Terms of use

Welcome to the St Vincent de Paul Society website (Website). In Australia, the St Vincent de Paul Society operates like a federation which includes the St Vincent de Paul Society National Council of Australia Incorporated (National Council), six State and two Territory Councils (together, State and/or Territory Councils) and related ‘special works’ entities (together, we, us or our). This Website is operated by National Council, except for each of the State and/or Territory Council and special works subpages, which are operated by the respective St Vincent de Paul Society entity.  

Application of these Terms of Use and applicable policies

By using this Website you agree to be bound by these Terms of Use and National Council’s Privacy Policy.

National Council may vary these Terms of Use from time to time. Your continued use of the Website following any changes indicates your acceptance of the changes.  

You acknowledge and agree that each State and/or Territory Council and/or special works entities may have additional terms, conditions and policies (including their own Privacy Policies) that apply to your use of the applicable State and/or Territory Council and special works subpages.

Acceptable use

You agree to use the Website for lawful purposes only. 

You must not: 

1. copy, modify or create derivative works based on the content available on or through the Website; or 
2. infringe the intellectual property rights, privacy or confidentiality of any third party; or  
3. engage in any activity that may result in injury, death, property damage, and/or liability of any kind; or 
4. interfere or disrupt the Website, servers or networks connected to the Website or another person’s use of the Website, including by transmitting any worms, viruses, spyware, malware or any other code of a destructive or disruptive nature. 

Content 

National Council or the relevant State and/or Territory Council owns, or are the licensee of, the intellectual property rights in the content available on the Website, including copyright works, St Vincent de Paul Society logos and trade marks, text, material, software, images, graphics, advertisements, databases, animation, downloads, streaming audio and streaming video (together, the Content).   

These Terms of Use do not transfer any intellectual property rights in the Content or the St Vincent de Paul Society logos and/or trade marks from National Council and/or the relevant State and/or Territory Council to you or any third parties.    

Subject to your compliance with the applicable Terms of Use of the relevant State and/or Territory Council, you may reference, link to, reproduce, communicate, transmit, make available, broadcast, republish, save a local copy of, print a copy of, or otherwise distribute the Content for your own non-commercial use, provided: 

1. you do not delete or change any Content, copyright, logo, trade mark or other proprietary notices; 
2. you do so in a way that is fair and legal, and does not damage our reputation or take advantage of it; and  
3. if any third party materials, images, logos, brands and trade marks are included in the Content you wish to use, you seek our specific permission to do so. 

The Content has been carefully compiled from sources believed to be reliable, but all Content is provided on the basis that National Council and the State and/or Territory Councils do not warrant or guarantee nor accept responsibility for its accuracy or completeness for any purpose. To the extent permitted by law, we will not be held liable for any loss or damage whatsoever arising in connection with your use of any Content or its publication, including any action for copyright infringement, trade mark infringement or defamation.  

Linked websites

The Website may contain links or references to websites operated by third parties (Third Party Websites). We provide these links as a courtesy and this should not be interpreted in any way as our endorsement of any Third Party Website.  

As Third Party Websites are not under our control, we are not responsible for the content or the privacy practices associated with these Third Party Websites and accessing these sites is at your own risk.  

Donations through the Website to National Council 

National Council is a registered Australian charity with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission, and endorsed by the Australian Taxation Office as a deductible gift recipient for domestic and overseas charitable purposes. 

Donations to National Council can be made through the Website in the form of one-off donations or regular donations using a facility provided by a third party company, Funraisin. There is also information on the Website about how you can make a donation to National Council offline (e.g. via bank transfer, cheque, credit card (manual) or electronic funds transfer).  

Our Privacy Policy contains information on how National Council uses, stores and may share the personal information you provide when making a donation.

National Council directs donations towards the charitable purpose intended by the donor, when specified. Where general donations are received, National Council determines how these donations are to be directed towards its charitable purposes.  

If you make a donation to National Council, a tax receipt will be issued if the necessary details have been provided by you when making your donation. National Council accepts anonymous donations, but we are unable to issue a receipt in these circumstances. 

National Council thoroughly considers all requests for a refund of a donation and will ensure that genuine errors are corrected, however we are under no obligation to give refunds of donations and the decision to give you a refund will be at National Council’s sole discretion.  

To seek a refund of a donation, you must contact National Council within 14 days of receipt. You must provide details of how you made the donation, the amount, the date and the circumstances justifying your request for a refund.  

If a donation is refunded, the associated tax receipt is no longer valid and should be securely destroyed. It is your legal responsibility to submit correct receipts to the Australian Taxation Office. 

Liability and indemnity 

We do not warrant that your access to the Website, the delivery of the Website or the Content shall be free from errors, defects, bugs or viruses, uninterrupted, or reparable if damaged or impaired. 

To the extent permitted by law, the Website and all Content is provided “as is” and “as available” for your use without warranties of any kind, either express or implied, including all implied warranties or merchantability, fitness for use, title and non-infringement. 

We will not be liable for any losses of any kind which result from any use or access of, or any inability to use or access, the Website or any Content.  

You will indemnify National Council and/or the State and/or Territory Councils (as applicable) if any one of us suffers any loss or damage or incurs any costs in connection with any breach of these Terms of Use or any other legal obligation by you or your use of or conduct on the Website. 

General 

Nothing in these Terms of Use will be taken as giving rise to a relationship of employment, agency, partnership or joint venture.  

Any failure by us to enforce these Terms of Use or any rights will not be a waiver of such rights or affect the validity of these Terms of Use.  

If any provision of these Terms of Use are held by a court to be illegal, invalid or unenforceable under the applicable law, that term or provision will be severed from these Terms of Use and the remaining terms and conditions will be unaffected.   

These Terms of Use are governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the Australian Capital Territory, Australia and the courts of that jurisdiction will have non-exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute arising out of these Terms of Use.  

How you can contact us 

If you have any questions about our Website or these Terms of Use, you can contact the National Council.