Sign up

or sign in to your account

Organisation

Circle^*

Given name^*

Family name^*

Email address^*

Password^*

Confirm password^*

Terms and conditions^*

I have read and agree to the

Terms and Conditions

Terms and conditions

About the Website

Welcome to Abound (the 'Website'). The Website provides counselling and mental health services (the 'Services').
The Website is operated by Abound. Access to and use of the Website, or any of its associated Products or Services, is provided by Abound. Please read these terms and conditions (the 'Terms') carefully. By using, browsing and/or reading the Website, this signifies that you have read, understood and agree to be bound by the Terms. If you do not agree with the Terms, you must cease usage of the Website, or any of Services, immediately.
Abound reserves the right to review and change any of the Terms by updating this page at its sole discretion. When Abound updates the Terms, it will use reasonable endeavours to provide you with notice of updates to the Terms. Any changes to the Terms take immediate effect from the date of their publication. Before you continue, we recommend you keep a copy of the Terms for your records.

Acceptance of Terms

You accept the Terms by remaining on the Website. You may also accept the Terms by clicking to accept or agree to the Terms where this option is made available to you by Abound in the user interface.

Registration to use the Services

In order to access the Services, you must first register for an account through the Website (the 'Account').
As part of the registration process, or as part of your continued use of the Services, you may be required to provide personal information about yourself (such as identification or contact details), including: Email address, Username, Phone number, Password, First name, Last name, Organisation, Address.
You warrant that any information you give to Abound in the course of completing the registration process will always be accurate, correct and up to date.
Once you have completed the registration process, you will be a registered member of the Website 'Member' and agree to be bound by the Terms.
You may not use the Services and may not accept the Terms if:

- You are not of legal age to form a binding contract with Abound; or
- You are a person barred from receiving the Services under the laws of Australia or other countries including the country in which you are resident or from which you use the Services.

Your obligations as a Member

As a Member, you agree to comply with the following:

- You will use the Services only for purposes that are permitted by: (A) the Terms; and (B) any applicable law, regulation or generally accepted practices or guidelines in the relevant jurisdictions;
- You have the sole responsibility for protecting the confidentiality of your password and/or email address. Use of your password by any other person may result in the immediate cancellation of the Services;
- Any use of your registration information by any other person, or third parties, is strictly prohibited. You agree to immediately notify Abound of any unauthorised use of your password or email address or any breach of security of which you have become aware;
- Access and use of the Website is limited, non-transferable and allows for the sole use of the Website by you for the purposes of Abound providing the Services;
- You will not use the Services or the Website in connection with any commercial endeavours except those that are specifically endorsed or approved by the management of Abound;
- You will not use the Services or Website for any illegal and/or unauthorised use which includes collecting email addresses of Members by electronic or other means for the purpose of sending unsolicited email or unauthorised framing of or linking to the Website;
- You agree that commercial advertisements, affiliate links, and other forms of solicitation may be removed from the Website without notice and may result in termination of the Services. Appropriate legal action will be taken by Abound for any illegal or unauthorised use of the Website; and
- You acknowledge and agree that any automated use of the Website or its Services is prohibited.

The Website, the Services and all of the related products of Abound are subject to copyright. The material on the Website is protected by copyright under the laws of Australia and through international treaties. Unless otherwise indicated, all rights (including copyright) in the Services and compilation of the Website (including but not limited to text, graphics, logos, button icons, video images, audio clips, Website, code, scripts, design elements and interactive features) or the Services are owned or controlled for these purposes, and are reserved by Abound or its contributors.
All trademarks, service marks and trade names are owned, registered and/or licensed by Abound, who grants to you a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, revocable license whilst you are a Member to:

- Use the Website pursuant to the Terms;
- Copy and store the Website and the material contained in the Website in your device's cache memory; and
- Print pages from the Website for your own personal and non-commercial use.
- Abound does not grant you any other rights whatsoever in relation to the Website or the Services. All other rights are expressly reserved by Abound.

Abound retains all rights, title and interest in and to the Website and all related Services. Nothing you do on or in relation to the Website will transfer any:

- Business name, trading name, domain name, trade mark, industrial design, patent, registered design or copyright, or
- A right to use or exploit a business name, trading name, domain name, trade mark or industrial design, or
- A thing, system or process that is the subject of a patent, registered design or copyright (or an adaptation or modification of such a thing, system or process),to you.

