1. IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Application of Terms and Conditions
Unless otherwise stated these Terms and Conditions apply to and form part of all Engagements by Acuity Group Pty Ltd, whether a printed version of these Terms and Conditions has been provided to You by Acuity Group or whether You have viewed them on Acuity Group's website located at www.acuitygroup.com.au
Modification of Terms and Conditions
Acuity Group may modify the Terms and Conditions at any time on 30 days notice to You and such modifications shall be effective at the expiry of the notice period. The most current version of the Terms and Conditions can be reviewed by clicking on the "Terms & Conditions" hypertext link located at the bottom of Acuity Group's web site, located at www.acuitygroup.com.au
2. DEFINITIONS
"Client" means any corporation, organisation or person to whom Acuity Group either sells a product or provides a service or both.
"Engagement" means the agreement between Acuity Group and a Client whether written or otherwise whereby Acuity Group agrees to sell products or perform services or both for the Client and includes these Terms and Conditions.
"Fee" means the fee set out in the Schedule.
"Party" means a party to this Engagement and "Parties" has a corresponding meaning.
"Person" includes a natural person, body corporate or trust or any other entity capable of entering into an Engagement.
"Schedule" means the Schedule to this Engagement.
"Terms and Conditions" means these terms and conditions and any annexure attached hereto.
"Training Date" means the date as agreed between the Parties, on which the Training is to occur.
"We", "Us" and "Acuity Group" means Acuity Group or its employees, servants, agents or consultants as the case may be."You" means the Client and includes any servant, agent, employee or consultant of the Client as the case may be and "Your" has a corresponding meaning.
3. TRAINING
If Acuity Group agrees to provide Training:
A. You Provide:
For the purpose of any Training You must provide: 1. Training resources and facilities suitable for the number of attendees to be provided.
2. We suggest you provide attendees with meals and refreshments (including lunch, morning and afternoon tea).
B. Acuity Group Provides:
1. For the purpose of any Training Acuity Group will provide those items set out in the Schedule and will retain all proprietary rights in these items.
2. Any loss or damage to those items as a result of or arising out any action or conduct of the Client must be paid for by the Client.
C. Attendance at Training:
1. The Client agrees that any employee, servant, agent or consultant of the Client attending Training will be punctual and diligently apply themselves to the Training.
2. Any non-attendance or partial attendance at the Training will not remove, reduce or in any way affect the Fee payable by the Client.
4. POSTPONEMENT AND CANCELLATION POLICY
Written notification is required of any postponement or cancellation, or changes to the Training Date. Any changes by the Client to the Training Date will incur a $100 (ex GST) Administration fee. If Acuity Group receives written notification of changes to the Training Date with less than 30 and more than 14 days notice from the Training Date, 30% of the Fees will also be charged. If Acuity Group is notified of changes to the Training Date with less than 14 days notice from the Training Date, 100% of the Fees will also be charged. Clients that provide Acuity Group with more than 30 days' notice when cancelling Training will be provided with a discount voucher to the value of 20% of the Fees. This voucher can be applied to any in-house course or open course within 6 months of the Training Date. 2 Any out-of-pocket disbursements incurred by Acuity Group in relation to the postponement or cancellation may also be charged to the Client at Acuity Group's discretion.
5. FORCE MAJEURE
Where either Party is unable, wholly or in part, by reason of force majeure, to carry out any obligation pursuant to the Engagement, and that Party: (a) gives each other Party prompt notice of that force majeure including reasonable particulars, and, in so far as known, the probable extent to which it will be unable to perform or be delayed in performing that obligation; (b) uses all possible diligence to remove that force majeure as quickly as possible, that obligation is suspended so far as it is affected by force majeure during the continuance of that force majeure and that Party shall be allowed a reasonable extension of time to perform its obligations. If after a period of six months, the force majeure has not ceased, the Parties shall meet in good faith to discuss the situation and endeavour to achieve a mutually satisfactory resolution to the problem. In this Engagement, "force majeure" means an act of God, strike, lockout or other interference with work, war (declared or undeclared), blockade, disturbance, lightning, fire, earthquake, storm, flood, explosion, governmental or quasi governmental restraint, expropriation, prohibition, intervention, direction or embargo, unavailability or delay in availability of equipment or transport, inability or delay in obtaining governmental or quasi governmental approvals, consents, permits, licenses, authorities or allocations, and any other cause, whether of the kind specifically enumerated above or otherwise which is not reasonably within the control of the party affected.
