TAFE has committed to reimbursing students and reviewing policies following data breach

TAFE SA has committed to covering the costs of new identification documents after the personal information of more than 2000 students was stolen in a major data breach.

TAFE SA is at the centre of a major data security breach.

TAFE SA has committed to covering the costs of new identification documents and reviewing their data collection policies following the theft of the confidential personal information of 2224 of its students.

Students affected by the beach will have their driver’s licence and proof of age card fees waived and TAFE SA will also reimburse the cost of new passports, their chief executive David Coltman said.

The organisation will also look into the data they retain on file.

“TAFE SA is also working with regulators who require TAFE SA to hold this identification data to meet audit requirements to review this practice,’’ Mr Coltman said.

TAFE SA has launched an internal investigation to determine how the identification documents, which were used by students in their enrolment, were stolen.

The data includes the student’s name, course details, date of birth, address and proof of identity documents such as a driver’s licence or passport.

Crucially, the investigation has revealed that 87 per cent of the proof of identity documents stolen during the breach were found to have expired.

“There is no evidence provided to us the data has been misused,” TAFE SA chief executive officer David Coltman said.

TAFE SA chief executive officer David Coltman. Picture: Supplied

“We have further encrypted all the data we collect from students, it (now) sits on a different server, reduced staff access to it, and must have my authorisation to access it.”

Mr Coltman said the breach applied to 2016-2020 enrolment applications, across all TAFE SA campuses, and PwC had been engaged to undertake an urgent review for the process of student identification processing.

He said the 2224 students had been contacted and advised of the data breach.

“TAFE SA has worked as quickly as possible to ensure students could be notified, supported and informed,’’ he said.

“TAFE SA is providing support to affected students through the engagement of the national not-for-profit identity and cyber support service, IDCARE. Students can receive advice regarding their data security and necessary steps to take.

Mr Coltman said police had advised TAFE SA in March last year they had seized devices that contained electronic copies of 24 TAFE student identification forms during a criminal investigation.

TAFE SA had launched an internal and independent investigation into the data breach which found the theft had occurred prior to December 2021.

In November last year police advised TAFE that additional USBs had been seized that contained more identification documents relating to students.

Last month police provided TAFE SA with the details of that data that revealed 2224 students personal information was stolen.

The independent investigation launched by TAFE SA has not yet been able to determine when or how the data breaches occurred. The investigation remains ongoing.

A dedicated page on TAFE SA’s website is also being updated regularly to provide further support, including the process for requesting replacement identity documents.

“TAFE SA takes student data protection seriously and remains committed to supporting affected students throughout the process,’’ he said.