You may not, without the prior written permission of Abound and the permission of any other relevant rights owners: broadcast, republish, up-load to a third party, transmit, post, distribute, show or play in public, adapt or change in any way the Services or third party Services for any purpose, unless otherwise provided by these Terms. This prohibition does not extend to materials on the Website, which are freely available for re-use or are in the public domain.

Privacy

Abound takes your privacy seriously and any information provided through your use of the Website and/or Services are subject to Abound's Privacy Policy, which is available on our website.

General Disclaimer

Nothing in the Terms limits or excludes any guarantees, warranties, representations or conditions implied or imposed by law, including the Australian Consumer Law (or any liability under them) which by law may not be limited or excluded.
Subject to this clause, and to the extent permitted by law:

- All terms, guarantees, warranties, representations or conditions which are not expressly stated in the Terms are excluded; and
- Abound will not be liable for any special, indirect or consequential loss or damage (unless such loss or damage is reasonably foreseeable resulting from our failure to meet an applicable Consumer Guarantee), loss of profit or opportunity, or damage to goodwill arising out of or in connection with the Services or these Terms (including as a result of not being able to use the Services or the late supply of the Services), whether at common law, under contract, tort (including negligence), in equity, pursuant to statute or otherwise.

Use of the Website and the Services is at your own risk. Everything on the Website and the Services is provided to you "as is" and "as available" without warranty or condition of any kind. None of the affiliates, directors, officers, employees, agents, contributors and licensors of Abound make any express or implied representation or warranty about the Services or any products or Services (including the products or Services of Abound) referred to on the Website, includes (but is not restricted to) loss or damage you might suffer as a result of any of the following:

- Failure of performance, error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, failure to correct defects, delay in operation or transmission, computer virus or other harmful component, loss of data, communication line failure, unlawful third party conduct, or theft, destruction, alteration or unauthorised access to records;
- The accuracy, suitability or currency of any information on the Website, the Services, or any of its Services related products (including third party material and advertisements on the Website);
- Costs incurred as a result of you using the Website, the Services or any of the products of Abound; and
- The Services or operation in respect to links which are provided for your convenience.

Limitation of Liability

Abound's total liability arising out of or in connection with the Services or these Terms, however arising, including under contract, tort (including negligence), in equity, under statute or otherwise, will not exceed the resupply of the Services to you.
You expressly understand and agree that Abound, its affiliates, employees, agents, contributors and licensors shall not be liable to you for any direct, indirect, incidental, special consequential or exemplary damages which may be incurred by you, however caused and under any theory of liability. This shall include, but is not limited to, injury, loss of life, any loss of profit (whether incurred directly or indirectly), any loss of goodwill or business reputation and any other intangible loss.

Termination of Contract

The Terms will continue to apply until terminated by either you or by Abound as set out below.
If you want to terminate the Terms, you may do so by:

- Providing Abound with 14 days' notice of your intention to terminate; and
- Closing your accounts for all of the services which you use, where Abound has made this option available to you.

Abound may at any time, terminate the Terms with you if:

- You have breached any provision of the Terms or intend to breach any provision;
- Abound is required to do so by law;
- The provision of the Services to you by Abound is, in the opinion of Abound, no longer commercially viable.

Subject to local applicable laws, Abound reserves the right to discontinue or cancel your access at any time and may suspend or deny, in its sole discretion, your access to all or any portion of the Website or the Services without notice if you breach any provision of the Terms or any applicable law or if your conduct impacts Abound's name or reputation or violates the rights of those of another party.

Indemnity

You agree to indemnify Abound, its affiliates, employees, agents, contributors, third party content providers and licensors from and against:

- All actions, suits, claims, demands, liabilities, costs, expenses, loss and damage (including legal fees on a full indemnity basis) incurred, suffered or arising out of or in connection with your interactions;
- Any direct or indirect consequences of you accessing, using or transacting on the Website or attempts to do so; and/or
- Any breach of the Terms.

