Published 19 January 2024

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1. The Summer Foundation (ABN 90 117 719 516) (trading as “The Housing Hub”) (referred to as “Housing Hub”, “we” or “us”) operates an online platform, accessible at www.housinghub.org.au or any future platforms we introduce (collectively referred to as the "Platform"), that enables individuals and organisations offering accessible properties for sale or lease, offering housing related services, or tenants seeking a co-tenant for such properties (referred to as "Providers" or "you"), to make those properties and services known to individuals who are looking for accessible housing (referred to as "Housing Seekers").

1.2. Before registering as a Provider, please review these terms, together with our current subscription plan pricing and features, and our Privacy Policy (collectively referred to as the "Agreement").

1.3. Submitting an application to become a Provider signifies your acceptance of and intention to be bound by this Agreement, subject to our acceptance of your application (which we are under no obligation to do).

2. SCOPE OF HOUSING HUB SERVICE

2.1 Housing Hub solely provides the Platform. While the Platform assists Housing Seekers to identify potentially suitable properties and services, we are not responsible or liable for any aspect of the interaction between Housing Seekers and Providers. This includes, but is not limited to, the accuracy of goods and services descriptions, the performance or delivery of services, and your compliance with applicable laws and regulations in relation to the performance or delivery of services.

3. PROVIDER REGISTRATION

3.1. You can apply to register as a Provider in the name of an organisation or as an individual. Individuals must be over 18 years of age. 

3.2. When you apply to register as a Provider, you are also applying to create a Provider Account (“Account”) in the same name. 

3.3. Your Account is managed through our Provider Portal (“Portal”) and gives you access to the services provided by the Platform (“Platform Services”), subject to the additional requirements of clause 4. Your Account must have one administrator and, depending on the level of subscription you choose, you may have up to three additional users who can create and edit Property Listings.

3.4. At our absolute and reasonable discretion, we may refuse to allow any Provider to register or create an Account on the Platform, or cancel or suspend any existing Account. If we do so, we are not obliged to provide any reasons for the exercise of our discretion under this clause, although we will generally do so. 

4. SERVICE DESCRIPTION

4.1. Access to the Platform is provided on a subscription basis.  In addition to registering as a Provider and holding an active Account, you must select a  subscription plan (“Plan”) and provide any information we may reasonably require before you are able to access any of the Platform Services.

4.2. The Plan that you choose determines the Platform Services that you can access. The Platform Services that can be accessed within each Plan, and the fees that must be paid, are outlined in our current subscription plan pricing and features, which additional terms for part of this Agreement.   

4.3. You may choose a monthly or annual initial term when selecting your Plan. Upon expiry of the initial term, your Plan will automatically renew for the same period as the initial term, unless you have selected a new Plan or notified us of your intention to terminate this Agreement in accordance with clause 19.

4.4. At our discretion, we may offer discounted fees for longer terms and/or free trial periods for some or all Plans, subject to any additional conditions we may choose to apply at the time. If you have been granted a free trial period and change to a different Plan, you will not be granted another free trial period on the new Plan.

4.5. If you have an active Account and a current Plan, you may offer accessible properties for sale or lease by creating and publishing an accurate and complete description of the property that complies with the requirements of these terms (a “Property Listing”). The number of Property Listings that you may publish at any time is determined by your Plan. A Property Listing is only counted towards the entitlements of your Plan while it is a published Property Listing.

4.6. If you have an active Account, depending on the Plan you have selected, you may be entitled to have your details listed (“Provider Listing”) in our directory of Providers (“Provider Directory”), which allows Housing Seekers to search for and identify Providers of housing or related services. We may, at our absolute discretion, restrict the types of services that may be offered in a Provider Listing.

4.7. If you are eligible for a Provider Listing, you may edit your Provider Listing in the Portal, subject to any restrictions we impose regarding services that may be listed.

4.8. You and Housing Seekers may communicate privately with each other regarding a Property Listing or Provider Listing by using messaging functionality that we make available within the Platform, or using the contact details provided by each party.

