Eligible Data Breach Notification

Important Information - Eligible Data Breach Notification

In June 2026, Townsville Catholic Education (TCE) discovered that a limited number of TCE staff members were auto-forwarding corporate emails to their personal email accounts, creating a risk of unauthorised data disclosure. TCE has reported this matter to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) as required by the Notifiable Data Breach Scheme.

We are unable to identify all staff or student information involved in this data breach, but we do not believe there is any malicious intent. We will endeavour to contact identified staff members, some of whom no longer work for TCE, to ensure the information has been deleted from their accounts. As part of our ongoing commitment to cybersecurity, we are reviewing our corporate email auto-forwarding protocols and strengthening technical controls to better safeguard personal and sensitive information.

The types of information in the emails included, but not limited to:

• Government identifiers – passport numbers, birth certificates, Medicare card numbers and driver’s licenses
• Sensitive information – medical reports and religious affiliations
• Personal information – home addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses.

We encourage all families to remain vigilant online and to follow cyber safety best practices, including:

• Be cautious of phishing attempts: emails, text messages or phone calls may appear legitimate. Townsville Catholic Education would never ask you to provide passwords or sensitive personal information via email.
• Avoid clicking suspicious links or attachments:  only open links or files from trusted and verified sources.
• Monitor accounts carefully: check for any unusual activity and report concerns where necessary.
• Limit sharing of personal information:  particularly if contacted unexpectedly or asked to verify details.

Townsville Catholic Education takes the security of the information you provide to us very seriously, and we sincerely apologise for any concern this breach may cause. If you have any concerns or questions, please email inforequests@tsv.catholic.edu.au or contact Townsville Catholic Education Office on (07) 4773 0900.