Our Terms and Conditions

1. CareVicinity

CareVicinity is a platform for care workers and careseekers or consumers to find and match with each other anywhere in Australia.

CareVicinity provides the tools for care workers and consumers to negotiate and directly contract with each other in order to carry out the agreed services required by the consumer. We are not a party to any contracts that may be entered into between the Users of the Platform.

We will:

• Facilitate the provision of information and communication between Users.
• Provide an invoicing and online payment system to Users.
• Provide insurance for transactions that are completed through CareVicinity as set out in clause 10.
• Manage Users in accordance with clause 3 of these Terms of Use.

You will:

• Use the Platform in accordance with clause 4 of these Terms of Use.
• Negotiate and contract with other Users in accordance with clause 6 of these Terms of Use.
• Use the CareVicinity invoicing and online payment system for all transactions completed through the Platform.
• Comply with the CareVicinity policies in respect of care services provided or received.

Other than the contractual relationship created by these Terms of Use, you acknowledge and agree that there is no relationship or affiliation between you and us that arises from your use of CareVicinity, including but not limited to any type of employment, agency, contractor or joint venture relationship. You must not represent or promote that you have any relationship with us.

We do not employ or contract any care or support workers. We are not an employment agency or labour hire company. We do not provide any care or support services.

To the extent permitted by law, we are not liable to you for any loss or damage caused by or resulting from the use of the Platform. Our liability to you is limited under clause 11 of these Terms of Use.

2. Acceptance of Terms

These Terms of Use constitute a binding contract between you and us. By using CareVicinity, you agree to be bound by these Terms of Use.

We may change, update or vary these Terms of Use at any time by publishing the amended Terms of Use on the CareVicinity Platform, but we will not make changes with retrospective effect. The amended Terms of Use will be accepted by you when you acknowledge the amendments or by continuing to use the CareVicinity Platform, whichever is earlier. If you do not agree with the amended Terms of Use, then you must immediately stop using the CareVicinity Platform.

You acknowledge and agree that CareVicinity is not responsible for hyperlinks to third party websites or the availability of any such websites and that CareVicinity does not endorse or warrant, and is not responsible or liable for, any such website or the content thereon. You are solely responsible for making your own decisions regarding your interactions or communications with any other website.

You acknowledge and agree that these Terms of Use do not provide any third party with any claim, remedy, liability, reimbursement, cause of action or any other right under these Terms of Use. Unless expressly stated otherwise, there are no third party beneficiaries of these Terms of Use.

These Terms of Use were last updated on 18/12/2024.

3. Users

3.1 Registration of Account

Before you can use CareVicinity, you must request to register an account with us and provide us with any further information or documentation required to complete the Verification Process. There is no fee to register an account. We have the right to accept or reject any account registration request in our absolute discretion at any time.

3.2 Eligibility

By registering to use the Platform, you represent and warrant that:

• If you are an individual, you are at least 18 years old;
• If you are a company, organisation, trust or other entity, you have the power to enter into and perform your obligations under these Terms of Use and any Service Contract entered into using the Platform;
• If you are registering an account on behalf of a third party, you have the authority to act for and bind that third party to these Terms of Use;
• You have the capacity, authority and/or right to agree to these Terms of Use;
• All information provided to us in connection with your account is true and correct in all material respects and does not omit any information, and you will notify us as soon as practicable if any information changes;
• You hold or will hold all necessary authorisations, approvals, consents and licences to perform your obligations under any Service Contract or Service Category;
• You do not have another account on the Platform, or have not requested to register another account on the Platform, that is the same account type as the one that you are registering for; and
• If you make statements on the Platform, we may verify them by, for example, making inquiries into your compliance with eligibility requirements or verifying your ID.

3.3 Verification Process

• You agree to provide us with the information and/or documentation required for your account type in the Document Management section of the Platform before your account is verified. All personal information you provide to us will be dealt with in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
• You consent to and authorise us to conduct checks of the information and/or documentation provided to us in accordance with the Privacy Policy and these Terms of Use.
• We will review the documentation you provide and verify your account if the information and documents are current and meet the requirements of the Platform.
• We have the right to independently verify any information or documents provided to us, however we are not obliged to do so.
• We are not liable for any loss or damage caused by the Verification Process, except to the extent that the loss or damage occurs due to the wilful misconduct or fraudulent act or omission of CareVicinity.