Dispute Resolution

Compulsory:

- If a dispute arises out of or relates to the Terms, either party may not commence any Tribunal or Court proceedings in relation to the dispute, unless the following clauses have been complied with (except where urgent interlocutory relief is sought).

Notice:

- A party to the Terms claiming a dispute ( 'Dispute') has arisen under the Terms, must give written notice to the other party detailing the nature of the dispute, the desired outcome and the action required to settle the Dispute.

Resolution:

- On receipt of that notice ( 'Notice') by that other party, the parties to the Terms ( 'Parties') must:
- Within 30 days of the Notice endeavour in good faith to resolve the Dispute expeditiously by negotiation or such other means upon which they may mutually agree;
- If for any reason whatsoever, 30 days after the date of the Notice, the Dispute has not been resolved, the Parties must either agree upon selection of a mediator or request that an appropriate mediator be appointed by the President of the ACAT or his or her nominee;
- The Parties are equally liable for the fees and reasonable expenses of a mediator and the cost of the venue of the mediation and without limiting the foregoing undertake to pay any amounts requested by the mediator as a pre-condition to the mediation commencing. The Parties must each pay their own costs associated with the mediation;
- The mediation will be held in Canberra, Australia.

Confidential:

- All communications concerning negotiations made by the Parties arising out of and in connection with this dispute resolution clause are confidential and to the extent possible, must be treated as "without prejudice" negotiations for the purpose of applicable laws of evidence.

Termination of Mediation:

- If 1 month have elapsed after the start of a mediation of the Dispute and the Dispute has not been resolved, either Party may ask the mediator to terminate the mediation and the mediator must do so.

Venue and Jurisdiction

The Services offered by Abound is intended to be viewed by residents of Australia. In the event of any dispute arising out of or in relation to the Website, you agree that the exclusive venue for resolving any dispute shall be in the courts of Australia Capital Territory, Australia.

Governing Law

The Terms are governed by the laws of Australia Capital Territory, Australia. Any dispute, controversy, proceeding or claim of whatever nature arising out of or in any way relating to the Terms and the rights created hereby shall be governed, interpreted and construed by, under and pursuant to the laws of Australia Capital Territory, Australia, without reference to conflict of law principles, notwithstanding mandatory rules. The validity of this governing law clause is not contested. The Terms shall be binding to the benefit of the parties hereto and their successors and assigns.

I have read and agree to the

Scope

This policy covers all operations and functions of Abound including the management and disclosure of personal information collected and/or held by Abound of counsellors, clients, service providers, customers, agents or any other parties.

Definitions

Personal Information is defined in the Privacy Act 1988 as information or an opinion (true or not) about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable. The information or opinion may be recorded in a material form or not. Personal Information does not include personal health information.

Personal health information is defined in the Health Records (Privacy and Access) Act 1997. It includes any personal information, whether or not recorded in a health record relating to the health, an illness or a disability of the consumer. Personal health information is managed in accordance with the Health Records (Privacy and Access) Act 1997.

Sensitive Personal Information is defined in the Privacy Act 1988 and essentially means personal information that is about a person’s racial or ethnic origin; political opinions; religious beliefs or affiliations; philosophical beliefs; membership of a political association, professional or trade association, or trade union; sexual orientation or practices; or criminal record. Sensitive information is a form of personal information.

Academic information refers to information about a counsellor’s academic status and is a form of personal information.

Legislation

Abound chooses to abide by the Privacy Act 1988 and associated 13 Australian Privacy Principles (APPs), which came into effect on 12 March 2014 and set out standards, rights and obligations for the handling, holding, accessing and correction of personal information (including sensitive information).

Principles

Abound is committed to protect the personal information of future, current and past counsellors and clients, service providers and other industry and business partners.

PART 1 – Consideration of Personal Information Privacy

Open and Transparent Management of Personal Information:

Abound will:

ensure that personal information is managed in an open and transparent way;
take reasonable steps to implement practices and procedures that will facilitate dealing with enquiries or complaints from individuals compliant with the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs);
ensure that it maintains an up-to-date policy about the management of personal information;
ensure that the Abound Privacy Policy contains the following information:
- the kind of information that is collected and held;
- how the information is collected and held;
- the purposes for which information is collected, held, used and disclosed;
- how an individual may access their personal information held by Abound and seek correction of such information as necessary;
- how the individual may make a complaint about a breach of the APPs and how Abound will deal with such a complaint;
provide the Privacy Policy free of charge and in such form as appropriate, and as is reasonable.

