These Terms and Conditions form the basis of the First Responder Community. They are intended to protect the First Responder Community its stakeholders, including members, ambassadors, sponsors, donors, and volunteers. It is the responsibility of stakeholders to read and understand them.

These Terms and Conditions are effective as at the date specified above and may be amended by the First Responder Community from time to time. The current Terms and Conditions are those available at this website. The Terms and Conditions can be accessed at any time through the website.  Changes will be highlighted on the website.

In using our websites and/or if you submit a contribution to the First Responder Community’s websites, you acknowledge that you have read and understood these conditions, you agree to comply with these conditions, and you warrant that your use of these websites and your contributions fully comply with these conditions.

Websites:

FirstnetAU : www.firstnetau.org.au

FundingShed: www.fundingshed.com

National Recruitment: www.nationalrecruitment.org

Every stakeholder is bound by these Terms and Conditions.

In these Terms and Conditions unless the context otherwise requires:

Active First Responders are Full Time Employees (FTE), Part time (PTE) or Volunteer (V) individuals who, in the initial stages of an incident are responsible for the protection and preservation of life, property, evidence and the environment. First Responders include emergency response providers* as well as emergency management, public health, clinical care, public works and other authorised support personnel who provide immediate field support services during prevention, response and recovery operations.

*Emergency response providers are national, state, local government and non-governmental organisations responsible for emergency public safety and protection. This includes Military, Law Enforcement, Firefighters, Paramedics, and Rescuers, as well as emergency medical staff (including hospital based) and related personnel, agencies, and authorities.

Veteran First Responders are those who have reached retirement age, and also those who during their engagement as a First Responder have sustained physical and/or mental injuries which prevent them from continuing to contribute, in a First Responder role.

Membership – The First Responder Community offers two tiers of membership:

• Individual – Active and Veteran First Responder individuals.
• Corporate– Organisations that support First Responders through the provision of services, assistance or equipment.

Sponsorship Scheme – a working arrangement which delivers tangible business and commercial benefits to the Sponsors that provide financial and/or value-in-kind support to the operation of the organisation, projects, events, and/or activities.

Donors – corporations, organisations, businesses, individuals that donate funds to support the supply of equipment to supplement and enhance the functionality of First Responders.

Volunteers – The First Responder Community will engage volunteers to support its operation. Volunteers include:

• Ambassadors – The First Responder Community Ambassador will provide high-profile visibility for the First Responder Community and its purpose, and also champion the provision of ongoing outreach support for the First Responder Community, its functions and projects.
• Support and Assistance in the use of both the project management and fundraising tools, to ensure that projects are successfully implemented and requirements are fully met.
• Project Managers manage fundraising projects to supplement the care and equipment requirements of Active and Veteran First Responders to increase their functionality.
• General Volunteers provide their time and expertise to support ad hoc activities and events.

The First Responder Community reserves the right to make any changes to the Terms and Conditions, the Benefits offered, and the Fee Schedule.

Access to the website may sometimes be interrupted by server outage or technological problems. While the First Responder Community will make reasonable efforts to ensure continuous online availability, the First Responder Community does not take responsibility for any inconvenience or consequences arising from inability to access any part of the website.

The First Responder Community reserves the right to make any changes to any part of the website and to discontinue any page or feature without notice.

If you are accessing the website from a country other than Australia then:

• if the information on and terms of the website satisfy the laws of that country, you may access and use the website;
• if the content of the website and these conditions do not satisfy the laws of that country, then the website is not intended for your use and you are not permitted to use or make contributions to the website or to make any purchase via this website; and
• if you use the website, despite infringing paragraphs a or b above, you must indemnify the First Responder Community for any loss or damage incurred by the First Responder Community in connection with your use.

These conditions apply to any contributions you make to this website, wiki, or our blogs. These contributions include submitted photos, stories, or comments.

Contributions you make to the website may be made available on social media or other websites that can be read and used by anyone.