3.4 Active Account

When your account has been verified:

• your profile will be publicly listed on the Platform and will be able to be viewed by other Users;
• you will be able to provide information and communicate with other Users to request or provide care services (depending on your account type); and
• where applicable, other Users will be able to provide information and communicate with you.

The verification of an account is not a warranty or representation by us that a particular User is authorised or qualified to provide the services listed on their profile or is otherwise entitled to receive the services. You are solely responsible for verifying information provided to you by another User.

3.5 Account Security

• You are responsible for the use of your CareVicinity account and all activities that occur on the Platform with your account (except where caused by our wilful misconduct or fraudulent act or omission).
• You are responsible for ensuring your CareVicinity account username, password, email and any other credentials are kept private and confidential.
• You agree that you will not transfer or share your CareVicinity account with any other person or entity.
• You must notify us immediately of any unauthorised use of your account.
• We may, but are not obligated to, suspend or terminate your account if you breach this clause or if unauthorised use occurs.

3.6 Suspension or termination of account

We may suspend or terminate your account by providing you with notice:

• If you engage in conduct that breaches or contravenes these Terms of Use, any of our policies, or any other code of conduct or laws that apply to you;
• If you obtain a user review rating lower than the Minimum Rating as set out in clause 5.3;
• If you are convicted of a serious criminal offence or any offence which we reasonably consider to be relevant to you no longer providing or receiving care services;
• If a document that you have provided to us expires without a replacement or current document being provided by you; or
• If you fail to make payment to CareVicinity of an invoice when due.

We will endeavour to provide you with reasonable notice of any such suspension or termination, but you acknowledge and agree that in some circumstances it may be appropriate to give no advance notice where the circumstances are serious. If we suspend your service, we will reactivate it as soon as reasonably practicable after the underlying issue has been resolved (if at all).

To the extent permitted by law, if your account is suspended and/or terminated, you agree that we are not liable to you or any other party including but not limited to any damage arising out of you no longer being able to use the Platform.

The suspension or termination of your account does not change your obligations to pay the Platform Fees or any invoices payable to other Users.

4. Intellectual Property

4.1 CareVicinity IP

We hold all right, interest and title in the CareVicinity Platform including but not limited to the CareVicinity name, the logo, the product and service names associated with the Platform, trade marks, software, code, intellectual property rights, systems, and website content (not including content created by a User) (CareVicinity IP), including any modifications to the CareVicinity IP. You acknowledge and agree that these Terms of Use do not convey any rights, transfer of ownership or licence in the CareVicinity IP, including any modifications to the CareVicinity IP.

4.2 Prohibition on Use

You must not use, distribute, transmit, store, publish, reproduce, copy, sell, offer for sale, or otherwise deal with the CareVicinity IP without our prior written consent which may be withheld in our absolute discretion.

5. Use of Platform

5.1 Content and Communications

• You are solely responsible for all content and communications that you make available on CareVicinity or that is transmitted to another User.
• You must make your own enquiries in relation to any representations made or documents provided by another User.
• You must own all rights, title and interest including any copyright or intellectual property rights in respect of any content that you create or publish on CareVicinity. You consent to your content being used, distributed, and reproduced by us to facilitate use of the Platform by the Users in accordance with the Privacy Policy.
• You irrevocably grant us (and our successors and assigns) a non-exclusive licence to distribute, store, publish, reproduce, and otherwise use your content and intellectual property made available on the Platform for any purpose on a worldwide, fully paid, royalty-free basis. You warrant that you have the right, interest and/or title to grant the licence on the terms set out in this clause.

