High risk work licence – privacy collection notice

1. Who we are

This Privacy Collection Notice applies to individuals who are applying, renewing, or replacing their High Risk Work licence.

Before collecting your personal information, we are required to provide you with the information contained in this notice.

Your information is being collected and held by the SafeWork NSW Agency (the SafeWork NSW Agency). SafeWork NSW is the primary work health and safety regulator in New South Wales. Its functions, powers and operations are authorised under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (WHS Act) and the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025 (NSW) (Regulation) and it is responsible for engaging with the NSW community to prevent work-related fatalities, serious injuries, and illnesses and securing compliance with work health and safety laws.

The SafeWork NSW Agency gives priority to protecting the privacy of your personal information, in accordance with the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (PPIP Act) and the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 (HRIP Act).

2. Why we collect your personal information

The personal and health information contained in your application may be used for the following purposes:

  • Determining your application for and, if your application is approved, issuing you with a High Risk Work licence in accordance with Part 4.5 of the Regulation.
  • To verify your identity, including (with your consent) by requesting verification with the Document Verification Service (DVS). The DVS is managed by the Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department. For details on its operation and management of the DVS, visit www.ag.gov.au
  • To record your information on a licence register, parts of which will be published online.
  • Internal administration, including assessing and liaising with you in relation to your application, and in relation to compliance, investigations, and enforcement of the WHS Act and the Regulation.
  • To support more informed policy making, program management, evaluation, research and service planning as it can facilitate more efficient service delivery for residents and business in NSW.
  • Other directly related purposes.

3. The kinds of information we collect

We collect the following kinds of personal information:

  • Your full name, date of birth, contact details (including residential address, email address and phone/mobile numbers).
  • Licence information and payment information.
  • Proof of identity information, which may include your photo identity documents, such as a passport or drivers’ licence, your Medicare card details and/or other proof of identity.
  • A photo of your face that will be used on your licence to verify your identity.
  • Additional personal information if it is required to satisfy the eligibility requirements for the licence.

4. How we may use this information

We may use the personal and health information contained in your application for the purposes for which it was collected, including:

  • To verify your proof of identity documents with the DVS. The DVS is used only to confirm your identity by matching your identity documents. We receive a verification result (e.g., match/no match) and do not receive biometric templates.
  • Confirming your details if you make any subsequent applications in relation to any licence or authority issued by SafeWork NSW.
  • Administration and updates to your licence, including sending you important information.
  • Notifying you about updates or changes to legislation that may impact your licence.
  • Sending reminders about safety requirements and obligations as per legislation.
  • Sending notifications, reminders and updates to you relating to your licence.
  • Some personal information will be recorded on a licence register as required by section 702B(1) of the Regulation. Parts of this register information will be published on a public register as provided for by section 702B(5) of the Regulation.
  • Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to assist in processing, analysing, or responding to the information you provide. All use of AI is conducted in accordance with applicable privacy laws and data protection standards.
  • Other directly related purposes as permitted by law.

5. Failure to provide information

Your information is provided voluntarily, however, by law, if you are an individual applying for or renewing your licence, you are required to provide us with the information captured in this application. Failure to provide the relevant information will result in your application not being considered or renewed.

We are legally required to obtain your consent before requesting a DVS check. If you do not consent to your identity documents being validated through the DVS, we are able to validate your identity manually with the issuing authorities. You can contact the SafeWork NSW Agency on the details at the bottom of this notice to discuss further if required.

6. Who we may share your information with

If required, we may share your information with the following third parties:

  • Other NSW government agencies (including the NSW Police Force), or other States, Territories and/or the Commonwealth for the purposes of assessing your application and for compliance purposes.
  • Third-party service providers engaged by the SafeWork NSW Agency for the purpose of processing, printing and issuing your licence.

Some personal information will be recorded on a licence register as required by section 702B(1) of the Regulation. Parts of this register information will be published on a public register as provided for by section 702B(5) of the Regulation.

On 1 July 2025, the SafeWork NSW Agency was established as an Executive Agency related to the Department of Customer Service (DCS). DCS provide some corporate service functions to the SafeWork NSW Agency under formal agreement and assist us with our business operations by providing software and storing data on our behalf. For further information, please see how DCS manage personal information.

We will not disclose your information to anybody else unless we are authorised or permitted to do so by law or where you have given consent. For further information, please see our privacy statement.

Service NSW

Service NSW provides a digital front door, and your MyServiceNSW Account will be used to initiate this application and verify your identity.

Service NSW collects and uses your personal information to:

  • Initiate the application using your MyServiceNSW Account details
  • Verify your identity with the DVS
  • Share details from your MyServiceNSW Account with the SafeWork NSW Agency.

Other information you provide through the application to demonstrate your eligibility for a licence or certificate will be collected and stored by the SafeWork NSW Agency only.

Service NSW, if requested by the SafeWork NSW Agency, may complete a photo capture for your licence and share this with the SafeWork NSW Agency. Service NSW will not store the image.

Service NSW also maintains and uses your personal information for internal administrative purposes, including for the purposes of our interactions with you. For more information about how Service NSW handles personal information, please visit the Service NSW privacy statement.

Digital NSW

We are partnered with Digital NSW (part of the DCS) who assist us with our business operations by providing software and storing data on our behalf. Digital NSW have a Privacy Statement which outlines their contact details and information about how they look after this data.

Digital NSW also provide us with access to the DVS so that we can check your identity documents and verify your identity. The Digital NSW Proof of Identity Privacy Collection Notice outlines how Digital NSW handle your data on our behalf when you grant us your consent to process an identity document check.

7. Protecting your information

We will store, manage, and dispose of your information in accordance with the provisions of the PPIP Act and HRIP Act, and we will only keep information for as long as we need it to fulfil the purposes, we collected it for. After which, the information will be disposed of securely in accordance with the State Records Act 1998 and any other applicable legislation.

We are legally obligated to protect your information by limiting collection to what is necessary and ensuring its secure disposal. All information is disposed of safely, with reasonable safeguards in place to prevent loss, unauthorised access, misuse, modification, disclosure, or any other improper use.

Please see our privacy management plan for more information about how we handle your personal information.

8. Your rights

Subject to certain conditions, you have the right to access or correct your personal information. In situations where your safety or wellbeing may be compromised, you may be able to request that your personal information be excluded from the public register.

If you wish to invoke any of these rights in relation to this application, you can contact licensing@safework.nsw.gov.au.

9. Contact us

For further information visit the SafeWork NSW website, email licensing@safework.nsw.gov.au or call 13 10 50.

If you would like to make a privacy enquiry or complaint in relation to any of the processes or other details outlined in this notice, you can contact us at privacy@safework.nsw.gov.au.

The SafeWork NSW Agency
94-100 Donnison St
Gosford 2250 NSW

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