You are legally responsible for all contributions you make to the website and must ensure that:

• your contribution does not breach any law (including confidentiality, copyright or moral rights), does not depict extreme violence, is not pornographic, defamatory, racist, obscene, offensive, or discriminatory and is not intended to intimidate or harass another person or organisation;
• to the best of your knowledge your contribution is truthful and accurate;
• any contribution made by a child has been supervised by an adult and, where appropriate, you have obtained the consent of a parent or guardian of a child whose information has been included in your contribution;
• where your contribution uses images or material from any feature of the website that you do not alter or distort those images or material;
• material you submit does not contain links or files that contain viruses or could harm the First Responder Community’s software or technology;
• your contribution does not promote, distribute or endorse commercial products or activities or solicit business; and
• your contribution is not of nuisance value, inappropriate, irrelevant, vexatious or deliberately misleading, or false as to its origin, authorship or otherwise.

You indemnify the First Responder Community for any loss to the First Responder Community or any third person arising from your breach of these conditions, any contribution you make to the website and any negligence by you.

You should save a back-up copy of your contribution before you submit it to the website. Once it is submitted you may not be able to edit, copy, save or retrieve it in any way.

Contributions to the website may be reviewed by the First Responder Community moderator according to the conditions of use and the First Responder Community’s policies from time to time, to determine their suitability for publication or storage on the website.

All material submitted to or stored on the website may be published or stored at the First Responder Community’s sole discretion and may be edited or deleted without notice. The First Responder Community’s decisions will be final and no discussions will be entered into. The First Responder Community also reserves the right to publish all contributions online and without review, immediately after they are submitted.

The First Responder Community may notify the police or any regulatory or investigative authority at any time and without notice about any material submitted to or stored on the website.

The First Responder Community will in its absolute discretion consider requests for removal of content on the website, however the First Responder Community does not guarantee that such requests will be accepted.

Material on this website is copyright and is intended for your general use and information.

You grant the First Responder Community at no cost, a perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free and licence-fee free, worldwide, non-exclusive licence (including a right of sub-licence) to use, reproduce, copy, modify, adapt, publish, communicate and exploit, whether online or otherwise, any material that you contribute to the website, in any format or compilation, without attribution of authorship, for any purpose, at the First Responder Community’s sole discretion.

Where you contribute material in which you do not own the copyright, you guarantee that you have permission from the author to contribute and publish their material on the website, including permission for the First Responder Community to use copyright material and to permit the First Responder Community to use, reproduce, copy, modify, adapt, publish, communicate, exploit and sub-licence that material in accordance with the licence you grant the First Responder Community under these conditions.

Under the Copyright Act 1968, creators of copyright material have moral rights to be identified with their work, not to have authorship falsely attributed and not to have their work subjected to derogatory treatment. You warrant that your contribution does not, and the First Responder Community’s use of the material will not, infringe the author’s moral rights.

The First Responder Community does not own the copyright in all the material on this website. However, the First Responder Community generally owns the copyright in website content that the First Responder Community has developed, and you may use that material subject to this copyright notice.

Unless otherwise indicated (in this copyright notice or in relation to particular material on this website) you may copy, distribute, display, download, or print the material on this website for your own personal use, for non-commercial educational purposes or for non-commercial use within your organisation, provided that you attribute the First Responder Community.

All other rights are reserved by the First Responder Community. For example, you will have to obtain permission from the First Responder Community if you wish to:

• charge others for access to the material (other than at cost);
• include the material in advertising or a product for sale; or
• alter the material

unless a notice for that material provides otherwise.

Requests for permission and general queries about copyright should be directed to info@firstrespondercommunity.com.au or phone 0450 962 213.

This notice does not authorise you to copy material which is owned by someone other than the First Responder Community. Such material will usually be identified as being sourced from a third party or by its own copyright notice. If you are unsure who owns the copyright, please contact the First Responder Community on the number above.

The First Responder Community offers four tiers of membership. This is open to both individuals and organisations from the First Responder sector as well as to other individuals and organisations that support the work of First Responders.