5.2 Prohibited Activities

You must not post, upload, or publish on the Platform or communicate to any other User in a way that:

• Is unlawful, abusive, discriminatory, defamatory, derogatory, obscene, insulting, inappropriate, explicit, intimidating, or offensive.
• Is false and misleading, or is likely to mislead or create a false impression, contains misleading statements or representations, or omits any material information.
• Breaches or infringes a third party's registered trade mark, copyright or other intellectual property rights.
• Contains confidential information or personal information about a person that is without the prior consent of the affected party and/or in breach of any law or contractual obligation.
• Is or contains any malicious or invalid code, virus, Trojan, worm, data mining, web scraping, or any file or program designed to disable, destroy, limit, interrupt, interfere with or infiltrate CareVicinity, the Platform's operation, any User, an internet service provider, or any other computer software or hardware.
• Relates to goods or services that are unrelated to care and support work and/or that are not within the categories permitted to be advertised or promoted by that User's account type.
• Includes another Users account details or direction to access another Users account without their consent.
• Is contrary to any of our policies.

5.3 User Reviews

By using the Platform, you acknowledge and agree that:

• other Users may provide feedback, reviews, quality ratings and other review metrics about you which may be publicly available on your profile; and
• you may provide feedback, reviews, and ratings of other Users provided that they are not false, misleading or deceptive and are otherwise in accordance with these Terms of Use.

To continue using the Platform, you must obtain a minimum rating of three stars at any given time (Minimum Rating). Where you do not maintain the Minimum Rating, we may decide to investigate you, and if satisfied that you have failed to perform as required, remove you from the Platform.

5.4 Content Removal

We may remove or modify content that breaches these Terms of Use or otherwise at our reasonable discretion.

6. Service Agreement

6.1 Parties to Service Agreement

CareVicinity is not a party to the Service Agreement. The parties to the Service Agreement are the careseeker and the care worker. We are not involved in the negotiation or provision of the care services to the consumer.

6.2 Process to enter into Service Agreement

The Platform provides the following framework for Users to negotiate and contract with each other:

• A careseeker may post a job listing outlining the services required by the consumer. The care worker can submit an offer outlining the rates and the scope of the agreed services that they are able to provide. The careseeker considers the offer(s) received and negotiates any changes to the terms with the care worker.
• A care worker may post a job listing outlining the services it can provide to a consumer. The consumer can submit a request for the care worker to provide its services. The care worker considers the request received and negotiates any changes to the terms with the careseeker.
• If both the careseeker and the care worker reach an agreement on the terms of service, the Service Agreement is entered into. If agreement cannot be reached, then the communications between the Users cease.

6.3 Terms of Service Agreement

The Service Agreement may contain any terms agreed between the careseeker and the care worker, however the following minimum terms must be reflected in the Service Agreement for transactions completed through the Platform:

• The care worker must submit a case note through the Platform to confirm the work completed following the shift or each shift (as the case may be).
• The parties agree that a Tax Invoice may be issued to the careseeker every 7 days (for ongoing care) or upon the completion of the agreed scope of work (for one-off services).
• The parties agree that the CareVicinity invoicing and online payment system is to be used for all transactions and authorise CareVicinity to collect payment from the careseeker or its nominated third party payer.
• The rate agreed by the parties must be sufficient to ensure that the care worker is remunerated in accordance with all applicable minimum wage and similar labour laws.

6.4 Incident management

The Platform includes the ability for Users to report incidents following a shift being completed, in order to assist NDIS and registered aged care providers comply with statutory requirements and ensure best practice governance of the standards. CareVicinity is not a registered provider of NDIS or aged care services, and is not obligated to investigate or respond to any reportable incidents.

7. Invoicing and Payments

7.1 Tax Invoices

• You agree that CareVicinity may generate Tax Invoices on behalf of care workers in respect of services provided to careseekers.
• You agree that Tax Invoices may be issued to the careseeker, or the careseeker's relevant funding body, every 7 days (for ongoing care) or upon the completion of the agreed scope of work (for one-off services). This will only be issued where the shifts are submitted within that time frame. Shifts must be submitted within 30 days after the shift is completed. Payment will not be made where shifts are incomplete.
• You must pay CareVicinity for any Tax Invoices issued to you within 7 days of the date of the invoice.

7.2 Payment

Payments will be made directly to care workers for services provided in accordance with the shifts they submit. You must ensure that you have sufficient funds in your account to pay the invoice by the due date. You are liable for any fees charged by the bank or financial institution including but not limited to insufficient fund fees, transaction fees, overdraft fees or interest which may be charged to you as a result of paying invoices to CareVicinity.

