Terms of use

Last updated: 12 September 2024

  1. 1. Background
  2.  
    1. The Practicum Exchange Website (Website) was developed and is operated and maintained by a third-party provider on behalf of the Commonwealth of Australia represented by the Department of Education (Commonwealth).
    2. The Website facilitates introductions between:
      • Early Childhood Education and Care educators-in-training (ECEC educators) wishing to undertake an early childhood education practicum; and
      • Early Childhood Education and Care services (ECEC services) wishing to host an early childhood education practicum.
    3. The Website will allow ECEC educators and ECEC services who have registered for a user account (together, Users) to search for and be connected with other Users in relation to available early childhood education practicum opportunities.
  3. 2. Acceptance
  4.  
    1. In these terms of use (Terms of Use), 'you' or 'your' refers to the User who is accessing and using the Website. If you have registered an account as a representative of an ECEC service, you represent and warrant that the ECEC service understands and agrees to these Terms of Use.
    2. By clicking 'I accept' or accessing and using the Website, you agree to be bound by, and comply with, these Terms of Use. Please ensure that you read and understand the Terms of Use prior to clicking 'I accept' or accessing and using the Website.
    3. The Terms of Use form a legally binding agreement between you (as a registered User and, if applicable, on behalf of an ECEC service) and the Commonwealth. If you do not agree to these Terms of Use, you must not click 'I accept' or access and use the Website.
    4. You acknowledge that the Commonwealth may revise the Terms of Use from time to time and you agree to regularly review the Terms of Use for such revisions. Your continued use of the Website constitutes your agreement to be bound by, and comply with, the most up-to-date version of the Terms of Use.

3. Access

  1. The Website is available to Users interested in undertaking or hosting an early childhood education practicum.
  2. In order to access and use the Website, you must sign up for an account. You must ensure that all information (including personal information) that you provide during sign-up is complete, accurate and true. You must notify the Commonwealth if the information (including the personal information) that you provided during sign-up changes or becomes incomplete, inaccurate or untrue.
  3. When accessing and using the Website, you are responsible for your account and all usernames, passwords and other security-based information. You must not allow any other person or User to use or sign into your account and you must keep your username, password and other security-based information safe from any other person or User. If your username, password or other security-based information is lost or stolen, you must notify the Commonwealth in writing and take any reasonable steps we advise you to mitigate the adverse impact of the lost or stolen information.
  4. If you do not sign in to your account for a period of six months or longer, the Commonwealth may terminate your account. If this occurs, you will need to create a new account for any future use of the Website.
  5. We have the right to disable or terminate your accounts and/or passwords, at any time or for any reason, including if in our reasonable opinion you have failed to comply with these Terms of Use.

4. Availability

  1. The Commonwealth, or its third-party provider, will take reasonable steps to ensure that the Website is available for your use, excluding during routine maintenance times or unplanned or emergency outages. You agree that the Website is provided on an 'as is' basis and is used entirely at your own risk.
  2. Neither the Commonwealth nor its third-party provider provides any guarantees in relation to the availability or functionality of the Website and will not be liable if the Website or any part of the Website is unavailable at any time for any reason.

5. Use of the Website

  1. When accessing or using the Website, you must not:
    1. engage in any conduct which is unlawful or which encourages any other person or User to partake in unlawful conduct;
    2. engage in any conduct which infringes the rights of any other person or User;
    3. submit or upload another person's personal or confidential information without their consent;
    4. infringe the intellectual property rights of the Commonwealth or any third-party;
    5. conduct yourself in an abusive, offensive, obscene, threatening, harassing or inappropriate manner;
    6. make any defamatory, obscene or offensive remarks or representations to, or about, any other person or User;
    7. mislead or deceive the Commonwealth or any other person or User, including impersonating any other person or User;
    8. send or disseminate marketing messages or spam on the Website, or otherwise use the Website to conduct any commercial dealings (other than to pursue early childhood education practicum opportunities via this Website);
    9. submit, upload or otherwise send or transmit anything that contains software viruses, malicious computer code or other forms of interference which is designed to interrupt, harm, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or equipment;
    10. interfere with the Website or networks underlying or connected to the Website; or
    11. violate these Terms of Use or any applicable law.
  2. The Commonwealth reserves the right to moderate, edit and/or remove any content that you upload or share on the Website if it reasonably considers that that content violates clause 5.1. However, you agree that the Commonwealth is not required to moderate, verify or remove any information posted on or communicated via the Website about you or any other person or entity.
  3. You acknowledge and agree that your views and the views of other Users on the Website are yours or those of the individual User and are not the views of, or otherwise endorsed by, the Commonwealth or its third-party provider.

