Managing graduate researcher leave entitlements

Privacy notice

Why we collect your personal information

The University of Melbourne is collecting and processing your personal information to:

  • enable graduate researchers (GRs) to request, record, and manage leave (including sick & carer’s, recreation, and family & domestic violence leave)
  • support review, approval, and administration of leave requests by supervisors and other approvers as well as graduate research administrators
  • maintain accurate records of leave taken and approved in line with university processes
  • meet our legislative obligations in accordance with Higher Education Support Commonwealth Scholarships Guidelines (HESCSG) and related RTP scholarship requirements
  • inform reporting, compliance, and operational management activities related to graduate research.

How we process your personal information

We will process your personal information as necessary for our legitimate interests and in accordance with applicable privacy laws.

We will primarily collect your personal information directly from you through the online Leave of Absence (LoA) request form.

Where required, information may also be collected from:

  • University systems (e.g. StudentOne)
  • Graduate research administrators or supervisors

We may share your personal information with:

  • Graduate research administrators and supervisors – to review and approve leave requests
  • Scholarships and student administration teams – to manage compliance and reporting
  • University systems and service providers – to support system functionality and processing
  • Other Australian higher education providers, if you transfer your graduate research studies to another institution
  • Other international higher education providers, if you are undertaking a Joint PhD.

Personal information may be stored in university-approved systems, which may include cloud-based platforms. Where data is transferred outside Victoria or Australia, the University will ensure this complies with privacy obligations.

In some instances, your personal information may be transferred outside of Victoria or Australia (for example, where providers are located internationally or use a cloud-based system with servers based in international jurisdictions). We take all reasonable steps to ensure that the interstate or overseas transfer of personal information is in accordance with our privacy obligations as outlined in the University’s General Privacy Statement.

Use and storage

Your personal information will be used to:

  • process and manage leave requests
  • maintain records of leave entitlements and approvals
  • support compliance reporting and audit requirements

We will retain your personal information in accordance with the University’s records retention and disposal authority, after which it will be securely destroyed.

If you do not provide your information:

  • your leave request may not be processed,
  • your stipend scholarship and/or student visa entitlements may be impacted, and
  • the University may be unable to meet compliance requirements relating to your leave entitlements

Further privacy information

Refer to the University’s General Privacy Statement or other privacy statements for general information about how we process and protect personal information, including:

  • our lawful basis for processing personal information;
  • collection, use and disclosure of personal information;
  • accuracy, security and storage of personal information;
  • retention and disposal of personal information;
  • your individual rights; and
  • applicable privacy laws.

Refer to the University’s Online Privacy Statement for information about how personal information may be automatically collected from you, such as through the use of cookies, as a result of your visit to websites controlled by the University.

Your rights

You may request access to, or correction of, your personal information we hold, or exercise your individual rights as applicable under relevant privacy laws, unless this would have an unreasonable impact on the privacy of others or would contravene the University’s other legislative obligations.

If the lawful collection of your personal information is based on your consent, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time. However, this will not affect the lawfulness of our processing of your information prior to you withdrawing your consent.

Contact

For further information, please contact your local graduate research administrator.

For privacy-related enquiries, email: privacy-officer@unimelb.edu.au

For further information about how the University manages personal information, and for details of how to make an enquiry, lodge a complaint, or to contact the University’s Privacy and Data Protection Officer, please refer to our Privacy webpage, view the University's Privacy Policy or contact: privacy-officer@unimelb.edu.au.

Last updated: 22-May-2026