Student Safeguarding & Privacy

Adults only

Institute courses and accounts are for adults aged 18 and over. The Institute does not provide any services to children. Each enrolment asks you to confirm you are 18 or older; no date of birth is collected.

1. Informed consent

Course pages describe the themes involved before you enrol, so you can decide whether now is the right time. You choose whether to enrol, how fast to go, and whether to stop.

2. Distress and trauma-aware learning

Courses are written to avoid graphic detail, never require you to retell your own experience, and include pauses. If material brings up distress, it is fine to stop, step away, or come back later. Your progress is saved.

3. Opting out of reflective prompts

Reflective prompts are invitations. In most courses you can read past them without writing anything, and they do not count toward completion. Where a course does require a written response for assessment, its page says so before you enrol, and you can ask through the support form about another way to complete it.

4. If you need support now

The Institute does not provide a crisis or monitoring service, and messages are not read around the clock. If you are in danger or need urgent help, please contact:

• Emergency — police, ambulance, fire000
• Lifeline (24/7 crisis support)13 11 14
• Beyond Blue1300 22 4636
• 1800RESPECT (sexual, domestic and family violence)1800 737 732
• 13YARN (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander crisis support)13 92 76
• Kids Helpline (5 to 25 years)1800 55 1800

Your GP, an Employee Assistance Program (if your workplace has one), or a registered counsellor or psychologist can provide ongoing support.

5. Professional boundaries

Courses are education, not counselling, therapy, chaplaincy, legal advice or clinical treatment, and enrolling does not create a counselling relationship. The Institute does not diagnose, treat, or tell you what to decide. Course support is limited to questions about the course and your enrolment.

6. Confidentiality and its limits

We keep what you share with us private and use it only to support your learning and enrolment. We cannot promise absolute confidentiality. We may need to act or share information if someone is at serious risk of harm, if a child may be at risk, or if the law requires it. Wherever it is safe and possible, we will tell you first.

7. Your reflections and what is stored

We try to collect only what we need. Specifically:

• Workplace Wellbeing courses: the private note boxes are not saved or sent anywhere. They disappear when you leave the page.
• Other courses: if you choose to save a reflection in a lesson, it is stored with your account in our secured system so you can return to it. It is never shown to other learners or employers. It can be seen by you and, only where needed for support, safety or legal reasons, by the Institute administrator (Sharon Mackenzie). Before your first reflection is saved, you are asked to agree to this; writing is always optional. Knowledge check answers and assessment submissions are stored in the same way.
• Site usage statistics never include reflections, answers, passwords or payment details.

Please don't write anything in a saved reflection that you would not want stored. You can ask us to correct or delete saved reflections through the support form.

Full details are in the Privacy Notice. If you are concerned about how we have handled your information, you can raise it with us or with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.