6. SUBSTITUTE TRAINER
For training courses, Acuity Group may substitute an alternative trainer if the staff specified are unable to provide the course.
7. NON - EMPLOYMENT OF ACUITY GROUP STAFF
During the period that Acuity Group provides services to You, You shall not directly or indirectly through any associated company employ or enter into any agreement with for the provision of services either as a consultant or independent contractor, or offer any position or employment to any Acuity Group employee, whether permanent or contracted. You acknowledge that any breach of this provision will result in substantial damage to Acuity Group and You agree that in the event of breach of this provision You will pay to Acuity Group by way of liquidated damages, and not as a penalty, a 3 sum equal to the gross annual salary (or remuneration as otherwise determined in the case of contracted employees) for any employee at the rate of pay current at the time of breach.
8. SCOPE OF EXCLUSIONS
The items listed below are excluded from the scope of services provided by Acuity Group pursuant to the Engagement unless otherwise expressly agreed in the Schedule: A. Acuity Group will make no attempt to ensure compliance with relevant Accounting Standards, tax laws, or proper record keeping. B. Acuity Group will make no audit or other verification of any data or information You provide to it. C. Although Acuity Group makes every effort to discover weaknesses and potential errors, due to the complex nature of large spreadsheets, it cannot guarantee that its work is free from error
9. FEES
Acuity Group's Fees for services and products are exclusive of GST and are set out in the Schedule, or as otherwise agreed between the Parties in writing. Disbursements will be charged at cost plus 10%. Any disbursements greater than $100 will be agreed with You prior to incurring them.
10. INVOICES
Invoices will be accompanied by a detailed timesheet where relevant and will be rendered monthly, payable within 14 days.
11. OVERDUE ACCOUNTS
Interest will be charged on all accounts not paid within 14 days of the invoice due date at the rate charged by the Bank of Western Australia Limited on overdrafts of less than $100,000.00. Interest will be calculated on a daily basis from the date of the account to the date of payment unless Acuity Group agrees to waive the interest claim in writing. Each time interest is raised, an administration fee of $50 will also be applied. Acuity Group reserves the right to employ the services of a debt collection agency at its discretion for any account not paid within 45 days of the invoice due date. The Client will be liable for all costs incurred in collecting the outstanding account.
12. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
Any potential claim against Acuity Group or its staff is limited to the lesser of ten times the total fees rendered by Acuity Group for this assignment, or $250,000.
13. INDEMNITY
The Client shall indemnify Acuity Group against all liabilities, claims, costs or expenses (including legal fees and disbursements) incurred by Acuity Group in respect of any third party claim which is related to, arises out of, or is in any way associated with the products or services provided by Acuity Group, except to the extent that such claims, costs or expenses arise out of the negligent, wrongful or willful acts or omissions of Acuity Group.
14. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Acuity Group retains all rights over the use or reproduction of the intellectual property developed in this assignment until all invoices are paid in full, or otherwise agreed in writing by Acuity Group. Acuity Group retains all rights over all code used in client projects. This may include code Acuity Group developed prior to this engagement, and any new code that is written during this engagement. Acuity Group may utilise any code component in other projects at its discretion. Except for the ongoing, personal and non-transferable right to use the deliverables resulting from this Engagement, You shall not obtain or be granted any intellectual property rights to any deliverable or material supplied by Acuity Group. You shall not take any action by way of copying, disseminating, transmitting, accessing, or use of any system that may infringe or may be inconsistent with the intellectual property rights of Acuity Group or its licensors. For the purpose of this clause, intellectual property rights means without limitation, copyright, patent rights, design rights or trade secrets in connection with the deliverables and their source code, or any source code, scripts or interfaces supplied by Acuity Group and any methodologies or process involved in the performance of this assignment or any deliverable or materials (including training materials) provided by Acuity Group. You are not permitted to sell or otherwise distribute the applications Acuity Group develops for You nor individual components without written authorisation from a Director of Acuity Group.