4.9. Following such communication, you and a Housing Seeker may enter into a tenancy agreement, sale agreement or service agreement, as appropriate to the type of Property Listing or Provider Listing. You are responsible for ensuring that any agreement you enter into with a Housing Seeker complies with all relevant laws and the terms depicted in your Property Listing or Provider Listing.

4.10. Your administrator can select, change or cancel your Plan within the Portal, other than to request cancellation of a free Plan, which represents a termination of this Agreement and must be notified in accordance with clause 19. 

4.11. If you have a current Plan and request to change to a new Plan, the new Plan and associated changes will take effect upon expiry of the term of the current Plan.

4.12. If you change to a Plan that provides you with fewer entitlements than your current Plan, and the number of your published Property Listings exceeds the number that you are entitled to within the new Plan you have chosen:

• 4.12.1. we will notify you that you need to unpublish some of your Property Listings using the Portal prior to your new Plan taking effect;
• 4.12.2. if you do not unpublish enough Property Listings to meet your maximum entitlements under the new Plan you have chosen, we will unpublish as many Property Listings as required to meet your maximum entitlements;
• 4.12.3. if we unpublish Property Listings under clause 4.12.2, we will unpublish them on the first day that your new Plan takes effect, by removing the oldest Property Listings first, based on the date published by you.

4.13. If you change from a paid Plan to a free Plan and you are a Provider of housing, in addition to the requirements of clause 4.12, we will remove your Provider Listing from the Provider Directory on the first day that your new Plan takes effect.  

4.14. If you cancel your Plan and do not select a new Plan, we will immediately remove all of your Property Listings and your Provider Listing (where applicable) upon expiry of the terms of your current Plan.

4.15. We may vary the Platform services offered and/or the fees payable at any time, providing that we will notify you at least 30 days in advance of our intention to increase the fees payable in relation to your currently selected Plan (if any).

4.16. If we are charged third-party costs for transaction processing, we may pass those charges on to you in addition to the fees applicable to your Plan.

5. ACCEPTABLE PROPERTY LISTINGS

5.1. You may only list real property that is available for sale or lease, that has been constructed or modified with accessible features designed to enable or facilitate independent living for people with disability, and which is permanently attached to the land on which it is located. You may not list boats, caravans, transportable homes, personal assets or non housing related business services of any kind.  

5.2. Providing that it meets the requirements of clause 6.1, you may list real property of any type, including, without limitation, Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA), non-SDA disability housing, medium term accommodation (MTA), short-term accommodation, community housing, social housing and privately owned housing.

5.3. When creating a Property Listing, you must:

• 5.3.1. include the street address where the property is located (to enable any location or map-based functionality to operate effectively), although we do not recommend displaying the actual address within the Property Listing; 
• 5.3.2. not list a property or proportion of a property for sale or lease that is not currently available, and that is not expected to become available for sale or lease within a reasonable period of time;
• 5.3.3. if the property or a portion of the property is available for lease, provide detailed and accurate information about the costs associated with leasing the property or the portion of the property offered for lease;
• 5.3.4. if the property is offered for sale, provide an estimated sale price, which may include a reasonable range at which the property is offered for sale;
• 5.3.5. provide detailed and accurate information about the property, including where relevant, property features, accessibility, design specifications, supports available on site and high-level description of other tenants residing at the property (whilst respecting their privacy);
• 5.3.6. provide clear photos of the property, showing multiple areas of the property that provide an accurate representation of the property;
• 5.3.7. not remove and republish a Property Listing solely for the purpose of that Property Listing appearing as a new Property Listing;
• 5.3.8. ensure that all Material relating to the property complies the requirements of clause 8.1.9 of these terms.

5.4. We may, at our absolute discretion, remove or amend some or all of your Property Listings, if in our reasonable opinion, they do not comply with the requirements of this clause, clause 8.1.9 or are otherwise in breach of this Agreement.  