6. External websites

  1. The Website may provide links to external websites not controlled by the Commonwealth or its third-party provider (linked external websites). These linked external websites are provided for your convenience only. The Commonwealth and its third-party provider:
    1. are not liable for your use of, and do not have control over, linked external websites or material displayed on linked external websites;
    2. do not endorse linked external websites, including any material displayed on linked external websites or any organisation, product or service associated with linked external websites;
    3. do not make any representations in relation to the relevance, accuracy, reliability, currency or completeness of linked external websites, including any material displayed on linked external websites; and
    4. do not make any representations in relation to the ownership or licensing of any linked external websites or any material displayed on linked external websites, including whether that material can be used by you or other Users.
  2. If you choose to access a linked external website, you do so at your own risk. If accessing a linked external website, it is your sole responsibility to review and comply with any terms of use or other notices associated with that linked external website, and the Commonwealth has no responsibility for your actions when using a linked external website.

7. Intellectual property

Ownership

  1. Unless indicated otherwise, the Commonwealth owns the intellectual property rights (including copyright) in the Website and the material, content and resources displayed on the Website, other than User generated material (Commonwealth Material).
  2. Subject to the exclusions listed in clause 7.3 below, the Commonwealth grants you a licence to use the Commonwealth Material displayed on the Website in accordance with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC-BY 4.0) licence.
  3. The licence granted in clause 7.2 does not apply to:
    1. any logos, including the Commonwealth of Australia coat of arms, displayed on the Website;
    2. the design, layout or structure of the Website;
    3. any third-party material indicated on the Website; and
    4. any material protected by a trade mark.
  4. You grant the Commonwealth a perpetual, irrevocable licence to use User generated material uploaded by you to the Website, for non-commercial purposes.

8. Security

  1. The Commonwealth, or its third-party provider, will take reasonable steps to ensure the security of the Website's systems and any personal information (or sensitive information) held on the Website. The Commonwealth does not represent, warrant or guarantee that the Website will be secure, or error, defect, 'bug' or 'virus' free.
  2. You acknowledge that the internet is an inherently insecure communication medium and agree that your use of the Website is at your own cost and risk. You acknowledge and agree that you accept all risks associated with your use of the Website, including potential exposure to viruses, malicious computer code or other forms of interference which may damage your computer system.
  3. When accessing or using the Website, you must take your own precautions to protect your computer system from viruses, malicious computer code or other forms of interference which may damage your computer system. You agree that you are responsible for all data charges you incur when accessing and using the Website.

9. Privacy

  1. The Australian Government Department of Education is bound by the Privacy Act 1988 (the Act), including the Australian Principles (APPs) contained in Schedule 1 of the Act. The APPs govern the way the Department and its contracted third-party providers handle personal information.
  2. When accessing or using the Website, any personal information that may be collected will be handled in accordance with the Australian Government Department of Education's Privacy Policy.
  3. When you sign up for an account, your personal information will be collected and handled in accordance with the Website's Privacy Notice.