15. COPYRIGHT
The Client acknowledges that Acuity Group owns copyright in all documents prepared by Acuity Group and that those documents must not be reproduced, published, copied, distributed or altered in any way without Acuity Group's prior written permission.
16. CONFIDENTIALITY
During the course of this Engagement, You may provide Acuity Group with certain information of a confidential nature to enable it to complete the assignment. 1. Acuity Group acknowledges that all written and oral information furnished to it by You and your officers, employees, advisers or agents is valuable and confidential. 2. Acuity Group will not use the information except for the purpose of completing this Engagement or subsequent Engagements You may request of it. 3. Subject to Clause 16.5, Acuity Group agrees that: (a) except as permitted under clause 16.2 or this clause, Acuity Group will not use or disclose any information without prior written consent from You; (b) Acuity Group will only disclose the information on a "need to know" basis to our directors, officers, employees, and professional advisers; and (c) Acuity Group will use its best endeavours to ensure that our directors, officers, employees and professional advisers to whom the information is disclosed comply with the obligations imposed on it by clause 16.2 and this clause. 4. If this Engagement does not proceed for any reason whatsoever, Acuity Group will, within 7 days of receipt of a demand from You, return to You or destroy any information supplied by You which is in a physical form and which is in the possession, custody or control of Acuity Group. 5. Our obligations under this Engagement do not apply to any information which: (a) Acuity Group is required by law or by the listing rules of Australian Stock Exchange Limited to disclose; (b) is in or enters the public domain otherwise than by breach of this Engagement; (c) is already known to Acuity Group; or (d) is acquired by Acuity Group from a person who was not under an obligation of confidentiality relating thereto. 6. Acuity Group acknowledges that the value of the confidential information to you may be unique and therefore impractical or difficult to assess in monetary terms. Accordingly if an actual or threatened violation of this Engagement occurs Acuity Group will consent to the enforcement of this Engagement by injunctive relief or specific performance without proof of actual damage. 7. These confidentiality provisions shall expire five years from the date of execution of this Engagement.
17. CLIENT LIST
You agree that AG may add your organisation's name to the Acuity Group list of Clients for use by Acuity Group in sales material. Acuity Group agrees not to disclose information about your organisation or cause it to be used as a reference site, without your prior approval.
18. SERVICES OUTSIDE THE SCOPE OF THIS ENGAGEMENT
You may request that Acuity Group performs additional services at a future date not contemplated by the Engagement. If this occurs, You may request that Acuity Group communicate with You regarding the scope and estimated cost of these additional services. If You do not request an estimate, Acuity Group will provide its services to you on a time and materials basis, using the rates set out in the Schedule, as amended by Acuity Group from time to time. Engagements for additional services may necessitate that Acuity Group issue a separate engagement letter to reflect the obligations of both Parties.
19. TERMINATION BY Acuity Group
Acuity Group may terminate this Engagement, effective immediately, and stop acting for the Client if: (a) The Client does not comply with this Engagement; (b) Acuity Group forms the opinion that mutual confidence and trust do not exist between Acuity Group and the Client; (c) The Client requires Acuity Group to act in an unethical or unlawful manner; (d) Any type of insolvency administrator is appointed in respect of the property or affairs of the Client. These rights are in addition to any other rights of termination in this Engagement or at law. All Fees payable by the Client (whether these have been invoiced or not) will remain payable following termination.
20. VARIATION TO ENGAGEMENT
This Engagement may not be varied except in writing and with the consent of both Parties save as provided for in this Engagement. Acuity Group may send the Client written notice of a variation of this Engagement including any proposed increase in hourly rates and the Client's continued instruction of Acuity Group after the date of receipt of that notice shall constitute the Client's acceptance of that variation.
21. CONTINUING ENGAGEMENTS
In the absence of a further set of terms and conditions, these terms and conditions will apply to any future engagement by the Client of Acuity Group.
22. LIEN
Acuity Group retains ownership of its own files and the contents thereof and is entitled to retain all documents and personal property in its possession provided by the Client until the matter is completed and all the invoices for Fees are paid in full.
