Who we are

“Study Inspire”, “we”, “us” and “our” refer to Study Inspire Pty Ltd, an Australian company that provides international education advisory and recruitment services to students and partner institutions.

We are the data controller of the personal information described in this notice — that is, we decide why and how it is processed. For some processing we act as a data processor on behalf of partner institutions; where that is the case, the institution’s own privacy notice will also apply.

Study Inspire Pty Ltd is established and operated from Australia and provides services to individuals across multiple countries. Where applicable, we comply with relevant privacy and data protection laws in jurisdictions in which we provide services.

Information we collect

The categories of personal information we typically collect depend on whether you are a prospective student, a recruitment partner, an institution contact or a website visitor.

From prospective and enrolled students

• Identity and contact data: full name, date of birth, gender, nationality, photograph, postal address, email, phone number.
• Academic data: transcripts, certificates, English-language test results (IELTS / PTE / TOEFL / Duolingo), references, statements of purpose, course preferences.
• Immigration and visa data: passport details and scans, visa history, biometric photographs, GTE/SOP statements, financial-capacity evidence, sponsor details, dependants’ information.
• Financial data: bank statements, payment records, scholarship applications, loan details — only where required by an institution or visa authority.
• Health information (special category data): where required by an institution, an OSHC/OVHC provider or a visa authority — for example, medical clearances, disability disclosures or vaccination records.
• Communications data: emails, WhatsApp messages, call notes, counselling-session records, application progress notes.

From recruitment partners and sub-agents

• Business name, ABN/registration number, director/contact details, banking details for commission payments, signed agreements and compliance documents.
• Information about students you refer to us (where you are acting as the source of that information).

From all website visitors

• Technical data: IP address, browser type and version, device information, operating system, referring URL, pages visited, time-stamps.
• Cookies and similar technologies: see Cookies and tracking.

How we collect it

• Directly from you when you complete a form on our website, register a student or partner account, attend a counselling session, contact us by email, phone, WhatsApp or in person, or upload documents to our portal.
• From recruitment partners and sub-agents who refer you to us. Where this is the case, we will provide you with this notice no later than one month after receiving your data, or at the point of first contact — whichever is earlier.
• From institutions you are applying to (for example, offer letters, admission decisions, fee status updates).
• From third-party verification providers such as document-verification services, English-test providers and credential-evaluation bodies — where you have authorised release of your results.
• Automatically through cookies and analytics when you use our website (see section 11).

How and why we use your information

We use personal information for the following purposes:

Under Australian law, the equivalent grounds are set out in Australian Privacy Principles 3 and 6 (collection and use/disclosure of personal information).

Our lawful bases for processing

If you are in the UK, EU or EEA, we rely on the following lawful bases under Article 6 of the UK GDPR / EU GDPR:

• Contract (Art. 6(1)(b)) — to provide the services you have engaged us for, or to take steps before entering an agreement with you.
• Legal obligation (Art. 6(1)(c)) — to comply with Australian and overseas law, including immigration, tax and education-sector regulations.
• Legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)) — to run our business effectively, prevent fraud, secure our systems and improve our services. We balance our interests against your rights and only rely on this basis where the impact on you is proportionate. You can request our legitimate-interests assessment.
• Consent (Art. 6(1)(a)) — for marketing and for processing certain sensitive data. You can withdraw consent at any time without affecting earlier processing.
• Vital interests (Art. 6(1)(d)) — in rare cases, to protect someone’s life or safety.

For special category data we rely on Article 9(2)(a) explicit consent or Article 9(2)(f) establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims, depending on the context.

Where explicit consent is required for the processing of special category personal data, consent is obtained through a clear affirmative action such as a dedicated consent checkbox, written consent or signed documentation. Records of consent are maintained where required by law. If an individual chooses not to provide consent for processing special category data, certain services may be unavailable where such processing is necessary to provide those services.

Who we share your information with

We share your personal information only with the following categories of recipient, and only to the extent necessary:

• Educational institutions in the country you are applying to — including the universities, colleges and pathway providers listed on our website.
• Visa, immigration and government authorities in your destination country (e.g. the UK Home Office, Australian Department of Home Affairs, IRCC in Canada, USCIS in the USA, GDRFA in the UAE).
• OSHC / OVHC and travel-insurance providers where required by your visa.
• Recruitment partners and sub-agents in your home region, where they referred you or assist with your application.
• Service providers who help us run our business — including cloud hosting, CRM, document-storage, accounting, email-delivery, analytics and customer-support tools. These providers process data on our written instructions only.
• Professional advisers — lawyers, auditors, insurers and bankers — under duties of confidentiality.
• Regulators and law-enforcement bodies where we are legally required to disclose information.
• Acquirers in the event of a sale, merger or restructure of our business; they would be required to honour this notice.

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it for the marketing purposes of any third party.

Controller and Processor Roles

Depending on the circumstances, Study Inspire Pty Ltd may act as either a Data Controller or a Data Processor. We act as a Data Controller when determining the purposes and means of processing personal data. We act as a Data Processor when processing personal data on behalf of education providers, institutions, business partners or other organisations under documented instructions. Where required, appropriate Data Processing Agreements are maintained with relevant parties.

International data transfers

Because we help students apply to institutions in 30+ countries, your data is regularly transferred outside the country in which it is collected. Our principal locations of processing are Australia (our head office) and the destination country you are applying to.