6. SPECIALIST DISABILITY ACCOMMODATION (SDA) PROPERTY LISTINGS

6.1. The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) requires SDA Providers to notify it of vacancies in their properties enrolled as SDA dwellings.

6.2. We have an arrangement with the NDIA, under which we share details of all published Property Listings of SDA dwellings with the NDIA on a regular basis. When you list a property on the Platform that is identified as an SDA dwelling:

• 6.2.1. you consent for us to share details of that property with the NDIA as a vacant SDA dwelling;
• 6.2.2. you agree to keep your property addresses and organisation ABN up to date on the Platform at all times to comply with the requirements of the NDIA to match property addresses to the ABN of the SDA Provider.

6.3. As a registered SDA Provider, the NDIA will issue an email to you to confirm receipt of data from us in relation to your vacant SDA dwellings. It is your responsibility to ensure that you receive this confirmation from the NDIA for each vacancy you list on the Housing Hub, and to take any appropriate actions to notify the NDIA of your vacant SDA dwellings if you do not receive this confirmation.

6.4. We are under no obligation to continue providing this data to the NDIA, providing that we will give you at least 30 days notice of our intention to stop providing the data. If we provide such notice to you, you must continue to provide notification to the NDIA of your vacant SDA dwellings in any manner required by the NDIA.

7. PURCHASE OF ADDITIONAL PRODUCTS

7.1. If you have an active Account, you may purchase additional products (“Additional  Products”) through the Portal. We may vary the Additional Products that you may purchase from time to time, at our absolute discretion. Additional Products are not part of the Platform Services provided within your Plan and are subject to the payment of additional fees and additional terms outlined in this clause.

7.2. From time to time, we may offer products that enable you to promote your Property Listings, Provider Listing, or brand (“Advertising Products”). If you purchase an Advertising Product through the Portal:

• 7.2.1. your purchase and access to the Advertising Product is confirmed only on completion of your booking and our receipt of your payment, upon which we will send you an email confirming the details of the Advertising Product;
• 7.2.2. you may not cancel your purchase after we have confirmed acceptance, and we will not refund any fees paid by you in relation to that purchase;
• 7.2.3. you acknowledge that the purpose of the Advertising Product is to increase views of your Property Listing(s), Provider Listing or your website, as applicable to the product purchased, and that conversion of views to enquiries, and enquiries to customers is your responsibility.
• 7.2.4. you are responsible for ensuring that your properties, Property Listings and Provider Listing are appealing to your potential customers including, without limitation, property location, design, build, finishes, amenities, support model, content and copy, and you acknowledge that you have a role to play in the success of any Advertising Product purchased;
• 7.2.5. you will ensure that your Property Listings and Provider Listing are complete, accurate and up-to-date before commencement of the period to which the Advertising Product applies;
• 7.2.6. you will promptly respond to all enquiries received and will have adequate staffing in place to do so, and you acknowledge that Housing Seekers generally expect a response within 24 hours;
• 7.2.7. you acknowledge that we have not provided any warranty or guarantee concerning the performance and expected outcomes to be achieved.

7.3. From time to time, we may offer products that provide market data and intelligence to help you understand the accessible housing market (“Market Data Reports”). If you purchase a Market Data Report through the Portal:

• 7.3.1. your purchase and access to the Market Data Report is confirmed only on completion of your booking and our receipt of your payment, upon which we will send you an email confirming the details of the Market Data Report;
• 7.3.2. you may not cancel your purchase after we have confirmed acceptance, and we will not refund any fees paid by you in relation to that purchase;
• 7.3.3. we will generally send you a Market Data Report that you have purchased within two business days of our confirmation of acceptance, but you acknowledge that we may delay sending for any reasonable purpose; 
• 7.3.4. Market Data Reports are provided for information purposes only, based on data available at the date of the report. We will make all reasonable attempts to obtain data from reliable sources, but you acknowledge that we do not verify the accuracy or completeness of data that is provided to us by third parties, and that we provide no warranty or guarantee to you in relation to the accuracy or completeness of a Market Data Report;
• 7.3.5. no part of a Market Data Report is intended to constitute formal or legal advice, and the content of a Market Data Report should not be relied upon without making your own enquiries, obtaining your own professional advice and taking into consideration the circumstances of the decision, before taking any action, or refraining from taking any action, in respect of the information contained in a Market Data Report.
• 7.3.6. Market Data Reports are provided solely for your internal use, and you must not post, copy, modify, transmit, disclose, show in public, create any derivative works from, distribute, make commercial use of, or reproduce in any way, any portion of a Market Data Report, without our written consent.