Anonymity and pseudonymity:

Abound will respect that individuals may not wish to identify themselves when making enquiries about Abound’s products and services;
Abound will however require full personal details as required by law and for identification purposes from clients.

PART 2 – Collection of Personal Information

Abound will not collect personal information from anyone unless that information is necessary for, or directly related to, one or more of its functions or activities or where it is required by law.
Abound will take reasonable steps at or before the time of collection to ensure that all stakeholders are aware of:
- Who we are and how to contact us;
- The purpose for which the information is being collected;
- Any organisation to which we would normally disclose information;
- Any law that requires the particular information to be collected;
- The main consequences for the individual if all or part of the information is not provided.
Abound only collects the minimum information it needs. The kinds of personal information, collected and held may include:
- name, address and contact details (such as phone and email);
- identity information (such as date of birth, country of birth, drivers licence, and educational qualifications);
- information about personal circumstances (such as age, gender, marital status and occupation);
- evidence of a Working with Vulnerable People (Background Checking) card;
- information about financial affairs (such as payment details, bank account details);
- information about assistance provided as relevant to counsellors and clients.
Abound may be required to collect and hold personal health information about counsellors or clients. Personal health records are managed in accordance with the Health Records (Privacy and Access) Act 1997.
Generally when a person deals with Abound (e.g. a phone enquiry), that person may remain anonymous or use a pseudonym. However, in some situations Abound will require personal information to provide necessary services or assistance.
Abound collects information from counsellors and clients in the following ways:
- When they become member counsellors;
- When they register their interest online, book a counselling session, or contact or do business with us;
- Information collected from telephone calls or emails;
- Information collected from third parties, such as counselling associations, regarding confirmation of training and ongoing professional development attended;
- Information collected when people visit the Abound website. No personal information is collected in this way unless it is voluntarily provided through participation in an activity that asks for information such as sending an e-mail; or undertaking a payment or other transaction.
Should information be collected from a third party, Abound will take reasonable steps to ensure that the individual is or has been made aware of the matters listed above.

PART 3 – Dealing with Personal Information

Abound will not disclose personal information to a third party for secondary purposes or disclose personal information to government agencies, private sector organisations or anyone else without written consent, unless an exception applies. The circumstances where an exception may occur:
- where the use or disclosure of this information is required or authorised by or under an Australian law or a court/tribunal order;
- where the individual would reasonable expect Abound to use or disclose the information for a secondary purpose related to the original purpose of collection;
- where it is unreasonable or impracticable to obtain the person’s consent and Abound reasonably believes that use or disclosure is necessary to lessen or prevent a serious threat to the life, health or safety of any individual, or to public health or safety;
- where Abound has reason to suspect unlawful activity, or misconduct of a serious nature that relates to its functions or activities and reasonably believes that use or disclosure of the personal information is necessary to take appropriate action;
- Abound believes that the use or disclosure is reasonably necessary to help locate a person who has been reported as missing;
- Abound reasonably believes that the use or disclosure of the information is reasonably necessary for one or more enforcement related activities conducted by, or on behalf of, enforcement bodies (e.g. police).
- Abound collects and holds personal information from current and future counsellors and clients to:
  - Process and confirm appointments and payments and clients;
  - Record and maintain details of counsellors;
  - Record and maintain details of ongoing training and professional development;
  - Gain feedback;
  - Communicate with counsellors and clients;
  - Report to relevant authorities as required by law.
- Direct Marketing
  - Abound may use personal information (specially names and address details) and information about preferences for direct marketing (i.e. the communication channels preferred for receiving direct marketing and the types of products and services clients are interested in) to let clients know about our services and benefits, where consent has been given.
  - Abound provides an opt-out and/or unsubscribe method that is easily accessible for individuals to request not to receive direct marketing communications.
- Cross Border Disclosure
  - Abound does not disclose personal information to overseas recipients unless prior written approval is received by the individual to whom the personal information relates.