7.3 Direct Debit

To pay your invoices by direct debit, you must sign a direct debit form with your bank. Please contact us and we can assist you in setting this up.

7.4 Platform Fee

You agree to pay the Platform Fee to us for all transactions completed through the Platform. Fees are taken from the total amount payable by the client to the care worker prior to payment to the care worker.

7.5 Accuracy of Payment Details

You are solely responsible for the accuracy of the bank account, credit card, or other payment details provided to CareVicinity. If your payment details change, you must immediately provide us with your new payment details through the Platform. We are not liable for any errors in fund deposits or withdrawals due to you providing incorrect or inaccurate payment details.

7.6 Accuracy of GST Details

• To facilitate the generation and issue of Tax Invoices in compliance with the GST Act, care workers are responsible for ensuring that any information they provide to CareVicinity in respect of GST is accurate, including but not limited to: (i) whether the care worker is registered or required to register for GST; and (ii) the GST treatment of any Supply made to careseekers.
• If any information provided by a care worker to CareVicinity in respect of GST ceases to be accurate, the care worker must provide updated information to CareVicinity promptly.
• CareVicinity is not liable for any tax defaults or other costs that arise due to care workers providing inaccurate information in respect of GST, or failing to provide updated information where information previously provided ceases to be accurate.

7.7 Third party services

We may use third party payment processing services now or in future to store and/or process payment for services provided through CareVicinity. You consent to these services being used and irrevocably agree to release us from any claims or damages relating to the use of these payment processing services and associated transfers including but not limited to any damage that may result from the release of information to any third parties. Any use of a third party service will be governed by the relevant third party licence or agreement.

8. GST

8.1 Definitions

Any terms capitalised in clause 8 and not already defined in clause 15 have the same meaning given to those terms in the GST Act.

8.2 GST exclusive

Except under clause 8, the consideration for a Supply made under or in connection with this document does not include GST.

8.3 Taxable Supply

If a Supply made under or in connection with this document is a Taxable Supply, then at or before the time any part of the consideration for the Supply is payable:

• the Recipient must pay the Supplier an amount equal to the total GST for the Supply, in addition to and in the same manner as the consideration otherwise payable under this document for that Supply; and
• the Supplier must give the Recipient a Tax Invoice for the Supply.

8.4 Later GST change

For clarity, the GST payable under clause 8.3 is correspondingly increased or decreased by any subsequent adjustment to the amount of GST for the Supply for which the Supplier is liable, however caused.

8.5 Reimbursement or indemnity

If either party has the right under this document to be reimbursed or indemnified by another party for a cost incurred in connection with this document, that reimbursement or indemnity excludes any GST component of that cost for which an Input Tax Credit may be claimed by the party being reimbursed or indemnified, or by its Representative Member, Joint Venture Operator or other similar person entitled to the Input Tax Credit (if any).

8.6 Warranty that Tax Invoice is issued regarding a Taxable Supply

Where a Tax Invoice is given by the Supplier, the Supplier warrants that the Supply to which the Tax Invoice relates is a Taxable Supply and that it will remit the GST (as stated on the Tax Invoice) to the Australian Taxation Office.

8.7 Progressive or Periodic Supplies

Where a Supply made under or in connection with this document is a Progressive or Periodic Supply, clause 8.3 applies to each component of the Progressive or Periodic Supply as if it were a separate Supply.

9. Avoidance of Platform Fees

• You must only book and receive payment for CareVicinity Care Services through the Platform.
• You must not directly invoice another User for care services provided through the Platform.
• You must not directly pay another User or accept payment from another User for care services provided through the Platform, other than in accordance with these Terms of Use.
• You must not knowingly access or use the Platform for the purpose of recruitment to provide or receive Care Services or for the development of competing business outside of the Platform.
• You are strictly prohibited from avoiding or attempting to avoid payment of fees payable to us or in connection with use of CareVicinity. You must not divert funds or encourage or request other Users to avoid completing payment through the Platform.