8. PROVIDER OBLIGATIONS

8.1. You agree that at all times:

• 8.1.1. you will comply with this Agreement, and all applicable laws and regulations relevant to your Property Listings and Provider Listing;
• 8.1.2. you have authority to sell or lease the properties in your Property Listings; 
• 8.1.3. you have the capability and capacity to deliver the services offered in your Provider Listing; 
• 8.1.4. you will hold and maintain, or ensure that third parties that you engage to act on your behalf hold and maintain, all relevant licences and accreditations necessary to sell or lease properties in your Property Listings and to deliver the services in your Provider Listing;
• 8.1.5. your Property Listings and Provider Listing will comply with the requirements of these terms (particularly clause 5 and this clause 9), and you are solely responsible for the content of your Property Listings and Provider Listing, including any errors or omissions contained therein;
• 8.1.6. you will not charge Housing Seekers additional fees beyond those specified in your Property Listings, Provider Listing and any tenancy, sale or service agreement that you enter into with a Housing Seeker;
• 8.1.7. you will retain sole control and ownership of your Account, including any feedback and associated login credentials. This includes refraining from allowing others to use the Account or engaging in any actions such as transferring, selling, or making alterations to the Account or its content;
• 8.1.8. if your Plan provides you with access to our Confidential Information, or you purchase an Additional Product that provides you with access to our Confidential Information, you will not share that information;
• 8.1.9. any information you make available on the Platform, in any form including text, photos, illustrations, audio, video or any combination of these (collectively “Material”), will be up to date, and will not: 
• 8.1.9.1 be potentially or actually harmful to us or any other person. In this context, “harm” includes, but is not limited to, economic loss that will or may be suffered by us;
• 8.1.9.2. be false, inaccurate, misleading or deceptive;
• 8.1.9.3. infringe any third party’s copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret or other proprietary or intellectual property rights, rights of publicity, confidentiality or privacy;
• 8.1.9.4. violate any applicable law, statute, ordinance or regulation, including, without limitation, those governing consumer protection, fair trading, anti-discrimination, privacy and estate agents;
• 8.1.9.5. be, or could reasonably be expected to be, defamatory, discriminatory, offensive, threatening, abusive, pornographic, obscene, harassing, or exploitative of another person;
• 8.1.9.6. contain nudity, violence, sexual acts or references;
• 8.1.9.7. create a privacy or security risk to any person;
• 8.1.9.8. include an image or personal information of another person or persons unless you have their consent;
• 8.1.9.9. contain restricted or password only access pages, or hidden content;
• 8.1.9.10. contain viruses, or other computer codes, files or programs designed to interrupt, limit or destroy the functionality of other computer software or hardware;
• 8.1.9.11. advertise, promote or solicit any goods or services or commercial activities, other than properties or services that comply with the terms of this Agreement, except where expressly permitted or authorised by us; 
• 8.1.9.12. contain financial, legal, medical or other professional advice;
• 8.1.10. where you provide us with personal information about an individual, you are authorised to provide that personal information to us, and you will advise the individual that their personal information has been shared with us and will be used in accordance with our Privacy Policy;
• 8.1.11. you will promptly and efficiently perform all of your obligations to Housing Seekers and other Platform users, including, without limitation, responding to communications and requests for information regarding your Property Listings or Provider Listing, assessing potential tenants for suitability, and implementing tenancy, sale or service agreements (where appropriate);
• 8.1.12. you will promptly notify us if you think that your Account has been accessed or used by an unauthorised user in breach of the Agreement.

9. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

9.1. You acknowledge and agree that we are the owner of highly valuable proprietary information including, without limitation, the Platform, the Platform code, any suitability and matching algorithms, profiles, market data and application forms (collectively, "Confidential Information"). We own and hereby retain all proprietary rights in the Platform including, without limitation, all Confidential Information.

9.2. You acknowledge and agree that you will not post, copy, modify, transmit, disclose, show in public, create any derivative works from, distribute, make commercial use of, or reproduce in any way any:

9.2.1. Confidential Information or

• 9.2.2. other copyrighted material, trademarks, or other proprietary information accessible via the Platform, without first obtaining the prior written consent of us or the owner of such proprietary rights.

9.3. By uploading, transmitting, posting or otherwise making available any Material via the Platform, you:

• 9.3.1. grant us a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual, licence to use, reproduce, edit, communicate and otherwise deal with the Material in any form and for any purpose;
• 9.3.2. except where expressly stated otherwise, also grant Housing Seekers and other Platform users a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual, licence to use, communicate and otherwise deal with the Material in any form required to support their search for accessible housing or services;
• 9.3.3. confirm that you have the right to grant these licences and that the Material complies with the Agreement.

9.4. We reserve the right to review, modify, or remove violating Material, and monitor Platform use for compliance or legal reasons. We are not liable for user-uploaded Material and do not endorse user opinions. Users have no proprietary rights to the Platform, except for personal, non-commercial use of copyrighted Material.

10. THIRD PARTY WEBSITES, ADVERTISING AND ACTIVITIES

10.1. We may feature or display links and pointers to websites operated by third parties on the Platform. Such websites do not form part of the Platform and are not under our control. We do not accept any responsibility in connection with any such website. If you link to any such websites, you leave the Platform at your own risk.

10.2. We may feature or display third party advertising. By featuring or displaying such advertising, we do not in any way represent that we recommend or endorse the relevant advertiser, its products or services.

10.3.The Google Maps service is made available to us under licence from Google Inc. Your use of the Google Maps service and any data or information accessed from that service is also subject to the Google Maps terms and conditions.

11. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

11.1. Except for liability in relation to breach of any implied condition, warranty or guarantee, including under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth), the exclusion of which from a contract would contravene any statute or cause any part of this Agreement to be void (a “Non-excludable Condition”), to the extent permitted by law, we specifically disclaim all liability for any loss or damage (actual, special, direct, indirect and consequential) arising out of or in any way connected with any transaction between you and Housing Seekers.

11.2. Except for liability in relation to a breach of any Non-excludable Condition, our liability to you is limited, at our option, to re-performing the obligation to which the relevant liability relates, or an amount equal to the cost of re-performing the obligation to which the relevant liability relates.

12. INDEMNITY

12.1. You agree to indemnify and hold us, our officers, directors, employees, agents and related third parties (collectively, "those indemnified") harmless against any and all loss, liability, claim or demand (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of any third party claim against those indemnified in connection with your use of the Platform, including, without limitation, any Material you have posted, uploaded or otherwise made available, other than to the extent that such loss, liability, claim or demand was caused by our fraud or negligence.

12.2.We will notify you within a reasonable period of any third party claim giving rise to a claim for indemnification and will take reasonable steps to mitigate any loss or damage. To the extent that we caused or contributed to any loss, your liability will be reduced proportionately.

13. PRIVACY

13.1. Our Privacy Policy applies to you and all users of the Platform, and forms part of this Agreement. Your use of the Platform confirms that you consent to, and authorise, the collection, use and disclosure of personal information you provide to us in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

13.2.You must comply with our Privacy Policy in respect of any personal information of Housing Seekers and other Platform users that you obtain through the Platform.