Where we transfer personal data from the UK or EU to a country that does not have a UK or EU adequacy decision, we put in place one or more of the following safeguards as required by Articles 44–49 UK GDPR / EU GDPR:

• UK International Data Transfer Agreement (IDTA) or the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses;
• EU Standard Contractual Clauses (2021/914) for transfers from the EEA;
• An adequacy decision where one applies (for example, the UK and EU consider Australia not to have a general adequacy decision, so we rely on contractual safeguards instead);
• Where strictly necessary, the Article 49 derogations (e.g. your explicit consent, performance of a contract concluded in your interest).

You can request a copy of the relevant safeguards by emailing privacy@studyinspire.com.

For transfers from Australia, we comply with APP 8 by taking reasonable steps to ensure overseas recipients handle your information consistently with the Australian Privacy Principles, or by relying on a permitted exception (such as your informed consent to the transfer).

Where personal data is transferred outside Australia, the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area, appropriate safeguards are implemented to protect personal information. Such safeguards may include Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs), the UK International Data Transfer Agreement (IDTA), adequacy regulations, contractual protections or other lawful transfer mechanisms where applicable. Where required, transfer risk assessments may be undertaken to assess and mitigate privacy risks associated with international data transfers.

How long we keep your information

We keep your personal information only for as long as we need it for the purposes set out in this notice, or for as long as the law requires us to. Our standard retention periods are:

When the retention period ends, we either securely delete the information or anonymise it so it can no longer be linked to you.

How we protect your information

We use a combination of technical, organisational and physical measures appropriate to the sensitivity of the information, including:

• Encryption of data in transit (TLS 1.2 or higher) and at rest where supported by our service providers.
• Role-based access control: staff and partners only see the data they need to do their job.
• Multi-factor authentication on our CRM, email and document-storage systems.
• Vendor due-diligence and written data-processing agreements with all service providers.
• Confidentiality and data-protection training for all staff and contractors.
• Documented incident-response and breach-notification procedures.

If we become aware of a personal-data breach that is likely to result in a risk to your rights, we will notify the relevant regulator (the OAIC in Australia and/or the ICO in the UK) within the legally required time-frame, and notify you directly where the breach is likely to result in a high risk.

Your rights

Subject to your jurisdiction and certain legal exemptions, you have the following rights:

• Right to be informed — through this notice and our just-in-time messages on forms.
• Right of access — you can request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
• Right to rectification — you can ask us to correct information that is inaccurate or incomplete.
• Right to erasure (“right to be forgotten”) — you can ask us to delete your information where we no longer have a lawful basis to keep it.
• Right to restrict processing — you can ask us to pause processing while we investigate a concern.
• Right to data portability — you can ask us to send your data to you, or to another controller, in a structured, machine-readable format.
• Right to object — you can object to processing based on legitimate interests, and to direct marketing at any time.
• Right to withdraw consent — where we rely on your consent, you can withdraw it at any time without affecting earlier processing.
• Right not to be subject to solely automated decision-making with significant effects on you (see section 13).
• Right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority (see section 16).

To exercise any of these rights, email privacy@studyinspire.com. We will respond within one calendar month. Following the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025, the searches we carry out for your data will be reasonable and proportionate; we will let you know if we need an extension or further information from you.

Identity Verification

Before responding to a privacy rights request, we may request reasonable proof of identity to verify the requester’s identity and protect personal information from unauthorised disclosure.

Cookies and tracking

Non-essential cookies, including analytics, advertising and marketing cookies, are not placed on a user’s device until the user has provided consent through our cookie consent mechanism. Users may accept or reject non-essential cookies and may withdraw their consent at any time by updating their cookie preferences. For further information regarding our use of cookies and how to manage preferences, please refer to our Cookie Policy.

Marketing communications

If you have given us permission, or have an existing relationship with us, we may send you updates about courses, scholarships, intake deadlines and our services by email, SMS or WhatsApp. You can opt out at any time by clicking “unsubscribe” in any email, replying STOP to an SMS, or emailing privacy@studyinspire.com. Opting out of marketing will not affect service messages about an active application.

Automated decision-making and profiling

We may use automated tools to assist with administration, communication management, analytics, fraud prevention and service delivery. However, we do not make decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects solely through automated processing. Where automated tools are used, appropriate human review and oversight are applied. Following changes introduced by the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025, you can ask us to explain any automated component of a decision that affects you and to have a human review it.

Children and minors

Our services are aimed at people aged 16 or older. Where we knowingly engage with a student under 18, we ask for the consent and involvement of a parent, legal guardian or sponsor for all material decisions, and we apply additional safeguards to their information.

Changes to this notice

We review this notice at least annually and whenever our practices change. If we make changes that materially affect how we use your data, we will tell you directly (for example, by email or through a prominent notice on our website) and, where required, ask for renewed consent. The “Last updated” date at the top of this page always reflects the current version.

Complaints

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your personal information, please tell us first — we’d like the chance to put it right. Email privacy@studyinspire.com with the subject line “Privacy complaint” and we will acknowledge your complaint within five working days.

If you’re not satisfied with our response, you can complain to the supervisory authority in your country:

• Australia — Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC), www.oaic.gov.au, 1300 363 992.
• United Kingdom — Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF, ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint, 0303 123 1113.
• European Union / EEA — your national data-protection authority. A list is available at edpb.europa.eu.

Following the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025, UK data subjects are generally expected to raise the complaint with us first; we have 30 days to respond before the ICO will normally take it up.