PRIVACY
South Pacific College of Natural Medicine (SPCNM) collects and stores information from the enrolment application form to:
- manage the business of South Pacific College of Natural Medicine (including internal reporting, administrative processes and selection of scholarship and prize winners)
- comply with the requirements of the Privacy Act 2020, the Education and Training Act 2020, and other legislation relating to maintenance of records (This includes legislation governing the maintenance of official records and for accountability for public funding.)
- supply information to government agencies and other organisations as set out below.
- provide relevant information to course lecturers and other key staff regarding students with significant injury, long term illness, a disability, or additional needs.
In signing the enrolment application form you authorise the disclosure of your personal information on the understanding that SPCNM will comply with the legal requirements in relation to the use and disclosure of personal information, as set out in the Privacy Act 2020, the Education and Training Act 2020 and other relevant legislation. You are entitled to see any information that SPCNM holds about you and request to correct any errors in that information. To do so, contact enquiries@spcnm.ac.nz.
NB: The Privacy Act 2020 has the stated aim of protecting the privacy of individuals. It also governs the collection, use, storage, and disclosure of personal information.
The Privacy Act requires South Pacific College of Natural Medicine to collect, hold, handle, use and disclose personal information in accordance with the twelve information privacy principles in the Act.
Supply of information to government agencies and other organisations
South Pacific College of Natural Medicine supplies data collected on the enrolment application form to government agencies, including:
- the Ministry of Education
- Education New Zealand
- the New Zealand Qualifications Authority
- the Tertiary Education Commission
- the Ministry of Social Development (in relation to student loans and allowances) and Inland Revenue (student loans)
- Immigration New Zealand (for those who are not New Zealand citizens or permanent residents) and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
- agencies which support specific students through scholarships, payment of fees or other awards (if you are a recipient of one of these awards).
Those agencies use the data collected from South Pacific College of Natural Medicine to:
- administer the tertiary education system, including allocating funding and the administration of the Fees-Free and Fees-Free Trades Training initiatives
- develop policy advice for government
- conduct statistical analysis and research.
Your personal details (name, date of birth and residency), as entered on the enrolment application form, will be included in the National Student Index, and may be used in an authorised information matching programme with the New Zealand Birth Register.
The government agencies above may supply data collected on the enrolment application form to Statistics New Zealand for the purposes of integrating data with data collected by other government agencies, subject to the provisions of the Statistics Act 2022. Integrated data is used to produce official statistics, to inform policy advice to government and for research purposes.
In handling data supplied by you on the enrolment application form, the government agencies are required to comply with the provisions of the Privacy Act 2020.
Data storage – data collected from tertiary education organisations is now stored in the Cloud. Student enrolment and course and qualification completion data is stored in a Microsoft datastore based in Sydney, Australia.
When required by law, SPCNM releases information to government agencies such as the New Zealand Police, Department of Justice, Ministry of Social Development, and the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC).
Information collected on the enrolment application form may be supplied to other educational organisations for the purpose of verifying academic records.
Additional Needs Register – In signing the enrolment application form you acknowledge that any relevant information relating to significant injury, long term illness, disability or other additional needs provided by you during the enrolment application process may be noted in an Additional Needs Register. Specific, necessary details may be shared with Course Lecturers and other key staff e.g., Academic Director, Academic Administrator and/or Student Support Team for the purpose of offering individual support. Your information will be removed from the Additional Needs Register at the end of your enrolment.
DOCUMENTATION
Domestic Students
To be treated as a domestic student, and so be entitled to the Government tuition subsidy, you must be:
- a citizen of New Zealand (including students from the Cook Islands, Tokelau, or Niue who have New Zealand citizenship) or
- a permanent resident of New Zealand or
- a citizen or permanent resident of Australia residing in New Zealand
If you are studying overseas full-time and face-to-face at a campus or delivery site of a New Zealand tertiary education organisation (TEO), you may also qualify as a domestic student if:
- you are a permanent resident of New Zealand or a citizen or permanent resident of Australia and
- you are studying in an approved country and
- the overseas study is Level 7 or above on the New Zealand Qualification Framework.
The 29 approved countries are in the Asia, Latin America, and Middle East regions. A full list is available on the Education New Zealand website.
You must provide evidence of citizenship or permanent residency. To do so you must produce one of the following:
- Birth certificate with place of birth stated as New Zealand, Cook Islands, Tokelau, or Niue.
- New Zealand passport.
- A certificate of identity.
- A statement of Whakapapa, including date of birth, countersigned by a kaumatua.
- A New Zealand certificate of citizenship.
- Overseas passport with residency stamp.
You can bring the original documentation to the reception desk, alternatively please provide a certified copy. This means a photocopy, photograph, or scanned copy of your original document, signed as being a true and accurate copy by a Justice of the Peace (JP), Barrister or Solicitor, Notary Public, Court Register or Deputy Registrar, Member of Parliament, Land Transport New Zealand, Public trust, or local authority employee designated for this purpose. When a learner is in a remote community and unable to access a person listed in the Oaths and Declarations Act, a member of the New Zealand Police, school principal, minister of religion, or general practitioner is acceptable.
Please note that your name, date of birth and residency as entered on the enrolment application form will be included in the National Student Index, and will be used in an Authorised Information Matching programmes with official government information such as the New Zealand Birth Register, to verify the information provided.
On occasion, more than one National Student Number is created for an individual. The Ministry regularly monitors the quality of the National Student Index and, when duplicates or errors are discovered, it works with providers and government agencies to merge duplicates and correct errors. This may require the documentation you provide at enrolment being shared between agencies authorised to access the National Student Index to make these corrections.
For further information please see: National Student Number (NSN): for schools – Education in New Zealand.
International Students
Along with providing all information and documents required during the enrolment application process, please note international applicants must meet the following requirements:
- Payment of annual course fees upfront
- Travel and Medical Insurance
- A NZ study visa or relevant visa that allows study
- Must be residing in Auckland, New Zealand
- Must study full-time and on campus
- NZQA requirements for English language proficiency must be met, even when English is your first language. We may require you to provide proof of your education in English; and/or to successfully submit IELTS test results or complete an IELTS test to show language proficiency at level 6.5 with no band score under 6.0.
- Chemistry background/qualification
International students must bring their passport with them when they initially arrive on campus.
FINANCIAL SUPPORT
Student Loans & Allowances – for eligible Domestic Students only*
SPCNM’s programmes are NZQA approved therefore students, who meet Studylink criteria, are eligible for Student Loans through Studylink. Note: students who study full-time (7 or 8 courses per year or 4 courses per semester) may be eligible for student allowances and course related costs. Part-time students may only apply for course fees and student services fees. Contact Studylink to discuss eligibility for loans and allowances or phone them on 0800 88 99 00.
Fees-free Study – for eligible Domestic Students only
There is different Fees-Free eligibility criteria for learners who started study in 2024 or earlier (who have studied for less than one year at tertiary level) and those who are planning to start tertiary study for the first time. SPCNM encourages all applicants to visit the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) Fees-Free website, to check whether you are eligible or not. If you have studied overseas, we advise you to contact TEC by phoning 0800 601 301 to discuss your eligibility status.
*NOTE: To be eligible for Fees-free, a Student Loan or Student Allowance you must be a New Zealand citizen. If not a New Zealand citizen, you must meet TEC Fees -Free and/or Studylink learner criteria.