Persons wishing to become Members must apply for Membership and pay the applicable membership fee. Membership is offered at the discretion of First Responder Community. First Responder Community has the right to accept or reject any application for Membership.

Membership is non-refundable and is not transferable.

A Member’s mailing address may be used to determine their eligibility for Benefits, promotions and other offers.

Members may, at any time, cancel their Membership by providing written notice to First Responder Community.

Members must not:

• act in any way which breaches these Terms and Conditions; or
• abuse or misuse First Responder Community, any Awards, Benefits, facilities, services or arrangements accorded to the Member as a result of Membership including by:

1. 1. engaging in illegal or fraudulent activities;
   2. supplying or attempting to supply false or misleading information, or making a misrepresentation to First Responder Community;

• selling, assigning, transferring or acquiring, or offering to sell, assign, transfer or acquire any Award, or Benefit other than in accordance with these Terms and Conditions; or

1. 1. acting in a hostile, abusive or aggressive way towards First Responder Community representatives.

Each Member is responsible for providing current Membership details and must notify the First Responder Community of any updates, omissions, incorrect entries or other discrepancies as soon practical or at annual renewal of the membership.

First Responder Community reserves the right to require proof from the Member regarding their eligibility for membership and membership status.

If a Member has committed a material breach of any of the Terms and Conditions or has failed to pay the annual membership fee by the due date, whether intentionally or otherwise, then the First Responder Community may suspend or terminate the Member’s Membership.

If the First Responder Community intends to take action under clause 8.1, it will notify the Member of its intention and the reason for that action. The Member will then have 21 days to respond to this notice and renew the membership or proceed to its cancellation.

Membership will terminate automatically on the death of a Member.

The First Responder Community regards member privacy as an important part of our relationship with our members. The following privacy policy applies to all First Responder Community users, and conforms to Internet privacy standards. If you have questions or concerns regarding this statement, you should first contact the First Responder Community.

Where your contribution to the website includes personal information about you, you consent to the publication, use and disclosure of your personal information by the First Responder Community for the website, as the case may be and in accordance with the licence you provide under these conditions.

Where your contribution to the website includes personal information about someone else, you guarantee that you have received the consent of that person or those people to the publication, use and disclosure of their personal information by the First Responder Community in accordance with the licence you provide under these conditions.

The First Responder Community will rely on your guarantee that you have received consent from all people whose personal information is included in your contribution to the website. The First Responder Community will hold you wholly responsible for authorising the First Responder Community to publish, use and disclose that information.

Any contribution, including any personal information contained within the contribution, posted to the First Responder Community’s website will be available worldwide via the internet.

(a)     Collection of Information – In order to use the First Responder Community website, we may require information from you in order to provide the best service possible. All correspondence may also be collected and stored, particularly in regard to memberships and support, including Email. Any information collected by First Responder Community is collected via correspondence from you or your company. This may be via the telephone, Email, mail, fax or directly through our website.

(b)     Use of Collection Information – Any details collected from First Responder Community members, is required in order to provide you with membership, and a high level of service. Correspondence is recorded in order to provide service references, and to assist in our staff development.

(c)     Storage of Collected Information – The security of your personal information is important to us. Membership payments are processed through PayPal and as such the First Responders Community does not collect or have access to credit card details.

(d)     Access to Collected Information – If your personally identifiable information changes, or if you no longer desire our service, you may correct, update, delete or deactivate it by emailing us at info@firstrespondercommunity.com.au

(e)     Memberships – If you purchase a membership from us, we may request certain personally identifiable information from you. You may be required to provide contact information (such as name, Email, and postal address). We use this information for billing purposes. If we have trouble processing an order, we will use this information to contact you.

(f)      Communications – The First Responder Community uses personally identifiable information for essential communications, such as Emails, accounts information, and critical service details. We may also use this information for other purposes, including some promotional Emails. If at any time a customer wishes not to receive such correspondence, they can request to be removed from any mailing lists by emailing us at info@firstrespondercommunity.com.au

First Responder Community does not share any information with third parties for any unknown or unrelated uses.

