

• financial support provided to study youth 
• education 
• work 
• income 
• contact details. 

Youth taking part in the study

We may collect personal and sensitive information about you from your parents/guardians. If you have a parent living in a separate household, we may collect similar information from them. This information relates to: 

• education 
• work 
• health 
• behaviours like personality or family relationships. 

With your parents/guardians’ permission, we may also collect personal information from your school. We could speak with your teacher, principal, or Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Education Officer. 

Information collected may include your: 

• school behaviour 
• programs 
• activities. 

Other members of participant households

This is relevant for people who live with a Footprints in Time participant. This information helps us understand the households participants are living in. 

We collect personal and sensitive information about you as part of the study. This includes demographic details, including: 

• name 
• gender 
• age 
• date of birth 
• language 
• Indigenous status 
• caring needs. 

Other information includes activities you do with the participant. 

We keep your information private

We keep all information collected strictly confidential. The only exception would be where it is required to be reported by law and/or there is a risk of harm to yourself or others. 

We ensure that your privacy is maintained. We will not release any personal identifying information unless you write to us and ask us to. 

Participation in this study is voluntary and the data is only for: 

• statistical purposes 
• maintaining contact with study participants for the study. 

Your private information is never given to researchers or policy makers. Private information includes your: 

• name 
• address 
• any other identifying information. 

If you don’t want to include your responses in Footprints in Time data, tell us. We will remove it from future data releases. You can also ask us to withhold any responses about you. 

The Privacy Act 1988 dictates how we collect and hold study data. You can access or correct personal information held about you by the study. Do this any time by contacting the Footprints in Time team: 

• call 1800 106 235 
• email LSIC@dss.gov.au. 

Learn more about our privacy policy.