Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre disclosing students’ personal information to sell ads

The Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre is making more than $130,000 a year by disclosing students’ personal information to send them advertising material.

VTAC is making more than $130,000 by sending students advertising material once they sign up to recieve university offers. Picture: Getty Images

The Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre is making more than $130,000 a year using students’ personal information such as email addresses to send them advertising material, the Herald Sun can reveal.

The admissions centre, known as VTAC, is an independent non-profit organisation used by 250,000 students across the state to apply for and accept tertiary places.

VTAC requires students to provide their personal non-school email addresses, which are then used to distribute marketing materials from VTAC’s commercial clients.

In 2024, VTAC made $166,606 from advertising and in 2023 it made $135,977.

VTAC is spruiking advertising space in newsletters sent to students' private email addresses.

The VTAC website, which receives two million hits a year from students, boasts to potential advertisers about its “unrivalled access to future tertiary students”.

“Advertising with VTAC provides you with highly targeted access to prospective tertiary students and their influencers,” it says.

A disclaimer warns students that “VTAC may use and disclose your personal information in order to inform you of additional services that may be of interest to you”.

One school teacher said students as young as year nine are now being encouraged to register their details with VTAC, which can be used to distribute advertising.

“Remember that students virtually have to register on VTAC in order to apply to university and are actively encouraged to give private email addresses,” he said. “If they are going to start to encourage students of 15 or younger to do so, I am particularly concerned.”

The teacher said it was worrying that an advertising pitch from VTAC references companies such as Nike, Adidas, Apple, Samsung, Sony, Microsoft and Google.

VTAC is selling space in its newsletters sent to students.

He said VTAC was increasingly offering career advice which was better handled in schools, giving the centre access to a younger range of students, who were forced to provide their private emails.

A student who applied for university courses over the past two years said she was “shocked and upset at the thought of my email being used by VTAC for anything other than getting a uni offer”.

Jess Wilson said families were rightfully questioning the commericial marketing agreements. Picture: David Crosling

Opposition education spokeswoman Jess Wilson said students “engage with the VTAC in good faith to progress their education and shouldn’t have their personal data potentially jeopardised in this way”.

“As an independent and not-for-profit organisation, students and families will rightfully question the need for these commercial marketing arrangements,” she said.

“The Minister for Education must explain why these arrangements exist and what safeguards have been put in place ensure the integrity of students’ personal data.”

VTAC made $166,606 from advertising in 2024.

A VTAC spokeswoman said students “are able to ‘opt-out’ of any marketing communications within their application if they do not wish to receive these messages from institutions and other relevant organisations”.

“If students do not opt out, they can be contacted about marketing communications via the emails they have provided.

“I can confirm we do not on-sell email addresses or contact details of students to third parties,” she said.

“I can also confirm that advertising through VTAC is only available to education institutions and other relevant organisations such as student accommodation and career industry bodies. All advertising must be approved by VTAC and ensure it is within our guidelines.”