This clause 10 survives the termination of these Terms and Conditions and the termination or suspension of the First Responder Community.

The First Responder Community acknowledges that certain laws imply terms, conditions or warranties into contracts for the supply of goods or services that cannot be excluded. For example, for consumers, services come with non-excludable warranties under consumer protection legislation that they will be provided with due care and skill and be reasonably fit for their purpose. Clause 11.2 is not intended to exclude or restrict the application of such laws.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, the First Responder Community excludes all liability to any person for loss or damage of any kind (however caused, including by negligence) arising in relation to, from or relating in any way to the material on this website and/or any use of the website. Where any law imposes a guarantee in relation to these terms of use which may not lawfully be excluded, then to the maximum extent permitted by law, the First Responder Community’s liability for breach of the guarantee will be limited to the maximum extent permitted by law.

Subject to clause 11.1, the First Responder Community and any of their officers, employees or agents are not liable for any loss or claim of any kind (including, without limitation, consequential or economic loss or loss of profits), arising under or in connection with these Terms and Conditions or The First Responder Community, including, without limitation, any changes to the Terms and Conditions or The First Responder Community, save to the extent that such loss or claim arises from the negligence or wilful misconduct of The First Responder Community, or any of their officers, employees or agents.

While the First Responder Community endeavours to ensure that the website is accurate and up to date, no responsibility is accepted for errors or omissions and the First Responder Community recommends that you exercise your own skill, judgement and care with respect to its use. This statement does not apply to representations by the First Responder Community in the course of supplying goods of services, including via its online shop.

Material, opinions and views contributed by users of the website reflect the views and opinions of individual contributors or third parties and are not the First Responder Community’s views.

Links from the website to external websites are provided for convenience only and do not constitute endorsement by the First Responder Community of any material found at those sites. The First Responder Community does not take any responsibility for the operations of links to external websites or for the content, accuracy or legality of material on any external websites.

Your use of the website is governed by the laws of the Australian Capital Territory and in using the website you submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of that Territory.

Interpretation: In these Terms and Conditions, unless the contrary intention appears:

(a)     the singular includes the plural and vice versa;

(b)     dollars or ‘$’ means Australian dollars;

(c)     unless otherwise stated, all dollar amounts include any applicable GST;

(d)     dates or times are Universal Time Code (or GMT) dates or times;

(e)     a reference to ‘include’ or ‘including’ means ‘including but not limited to’.

Governing Law: The Terms and Conditions and membership in the First Responder Community are governed by and will be construed in accordance with the laws of the Australian Capital Territory, Australia irrespective of where the application for Membership has been completed by the Member or submitted to the First Responder Community. In any action or other legal process with respect to any matter or thing in connection with these Terms and Conditions or Membership the Member submits to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the Australian Capital Territory.

Nothing in these Terms and Conditions affects any rights a Member may have and which by law cannot be excluded, including under the Competition and Consumer Act (2010) and under State and Territory consumer protection legislation.

If part or all of any clause of these Terms and Conditions is illegal, invalid or unenforceable then it will be read down to the extent necessary to ensure that it is not illegal, invalid or unenforceable, but if that is not possible, it will be severed from these Terms and Conditions and the remaining provisions of these Terms and Conditions will continue to have full force and effect.

The First Responder Community recommends that Members consult their accountant or tax adviser to ensure that they understand possible tax (including fringe benefits tax) implications, if any, related to Membership and Benefits.

Business customers may be able to reclaim the Australian GST relating to their Membership. Members who require a tax invoice should contact the First Responders Community. Members should consult their tax adviser to determine their eligibility to reclaim Australian GST. For more GST information refer to the Australian Tax Office. For Australian GST purposes, where a foreign currency value of a First Responder Community and/or FundingShed transaction needs to be converted, it will be done so at a rate determined by the relevant financial institution.