PART 4 – Integrity of Personal Information

Quality of personal information
- Abound will take reasonable steps to ensure that personal information collected is accurate, and to maintain personal information to ensure that, having regard to the purposes for which it is held, it is accurate, up-to-date, complete, relevant and not misleading.
Security of personal information
- Abound will take steps, as are reasonable in the circumstances, to ensure that personal information it holds is safe and secure and to protect the information from misuse, interference and loss as well as unauthorised access, modification or disclosure and to destroy the information or to ensure that the information is de-identified:
  - Abound IT systems employ comprehensive protections to guard against unauthorised access.
  - All sensitive information collected and held by Abound is stored securely with restricted access.
  - As a part of Abound’s general practice, personal information is only available to counsellors who need access to personal information to perform their duties.

PART 5 – Access to, and correction of, personal information

Abound provides counsellors with electronic access to their own personal records, where the individual can update and maintain their own personal information.
A person has the right to request access to their personal information held by Abound, and to request that their personal information be corrected. This is provided for under the Freedom of Information Act 1989.
Abound can assist counsellors, upon written confirmation (e.g. via email), to amend personal information such as address details. Abound will not charge fees for making the request, providing access to personal information, or correcting personal information.
In some circumstances, Abound may not permit access to individuals for their personal information. If this is the case, Abound will provide full details for the legal reasons for refusal. These may include that Abound believes that:
- giving access to the information would pose a serious threat to the life, health or safety of the individual, or to public health or public safety; or
- giving access would have an unreasonable impact on the privacy of other individuals; or
- the request for access is frivolous or vexatious; or
- the information relates to existing or anticipated legal proceedings between Abound and the individual, and would not be accessible by the process of discovery in those proceedings; or
- giving access would reveal the intentions of Abound in relation to negotiations with the individual in such a way as to prejudice those negotiations; or
- giving access would be unlawful; or
- denying access is required or authorised by or under an Australian law or a court/tribunal order; or
- unlawful activity, or misconduct of a serious nature, that relates to Abound functions or activities has been, is being or may be engaged in and giving access would be likely to prejudice taking appropriate action in relation to these matters; or
- giving access would be likely to prejudice one or more enforcement related activities conducted by, or on behalf of, an enforcement body; or
- giving access would reveal evaluative information generated within Abound in connection with a commercially sensitive decision-making process.
When dealing with requests for access to personal information, Abound will:
- respond to the request for access within 30 days of the request if from an individual, and within a reasonable time if the request is from an organisation; and
- provide access to the information in the manner requested, if it is reasonable and practicable to do so.
Abound does not charge a fee for access to personal information.
With regard to the correction of personal information held:
- should Abound be satisfied that information is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading, Abound will take such steps as reasonable to correct the information to ensure that, having regard to the purpose for which it is held, the information remains accurate, up-to-date, complete, relevant and not misleading.
- Should Abound refuse to correct information, Abound will give written notice to the individual that sets out the reason for refusal, the mechanisms available to complain about the refusal and any other matters prescribed by the regulations.

Abound Responsibilities

The management of Abound ensures that all counsellors are made aware of this policy and its underpinning legislative requirements, and comply with this policy at all times.

Abound ensures that all counsellors, clients and service providers have access to and awareness of this policy.

Monitoring and Improvement

All practices for Privacy are monitored by the management of Abound and areas for improvement identified and acted upon.

Making a complaint

Complaints about how Abound has managed personal information for counsellors or clients will be dealt with by the contact details provided via the Abound website. Complaints from counsellors or clients should be submitted in writing. Abound is also able to assist with the lodgement of a complaint if required.
Abound will promptly acknowledge receipt of complaints and seek to satisfactorily resolve each matter within in a timely way.
Complaints about possible interference with privacy should be made to Abound in the first instance. If not resolved, privacy complaints may be taken to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, an independent body that will decide whether to deal with a complaint and consider whether there has been an interference with privacy. If a complaint is upheld by the Commissioner it may be possible to seek a remedy in the Magistrates Court.
More information about making a complaint to the Oce of the Australian Information Commissioner can be found on its website www.oaic.gov.au or by calling 1300 363 992, or following this link: https://www.oaic.gov.au/individuals/how-do-i-make-a-privacy-complaint

For more information please visit the Abound website at https://abound.org.au