In the event that you breach this clause, we may be entitled to the following remedies:

• suspension or termination of your account under clause 3.6;
• the amount that would have been payable to us for the services provided if these Terms of Use had not been breached,
• other remedies that may be available to us under this agreement or by law.

whichever is higher, as a liquidated debt that is immediately due and owing.

You should immediately notify us if another User requests or encourages you to make payment outside of the Platform.

10. Insurance

You must read and understand any obligations under any insurance coverage you or CareVicinity obtain on your behalf in relation to the Care Service. Where the coverage is not acceptable, you must seek additional coverage to suit your Care Service needs.

CareVicinity provides public liability insurance and group personal accident insurance (together, Facilitated Insurance) available for transactions that are completed through the Platform.

Each Care Service will be covered by Facilitated Insurance where:

• there is a Service Agreement approved by both parties (client (or someone acting on behalf of the client) and support worker);
• CareVicinity approves you to provide that Care Service;
• shifts are approved and submitted for that Care Service; and
• you have met all other eligibility criteria under these Terms of Use or otherwise provided by CareVicinity.

The Facilitated Insurance CareVicinity provides does not cover care and support workers that are not paid through the Platform.

The worker will be liable for the policy excess in the event of an insurance claim.

11. Limitation of Liability

Neither party is liable for any consequential loss, however arising (whether in contract, statute, tort (including negligence) or otherwise), suffered by the other party in connection with this agreement.

To the extent permitted by law, CareVicinity does not make any warranties or representations of any kind (whether express or implied, or written or oral) to you or any third party with respect to any services provided under this agreement and any implied warranty of merchantability, accuracy, non infringement, fitness for a particular purpose, or any warranties of uninterrupted or error-free performance are expressly excluded and disclaimed.

Subject to clauses 11.1 and 11.5(b), the total liability of each party for any loss or damage suffered or incurred by the other party in connection with this agreement at any point in time is limited to the sum of platform fees paid or payable under this agreement as at that point in time.

Each party's liability to the other is reduced to the extent the liability arises from the other party's wilful misconduct, breach of contract, negligence or unlawful act or omission.

Clause 11.3 does not apply in relation to a party's liability in relation to:

• the personal injury to or death of any person, or damage to or loss of any tangible property; or
• any breach of confidential information, to the extent caused or contributed to by that party.

Nothing in this agreement is intended to limit any rights under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth). If the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) or any other legislation provides that there is a guarantee in relation to any good or service supplied by CareVicinity in connection with this agreement and the CareVicinity's liability for failing to comply with that guarantee cannot be excluded but may be limited, then clauses 11.1, -11.2 and 11.3 do not apply to that liability and instead the CareVicinity's liability for such failure is limited to (at the CareVicinity's election) in the case of a supply of services, CareVicinity supplying the services again or paying the cost of having the services supplied again.

12. Dispute Resolution

If there is a dispute in relation to services provided through the Platform, you must resolve them directly with the other User. We do not participate in any disputes between Users.

Any disputes that you have relating to these Terms of Use or the CareVicinity Platform should be resolved as follows:

• In the first instance, any concern that you have should be raised by contacting us by phone or email. In the event your concern is resolved at this juncture, it will be confirmed with you in writing.
• In the event your concern is not resolved within 10 business days, then the following formal dispute resolution process will apply:
  • Either party may give a notice to the other party identifying only those matters relevant to the dispute or claim that arises out of or in connection to these Terms of Use and has not been resolved.
  • The parties will use reasonable endeavours to meet by phone or online by audio-visual link (for example, by Microsoft Teams or Zoom) within 20 business days of the date the notice is given to try to resolve the dispute in a timely way.
  • If the parties cannot reach an agreement under subclause (ii), the parties may appoint a mutually agreed mediator (or failing agreement, a mediator appointed by the President of the Queensland Law Society) to mediate the dispute. The parties must attend the mediation and participate in good faith, using all reasonable endeavours to resolve the dispute within 30 business days after the appointment of the mediator (or such longer period as agreed by the parties).
  • If the dispute is not resolved under subclause (iii), then either party may seek to resolve the dispute in a court or tribunal of competent jurisdiction.
• This clause does not prevent a party commencing court proceedings for urgent declaratory or injunctive relief.
• This clause does not prevent us from commencing proceedings in respect of the enforcement of these Terms of Use including but not limited to any breach of the avoidance provisions.

