Terms of Service

Seekara Pty Ltd ("Seekara", "we", "us", "our") operates an online marketplace and technology platform at seekara.com.au that connects National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) participants with disability service providers across Australia. Seekara is a marketplace only — we are not an NDIS provider and do not deliver disability support services directly.

These Terms apply to all users of the Seekara platform, including:

• NDIS Participants — people who are participants in the National Disability Insurance Scheme, or their nominees, guardians, plan managers or authorised representatives; and
• NDIS Providers — businesses or individuals that deliver disability supports or services, whether registered or unregistered with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission.

These Terms form a legally binding contract between you and Seekara when you create an account, click a button indicating acceptance, or use any feature of the platform. They are a standard form contract governed by the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth), Schedule 2 (Australian Consumer Law).

We may update these Terms from time to time to reflect changes in our services, technology, or legal obligations. We will give you at least 30 days' notice of any material changes by email and by displaying a prominent notice on the platform. Your continued use of the platform after the effective date of changes constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms. If you do not accept the updated Terms, you may close your account at any time.

To use the platform you must be:

• At least 18 years of age; or if under 18, your account must be created and managed by a parent, legal guardian, nominee or authorised representative;
• Legally capable of entering into a binding agreement under Australian law; and
• Not subject to a court order or legal restriction that prevents you from entering into contracts.

When registering you must provide accurate, current and complete information, including:

• Your legal name and valid email address;
• For NDIS Participants: your NDIS participant number;
• For NDIS Providers: your Australian Business Number (ABN) and, if applicable, your NDIS provider registration number.

You agree to keep your registration information up to date. Providing false or misleading information is a serious breach of these Terms and may constitute an offence under applicable Australian law.

You are responsible for keeping your login credentials secure and confidential. You must not share your account with any other person. You are liable for all activity that occurs under your account unless and until you notify us at support@seekara.com.au of unauthorised access. We will never ask for your password by email.

Each participant or provider may hold one account. Creating duplicate accounts without our prior written consent is prohibited and may result in account suspension.

As an NDIS Participant you may use the platform to:

• Search for NDIS service providers by location, service type and other criteria;
• View provider profiles, reviews and service information;
• Send enquiries and booking requests to providers;
• Communicate with providers through the platform's messaging features; and
• Manage your connections with service providers.

Seekara facilitates introductions between participants and providers. Any service agreement (including scope of supports, pricing and delivery terms) is formed directly between you and your chosen provider. Seekara is not a party to that service agreement and has no liability for the delivery or non-delivery of services by a provider.

You are responsible for ensuring any services you arrange through Seekara are consistent with your NDIS plan, funded support categories and NDIS plan budget. Seekara does not provide financial advice, support coordination or plan management services unless separately contracted.

By creating a participant profile and using the platform, you consent to Seekara facilitating the sharing of your profile information with providers you choose to contact or connect with. You control what optional information (including any health or disability details) you include in your profile. See our Privacy Policy for full details.

Seeking and connecting with NDIS providers on Seekara is free for NDIS participants. We do not charge participants platform fees.

By registering as a provider on Seekara, you warrant and represent that:

• Your business is lawfully operating in Australia and holds all necessary registrations, licences, permits and insurance required to deliver the services listed on your profile;
• If you are a registered NDIS provider, your NDIS registration is current and you are in good standing with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission;
• All workers who will deliver services to NDIS participants hold current NDIS Worker Screening Clearances as required by applicable state, territory and Commonwealth law;
• You comply with the NDIS Code of Conduct issued under the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 (Cth), which requires all NDIS providers (registered and unregistered) to act with respect, honesty, transparency and competence, and to take all reasonable steps to prevent and respond to violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation; and
• All information in your profile — including service descriptions, qualifications, accreditations, pricing and geographic service areas — is accurate, current and not misleading.

You must notify us immediately at support@seekara.com.au if:

• Your NDIS registration is suspended, cancelled or subject to new conditions;
• You receive a banning order or exclusion from the NDIS Commission;
• You, or any worker delivering services through your organisation, are subject to a worker screening exclusion;
• You are under formal investigation by the NDIS Commission, the NDIA, or any police or government authority in connection with your service delivery; or
• Your public liability or professional indemnity insurance lapses or is cancelled.

In your dealings with NDIS participants through our platform, you must comply with the Australian Consumer Law including obligations relating to consumer guarantees (services must be delivered with due care and skill, be fit for purpose, and be delivered within a reasonable time), prohibitions on misleading or deceptive conduct, and prohibitions on unconscionable conduct.

