How can the UMSU Advocacy Service help me?

The UMSU Advocacy Services is an independent and separate service from the University – your ‘third-party’ advice pal in times where you’re feeling unsure about what the University is saying to you. We are a free and confidential service.

We operate using an empowerment or strength-based approach, where we seek to resource and equip students to deal with their matter themselves via the provision of policy and strategic advice as well as general feedback.

There are more than 60,000 students at the University, some are graduate research students, others graduate coursework and still others are undergraduate students. We help all types of students including international and domestic students. So, for a tiny service, we try to help as many of you that we can!

These resources and templates should help you make a meaningful start on whatever issue you need a bit of help with.

We know they won't work for everyone, and things can get complicated fast. So, if you're unsure if you're on the right track, need to clarify something that you can't find online, or are just plain stuck, reach out and let us know and we can point you in the right direction.

Jump to our resources section to find our extensive self-help resources or contact us here.

We can also assist you to make a complaint to the new National Student Ombudsman.

Advocacy Service Privacy & Confidentiality Policies

The UMSU Advocacy Service manages your personal and health information in accordance with:

1. The Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth);
2. The Information Privacy Principles (IPPs) under the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Vic); and
3. The Health Privacy Principles (HPPs) under the Health Records Act 2001 (Vic).

Download a copy of the UMSU Advocacy Service Privacy Policy

Download a copy of the UMSU Advocacy Service Confidentiality Policy

Privacy Statement

Our Privacy Statement explains how the Advocacy Service uses and manages your information, and how you can access information that we hold about you.

The UMSU Advocacy Service manages personal and health information in accordance with the Information Privacy Act 2000 (Vic), the Health Records Act 2001 (Vic), and the Student Union Advocacy Service Privacy and Confidentiality Policies. The information that we collect assists us to confirm your student status, contact and assist you, and is also aggregated into non-identifying statistics that facilitate our internal planning and review processes. We hold information on digital and paper based records, and take all reasonable steps to ensure that the information is accurate and complete and protected from misuse, loss, unauthorised access or disclosure. We will not disclose personal or health information to anyone without your express permission, or unless permitted, or required by law. Should you wish to access personal information that we hold about you at any time, you may request access by speaking to the Divisional Manager, Advocacy & Legal. The information that we collect is stored securely for seven years and then destroyed. 

Further Information

The UMSU Privacy Policy sets out the organisation's approach to collecting and uing personal information. Additionally, there is nore about information privacy at the University of Melbourne, including the University of Melbourne Privacy Policy, here.

Additional links:

• Office of the Victorian Privacy Commissioner
• Office of the Health Services Commissioner

Complaint Resolution Centre

If you wish to make a disclosure, report an issue or make a complaint regarding UMSU or any conduct that breaches UMSU’s policies, please click here for further guidance.