NAPLAN results privacy breach at elite Melbourne school

NAPLAN results at an elite Melbourne school have been sent to the wrong parents.

3AW Drive was alerted to the issue this week.

Methodist Ladies’ College sent a letter to parents, informing them they shouldn’t open the envelope because it could contain the results of another student.

“I sincerely apologise for this error and want to reassure you that we take this issue very seriously,” Alma Tooke, Director of Learning and Curriculum, told parents in the letter.

“We understand fully the importance of managing the personal information of our students and families.

“We now understand that this mistake was the consequence of a problem with the mail merge, which resulted in data being sorted incorrectly. Please be assured that we will be implementing process changes to prevent such an error from happening in the future.”

The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority sent 3AW Drive the following statement;

“ACARA does not issue individual student reports to schools.

“That is the responsibility of the relevant jurisdiction test administration authority.

“ACARA has not provided any advice to the school in question as, again, that is a matter for the relevant test administration authority.”