Where the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits published by the NDIA apply to supports you deliver, you must not charge NDIS participants in excess of those limits. You are solely responsible for ensuring your pricing is compliant with applicable NDIS pricing rules.

NDIS participants may submit reviews of your services through the platform. You may not offer incentives for positive reviews, submit false reviews, or attempt to suppress or remove legitimate reviews. We may remove reviews that violate our community standards.

You must not use the platform to:

• Violate any applicable law, regulation or industry standard in Australia;
• Engage in fraud, misrepresentation, deceptive conduct or impersonation;
• Harass, abuse, threaten, intimidate or discriminate against any other user, including on the basis of disability;
• Collect or harvest personal information about other users without their explicit consent;
• Upload or transmit malware, viruses, ransomware or any code designed to disrupt, damage or interfere with the platform;
• Attempt to gain unauthorised access to any part of the platform, another user's account, or our underlying systems;
• Scrape, reproduce, copy or commercially exploit any platform content without our prior written consent;
• Post content that is offensive, defamatory, discriminatory, or demeaning to people with disability;
• Use the platform to facilitate services or transactions not related to disability support;
• Create fake provider or participant profiles, or misrepresent your NDIS registration status; or
• Engage in any activity that could damage, overburden or impair our infrastructure or the experience of other users.

We may, in our discretion, remove content, suspend or permanently terminate your account, and/or take legal action if we reasonably believe you have breached these acceptable use provisions. In cases involving risk to participant safety, we may act without prior notice.

Seekara is a technology platform and marketplace. We do not provide disability support services, do not employ support workers, and are not a registered NDIS provider. We facilitate introductions and connections between participants and providers but are not a party to any service agreement between them.

Listing a provider on Seekara does not constitute an endorsement, recommendation or warranty by Seekara as to the quality, suitability, safety, compliance or legality of that provider or their services. Participants are encouraged to independently verify a provider's NDIS registration at www.ndiscommission.gov.au and to conduct their own due diligence before engaging any provider.

Nothing on the platform constitutes professional advice, including legal, financial, health, disability, therapeutic or support planning advice. For advice about your NDIS plan, contact your support coordinator, plan manager, or the NDIA on 1800 800 110.

Any dispute arising from services delivered (or not delivered) by a provider to a participant must be resolved between those parties, or through the NDIS Commission's complaints process. Seekara may, at its discretion, assist with communication but has no legal obligation to mediate or resolve provider-participant disputes.

We do not guarantee the platform will be available without interruption, error or security breach. We reserve the right to suspend the platform for maintenance, upgrades, security responses, or any other operational reason. We will endeavour to provide advance notice of planned maintenance where practicable.

Seekara offers tiered subscription plans for NDIS Providers. Current plans and pricing are available at seekara.com.au/pricing. Subscription fees are charged in Australian dollars (AUD) and are inclusive of GST unless otherwise stated.

New providers may access a free trial period as described at sign-up. The trial provides access to higher-tier features for the duration of the trial. At the end of the trial period, your account will revert to the free tier unless you subscribe. No payment details are required to start a trial.

Paid subscriptions are billed on the cycle selected at purchase (monthly or annual). Subscriptions automatically renew at the end of each billing period unless you cancel. We will send you a renewal reminder email at least 7 days before renewal. You may cancel at any time through your account settings or by contacting support@seekara.com.au.

Payments are processed by Stripe (Stripe, Inc. and/or Stripe Payments Australia Pty Ltd). By providing payment details, you agree to Stripe's Terms of Service. We do not store full payment card numbers. Stripe's privacy policy applies to the processing of your payment data.

We reserve the right to change our subscription fees. We will provide at least 30 days' written notice of any fee increase before it applies to your existing subscription. Your continued subscription after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the new pricing.

Your rights under the Australian Consumer Law cannot be excluded. If Seekara fails to provide the platform services with due care and skill, you may be entitled to a remedy under the ACL including a refund or re-supply.

Outside of ACL rights, our voluntary refund policy is: if you cancel a monthly subscription before 14 days have elapsed since your most recent charge, you may request a pro-rated refund for the unused portion. Annual subscriptions may be refunded on a pro-rated basis within 30 days of initial purchase. After these periods, no refund is available for unused subscription time, except where required by law.