You agree that we may recover all reasonable costs and expenses incurred by us in the enforcement of these Terms of Use or otherwise arising out of any breach of these Terms of Use on an indemnity basis.

13. Communications

13.1 Electronic communications

You consent to us communicating with you electronically. This consent will apply to all communications, notices, disclosure or other documents that we may need to provide to you under these Terms of Use or by law.

13.2 Notices to you

We may provide you with communications by the email you provide to us, by posting a notice on the Platform, and/or by any other method of electronic communication. You must regularly check electronic communications. You may change your nominated email address by notifying us by phone or in writing.

13.3 Notices to us

You must provide us with any notice required under these Terms of Use in writing to hello@carevicinity.com.au, unless otherwise required to do so by law.

14. General Terms

14.1 Headings

Headings are inserted for guidance only and do not affect the interpretation of these Terms of Use.

14.2 Severability

If anything in these Terms of Use are unenforceable, illegal or void then it is severed and the rest of the provisions remain in force.

14.3 No merger

The rights and obligations in respect of agreements, indemnities, covenants and warranties contained in these Terms of Use are:

• continuing agreements, covenants, indemnities and warranties; and
• not merged or extinguished by the partial performance by a party of their obligations, or by the suspension or termination of these Terms of Use, and will remain in full force and effect until the obligations are discharged in full.

14.4 Waiver

A right in favour of us, a breach of an obligation by you, or a default of these Terms of Use can only be waived in writing by us. No other act, omission or delay by us will constitute a waiver. Any failure to exercise or delay in exercising any right by us under these Terms of Use does not operate as a waiver of that right. A single or partial exercise or waiver by us will not prevent us from any other exercise of that right or any other right.

14.5 Subcontracts

You may subcontract your obligations under these Terms of Use with our prior written consent. You will be responsible for all acts and omissions of your subcontractors and subcontractor Personnel, as if those acts and omissions were your acts and omissions.

14.6 Assignment

Subject to clause 14.5, you must not assign, novate, transfer or otherwise deal with your rights or obligations under these Terms of Use. We may transfer our rights and obligations under these terms to another organisation with notice to you where we reasonably consider that assignment does not have a material detrimental impact on you.

14.7 Governing law and jurisdiction

The law of Queensland governs these Terms of Use. The parties submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Queensland and Australia.

14.8 Entire agreement

These Terms of Use are the entire agreement and understanding between the parties on everything connected with that subject matter. These Terms of Use supersede any prior agreement or understanding on anything connected with that subject matter.

15. Defined Terms

In these Terms of Use:

• CareVicinity, Platform or CareVicinity Platform means the CareVicinity website at https://carevicinity.com.au, any subpages or subdomains, our software and infrastructure, all desktop and mobile apps, all services and products provided by us, and any third party or affiliated platforms integrated into our system.
• Facilitated Insurance means the public liability insurance and group personal accident insurance provided by CareVicinity in accordance with clause 10.
• GST Act means A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 (Cth).
• Platform Fees means the fee charged by CareVicinity at the rate published on the Platform from time to time.
• Progressive or Periodic Supply means a Taxable Supply that satisfies the requirements of section 156-5 GST Act.
• Service Contract means an agreement between a care worker and consumer to carry out the agreed services that was entered into using the CareVicinity Platform.
• Supplier means the entity making a supply under the GST Act.
• Supply has the same meaning as under the GST Act.
• Tax Invoice has the same meaning as under the GST Act.
• Terms of Use means this agreement between you and CareVicinity as amended or varied from time to time in accordance with its terms.
• Verification Process means the process to verify an account as set out in clause 3.3.
• We, us or our means Home Care Academy Pty Ltd ACN 656 800 690 trading as CareVicinity and includes our related bodies corporate (as that term is defined in the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth)), our successors, permitted substitutes or assigns.
• You, your or User means the individual or organisation that registers an account to use CareVicinity, coordinators using CareVicinity on behalf of their clients, organisation's employees logging in under a parent account and client representatives.