13.3.You must not provide us with personal information about an individual, unless you are authorised to provide that personal information to us, and you advise the individual that their personal information has been shared with us and will be used in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

14. NO WARRANTY

14.1. Except for liability in relation to any Non-excludable Condition, the Platform is provided on an “as is” basis, and without any warranty or condition, express or implied. To the extent permitted by law, we and our suppliers specifically disclaim any implied warranties of title, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement to the extent allowed by law, including in relation to availability. We make no representation as to profit or proceeds that can be made using the Platform, the Platform Services or the Additional Products.

15. MODIFICATIONS TO THE AGREEMENT

15.1. We may modify this Agreement from time to time, including these terms and other documents that form part of this Agreement. We will send notification of such changes to your Account or nominated email address. You should check your Account regularly and read any notices of change we provide to you.

15.2. If you do not agree with any changes to this Agreement, you may terminate your Account and stop using the Platform.

16. NO AGENCY

16.1. No agency, partnership, joint venture, employee-employer or other similar relationship is created by this Agreement. In particular, you have no authority to bind us, our related entities or affiliates in any way whatsoever.

17. NOTICES

17.1. We will send all notices and other communications to you through your Account or the email address you have provided to us. It is your responsibility to ensure that you provide and maintain the currency of your contact details.

17.2. All notices from you to us (including termination notices) must be sent by email to support@housinghub.org.au, or any other address that we notify to you.

18. TERMINATION

18.1. We may terminate this Agreement immediately if:

• 18.1.1. you fail to pay any fees due to us within 30 days after the due date;
• 18.1.2. you are in material breach of any of your obligations under this Agreement;
• 18.1.3. you enter into bankruptcy, liquidation, provisional liquidation, administration, receivership, receivership and management, a composition of arrangement with your creditors, or appoint a receive, manager or controller over all or any part of your assets, or are deemed insolvent;
• 18.1.4. you die, or if you are in a partnership, that partnership is dissolved or an application to dissolve is finalised, or if you are a company, are wound up or an application for winding up is filed;
• 18.1.5. we have any reasonable concerns relating to your continued use of the Platform, including, without limitation, in response to complaints and/or feedback we receive from Housing Seekers, other Platform users and/or regulatory authorities.

18.2. You may terminate this Agreement at any time and for any reason by providing us with written notice of your intention to terminate this Agreement.

18.3. Upon termination of this Agreement by you or us:

• 18.3.1. termination will take effect from the end of the current term, unless we have determined in our absolute discretion that your Account and access to the Platform is to be terminated at an earlier date due to a material breach of this Agreement, in which case you will not be refunded any fees that you have paid to us;
• 18.3.2. you remain liable for payment of any fees that you owe to us for continued use of the Platform until the end of the current term or earlier termination, except where clause 18.3.1 applies in relation to earlier termination;
• 18.3.3. your Property Listings and Provider Listing will remain published until the termination date, and we will remove your Property Listings and Provider Listing from the Platform after that date;
• 18.3.4. clauses 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 16 survive the termination of this Agreement.

18.4. Termination of this Agreement (for any reason) does not affect any agreements that have been formed between you, Housing Seekers and other Platform users.

18.5. Notwithstanding clauses 18.1 to 18.4, we may edit or remove any of your Property Listings and Provider Listing at any time without termination of this Agreement, if we consider any of your Material to be in breach of this Agreement, including not complying with any of the requirements of clauses 6 and 8.1.9.

19. GENERAL

19.1. This Agreement is governed by the laws of Victoria, Australia. You and we submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Victoria, Australia.

19.2. A failure by a party to exercise any right under this Agreement will not be considered a waiver of those rights.

19.3. The provisions of this Agreement are severable, and if any provision of this Agreement is held to be invalid or unenforceable, such provision may be removed and the remaining provisions will be enforceable.

19.4. This Agreement may be assigned by us provided there is no material detriment to you. You may not assign this Agreement without our written consent.

19.5. This Agreement sets out the entire understanding and agreement between you and us with respect to its subject matter.