23. JURISDICTION
The Engagement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with Western Australian law and any dispute, controversy or claim arising out of or in connection with this Engagement or the breach, termination or invalidity of this Engagement shall be referred to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the Supreme Courts of Western Australia.
24. REASONABLE CARE
Acuity Group will take reasonable care in providing the products and services to the Client. If the Client makes a claim against Acuity Group for breach of contract and the loss, injury or damage the Client suffers as a result of Acuity Group's negligence and the Client's negligence, the Client's claim will be reduced as if the claim was based in negligence to the extent of the Client's contributory negligence.
25. ASSIGNMENT
The Client shall not in any way assign or deal with interests under the Engagement without Acuity Group's prior written consent. Where the Client is a corporation it is deemed to have assigned the Engagement if there is a change in control of the shareholding in the Client.
26. WAIVER
Acuity Group shall not be deemed to have waived any of its rights under the Engagement unless such waiver is in writing.
27. SEVERABILITY
If a clause or part of a clause can be read in a way that makes it illegal, unenforceable or invalid, but can also be read in a way that makes it legal, enforceable and valid, it must be read in the latter way. If any clause or part of a clause relating to service of documents, security or indemnity is illegal, unenforceable or invalid, that clause or part is to be treated as removed from this Engagement, but the rest of this Engagement is not affected.
28. NOTICES
All notices which are required to be given under this Engagement shall be in writing and shall be sent to the address of the recipient set out in the Schedule or such other address as the recipient may designate by notice given in accordance with this clause. Any notice may be delivered by hand or by pre- paid letter or facsimile. Any such notice shall be deemed to have been served when delivered (if delivered by hand) or 48 hours after posting (except by pre- paid letter) or on transmission by the sender (if sent by facsimile).
29. PRIVACY
The Client agrees that in providing products and performing services in accordance with this Engagement or unless it has authority from You to do so. Acuity Group may collect personal information (including sensitive and health information) about the Client and other persons. Acuity Group will only use this information for the purposes of providing the products and services to the Client unless is legally required. If the Client provides Acuity Group with personal information collected from other individuals, the Client warrants to Acuity Group that that information is correct, has been collected in accordance with the applicable privacy legislation and that Acuity Group is authorised to receive that information from the Client and to use it for the purposes of providing the products and services to the Client. In the course of acting for the Client, Acuity Group may disclose to the Client personal information about other individuals in which case the Client agrees that it will use, disclose, handle, store and transfer that information only in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). The Client also agrees that it will comply with Acuity Group requirements in relation to the protection of personal information.
30. SECURITY CAPABILITIES AND TRANSMISSION OF PAYMENT CARD DETAILS
For credit card transactions, customer information is secured by using 128/256-bit SSL certificate (SSL) technology, which encrypts the information you input. This SSL security is provided by eWay's payment gateway platform. For additional information regarding eWay's security protocols and systems, visit www.eway.com.au Credit card details are not stored on Acuity Group's servers and are not available to any Acuity Group staff. After a credit card payment has been made a message will appear on the screen confirming whether the payment was unsuccessful.
31. DELIVERY
Services will be delivered by a suitably qualified Acuity Group representative in accordance with the delivery schedule set out in the Engagement letter. .
Products ordered from Acuity Group will be delivered to the Client via courier, Australia Post, in person by an Acuity Group representative at Acuity Group's discretion. Clients should note that some Products are supplied directly by the producer of those products. In this case, the producer's delivery policy will apply. This will be noted in the Engagement letter.
32. DISPUTES
Any dispute, controversy or claim arising out of, relating to or in connection with this contract, including any question regarding its existence, validity or termination, shall be resolved by arbitration in accordance with the ACICA Arbitration Rules. The seat of arbitration shall be Perth, Western Australia. The language of the arbitration shall be English. The number of arbitrators shall be one.
33. REFUND & RETURNS POLICY
If for any reason you are not completely satisfied with your purchase, please contact us through www.acuitygroup.com.au so that we can resolve any problems. Acuity Group does not provide refunds or returns for the services provided.
SCHEDULE
Please refer to the Schedules in your proposal document.