10. Disclaimer

  1. By accessing and using the Website, or by relying on any of the materials displayed on the Website, you assume all the risk and responsibility arising out of that use or reliance.
  2. The Website is intended to provide a space for Users to make introductions with each other. If you connect with another User and an employment or other type of relationship develops, the Commonwealth:
    1. will have no involvement in, or responsibility regarding, that relationship (including involvement in safety, financial or other matters arising in the course of that relationship); and
    2. will not be liable for any loss, cost, liability or expense (including, but not limited to, property damage or personal injury or death) arising from that relationship.
  3. The Commonwealth makes no representations or endorsements regarding the fitness or appropriateness of any particular User to undertake, or host, an early childhood education practicum.
  4. If, after conducting your own investigations and checks, you enter into an employment or other type of relationship with another User, that arrangement will be between you and the other User only. You will be responsible for reviewing and agreeing to any terms that will apply to that arrangement and how they operate or effect you.
  5. The Website and all material displayed on the Website is intended to provide general information only. The Commonwealth makes no representations or warranties in relation to the relevance, accuracy, reliability, currency or completeness of the Website or any material displayed on the Website.
  6. You are responsible for evaluating the relevance, accuracy, reliability, currency and completeness of the Website and any material displayed on the Website. You should seek professional advice regarding the relevance, accuracy, reliability, currency and completeness of the Website or the material displayed on the Website, where necessary or appropriate.
  7. You acknowledge that by submitting or uploading information, including personal and confidential information, to the Website it will be accessible by other Users, and the Commonwealth is unable to control how other Users make use of that information outside of the Website.

11. Indemnity and release

  1. You indemnify, and continue to indemnify, the Commonwealth and its third-party provider against any and all:
    1. costs, losses, liabilities and expenses suffered or incurred by the Commonwealth or its third-party provider; and

    2. costs, losses, liability and expenses suffered or incurred by the Commonwealth or its third-party provider in dealing with any claim against the Commonwealth or its third-party provider, including legal costs and expenses on solicitor/own client basis and the cost of time spent, resources used or disbursements paid by the Commonwealth or its third-party provider;

      arising from:

    3. any act or omission by you in connection with your use the Website, including your submission, posting or transmission of any material and content through the Website;
    4. any act or omission by you when dealing with another User in any way, including in undertaking, or hosting, an early childhood education practicum arising from your use of the Website;
    5. any third-party claims relating to, or in any way connected with, your use of the Website or any future personal or professional relationship that you may enter into arising from your use of the Website;
    6. your infringement of intellectual property rights in any content on this Website;
    7. any breach by you of your obligations or warranties under these Terms of Use or at law.
  2. You release the Commonwealth and its third-party provider from all claims, actions, demands and proceedings which you may have, or claim to have, or but for this release might have had, against the Commonwealth arising from or in any way connected to:
    1. your use of the Website;
    2. your involvement in undertaking, or hosting, an early childhood education practicum arising from your use of the Website; and
    3. any future personal or professional relationship between you and another User arising from your use of the Website.
  3. You acknowledge that the Commonwealth, nor any other person, will have any liability to you for any reason whatsoever arising from the suspension or termination of your account and/or removal of your access to the Website.

12. Compliance with laws

  1. When using the Website, you must comply with all applicable laws in force from time to time in Australia, whether made by the Commonwealth, a State or Territory, or a local government.

13. General

Regulatory responsibilities

  1. You:
    1. acknowledge that the Commonwealth has portfolio responsibilities in relation to the early childhood education and care sector, including responsibility for administering the family assistance law; and
    2. agree that these Terms of Use do not fetter or otherwise derogate from any rights or powers that the Commonwealth may have to perform any such responsibilities.
  2. A failure or delay by the Commonwealth to exercise any right or remedy it has under these Terms of Use does not operate as a waiver of that right or remedy, either in whole or in part.
  3. A single or partial exercise of any right or remedy by the Commonwealth does not prevent the Commonwealth from exercising the right or remedy again or to the extent it has not fully exercised that right or remedy.
  4. The rights and remedies provided under any provision of these Terms of Use are cumulative and not exclusive of any rights or remedies provided under any other provision of these Terms of Use or by applicable law.
  5. Neither these Terms of Use nor your use of the Website creates a relationship of employment, agency or partnership between you and the Commonwealth. You must not represent yourself as being an officer, partner, agent or affiliate of the Commonwealth, or as otherwise being able to bind or represent the Commonwealth.
  6. If any of these Terms of Use, or any part of a Term of Use, are illegal, invalid, unenforceable or void, that Term of Use, or part of the Term of Use, will be severed from these Terms of Use and the remaining Terms of Use will continue in force.
  7. These Terms of Use are governed by the laws of the Australian Capital Territory, and you irrevocably and unconditionally submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the Australian Capital Territory.

Please contact us at pracsupport@education.gov.au if you have any questions or feedback in relation to the Website or these Terms of Use.