Where GST is payable on any supply under these Terms, the consideration is GST-inclusive unless otherwise stated. We will issue tax invoices or receipts as required by the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999.

Seekara owns or is licensed to use all intellectual property rights in the platform, including software, source code, design, user interface, trademarks, trade names, logos, content and documentation ("Seekara IP"). Nothing in these Terms transfers any Seekara IP rights to you.

Subject to your compliance with these Terms, we grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to access and use the platform for its intended purpose only.

You retain ownership of content you upload to the platform ("User Content"), including profile information, service descriptions, documents and communications. By uploading User Content, you grant Seekara a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide licence to host, display, reproduce and distribute that content solely for the purpose of operating and improving the platform.

You warrant that you own or have the right to use all User Content you upload and that your User Content does not infringe any third party's rights.

If you provide feedback or suggestions about the platform, we may use that feedback to improve our services without any obligation or compensation to you.

Nothing in these Terms excludes, restricts or modifies any right or remedy you have under the Australian Consumer Law, including any consumer guarantee that cannot lawfully be excluded.

Where Seekara supplies services to a "consumer" under the ACL and the service failure is not a major failure, Seekara's liability is limited (to the extent permitted by the ACL) to either re-supplying the services or paying the cost of having the services re-supplied, at Seekara's election.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, in all cases not involving a consumer guarantee or a breach of the ACL, Seekara's total aggregate liability to you for any claim arising from or in connection with these Terms or the platform is limited to the greater of: (a) the total fees paid by you to Seekara in the 12 months preceding the claim; or (b) AUD $500.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Seekara is not liable for any indirect, consequential, incidental, special or punitive losses, including loss of revenue, loss of business, loss of data, loss of profits or loss of anticipated savings, even if Seekara has been advised of the possibility of such losses.

Seekara is not liable for the acts, omissions, negligence or misconduct of any NDIS provider listed on the platform, or for any services delivered or not delivered by a provider to a participant. The service relationship is exclusively between the participant and the provider.

The platform may contain links to third-party websites or services (including Stripe, Xero and booking platforms). Seekara is not responsible for the content, privacy practices or reliability of any third-party service. Your use of third-party services is at your own risk and governed by their own terms.

You may close your account at any time through your account settings or by emailing support@seekara.com.au. Upon closure, we will handle your personal information in accordance with our Privacy Policy, subject to any legal retention obligations.

We may suspend or terminate your account with immediate effect (without refund of pre-paid fees, subject to ACL rights) if:

• You breach any material term of these Terms;
• A provider's NDIS registration is cancelled, suspended, or subject to restrictive conditions;
• A provider receives a banning order from the NDIS Commission;
• We reasonably believe your conduct poses a risk to the safety of any NDIS participant; or
• We are required to do so by law or by order of a regulator.

We may also terminate your account for any other reason by giving you 30 days' written notice by email. In this case, we will refund any prepaid fees for unused periods on a pro-rated basis, unless you are a provider on a monthly subscription in which case your subscription will continue until the end of the current billing period.

On termination, your licence to use the platform ceases immediately. Clauses 8, 10, 11, 13, 14 and 15 survive termination.

If a dispute arises, you agree to first contact us at support@seekara.com.au and attempt to resolve the matter in good faith. We will acknowledge your contact within 5 business days and endeavour to resolve the matter within 30 days.

If the dispute is not resolved within 30 days of written notification, either party may refer it to mediation conducted by a mutually agreed mediator or through the Australian Disputes Centre (ADC). The costs of mediation will be shared equally unless the mediator determines otherwise.

Nothing in this clause prevents either party from seeking urgent injunctive relief from a court of competent jurisdiction without first attempting informal resolution or mediation.

Nothing in these Terms limits your right to make a complaint to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC), the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, or any other regulatory authority.

These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy and any applicable subscription order, constitute the entire agreement between you and Seekara in relation to the platform and supersede all prior agreements, representations and understandings.

If any provision is found by a court to be void, unenforceable or invalid, that provision will be severed and the remaining provisions will continue in full force and effect.

Failure by Seekara to enforce any right under these Terms at any time does not constitute a waiver of that right.

You may not assign your rights or obligations under these Terms without our prior written consent. We may assign our rights and obligations in connection with a merger, acquisition or sale of assets, with notice to you.

Seekara is not liable for any failure or delay caused by circumstances beyond our reasonable control, including acts of God, pandemic, government action, cyberattack, or failure of third-party telecommunications or hosting infrastructure.