Privacy Policy

Driving School Near Melbourne (DSNM) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal information. This Privacy Policy explains what we collect, how we use it, who we share it with, and the rights you have over your data under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs).

By using our website, submitting any form, or booking a driving lesson with us, you agree to the terms set out below.

We collect the minimum personal information needed to deliver your driving lessons, process your bookings, and improve our service. Specifically:

Information you give us directly — your first name, last name, age, street address, suburb, postcode, mobile number, email address, preferred lesson date, time and duration, payment details (handled by our secure payment processors — we never store full card numbers), and any message or special request you include with your booking.

Information we collect automatically — when you visit drivingschoolnearmelbourne.com.au, we may collect your IP address, browser type, device type, the pages you visit, the time spent on each page, and the referring website. This is collected through cookies and standard web analytics (typically Google Analytics).

Information from third parties — if you book through a partner platform, leave a Google review, or apply for an overseas licence conversion, we may receive limited information from those services to complete your booking.

Our website uses cookies — small text files stored on your device — to make the site work properly, remember your preferences, and help us understand how visitors use the site. We use both essential cookies (required for booking forms to work) and analytics cookies (to measure visits and improve content).

You can refuse cookies through your browser settings. If you do, some parts of our site (like the lesson booking form) may not function as expected. We do not use cookies to identify you personally beyond what you submit yourself.

We do not sell your personal information. Ever. We only share it where it is needed to deliver our service or where required by law:

Our driving instructors — your name, suburb, phone number, lesson date and lesson time are shared with the assigned DSNM instructor so they can pick you up on time.

VicRoads — when you book a drive test through DSNM, your name, date of birth and licence number are submitted to VicRoads to confirm your booking.

Payment processors — we use trusted, PCI-compliant Australian payment gateways to process card payments and PayID transfers. They handle the payment data; we only see a confirmation of the transaction.

Service providers — our website hosting provider, email delivery service (used for booking confirmations), and SMS reminder service may temporarily process your details as needed to send you those messages.

When required by law — we will disclose information if compelled by a court order, by the Victoria Police, by a tribunal, or by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).

We take reasonable steps to keep your information secure. This includes encrypted website connections (HTTPS), password-protected administrator access, restricted instructor access to lesson rosters only, and secure storage of payment records. Our website and database are hosted with reputable Australian and international providers that meet industry-standard security practices.

That said, no system is ever 100% secure. If we ever became aware of a data breach that posed a real risk of serious harm to you, we would notify you and the OAIC in line with the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme.

We keep your information only for as long as we genuinely need it:

– Booking and lesson records — kept for up to 7 years for tax, accounting, and insurance purposes (as required by Australian law).
– Payment records — kept for 7 years as required by the Australian Taxation Office.
– Marketing list (if you opted in) — kept until you unsubscribe or ask us to delete your details.
– Website analytics — kept for up to 26 months in Google Analytics, then auto-deleted.
– Incident or insurance reports — kept for the period required by our insurer and VicRoads.

Once the retention period ends, we securely delete or de-identify your information.

Under Australian privacy law, you have the right to:

Access — request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
Correct — ask us to update or correct anything that is inaccurate or out of date.
Withdraw consent — opt out of marketing emails or SMS at any time using the unsubscribe link, or by replying STOP to any SMS.
Delete — ask us to delete your personal information, subject to our legal obligation to retain certain records (like payment receipts).
Complain — raise a concern about how we have handled your information.

To exercise any of these rights, email us at dsnmdriving@gmail.com or call 0411 626 216. We will respond within 30 days.

If you are unhappy with our response, you can lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at oaic.gov.au.

Our driving lessons are open to learner drivers aged 16 and over (the minimum age for a VicRoads Learner Permit). When booking a lesson for a person under 18, we may need a parent or supervising adult to confirm the booking and consent to the collection of the learner's information. We handle young learners' details with the same care as any other customer and never use them for marketing without explicit consent from a parent or guardian.

Our website may link to external sites such as VicRoads, Google Maps, payment gateways, and review platforms. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of those sites. Please review their own privacy policies before sharing your information with them.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in the law, our service, or our website. When we make significant changes, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. Continued use of our website or services after a change means you accept the updated policy. We recommend you review this page periodically.