Mission Statement
BetterState.org.au is a place for all public sector workers to learn about and campaign for improved resources and more jobs, as well as a vehicle for creating a coherent vision for public service delivery in NSW.
People can discuss current and upcoming campaigns and conditions affecting public sectors workers and union members throughout New South Wales. BetterState.org.au offers its members the ability to bring together important social, economic and political matters affecting public sector workers through a variety of means, including:
- Blogs;
- Video Campaigns
- Picture and/or Audio Campaigns; and
- Discussion Forums
The main goals of BetterState.org.au are to allow Members to learn and share their interests in the working conditions and lives of public sector employees in New South Wales and Australia and to discuss major issues and campaigns that affect workers and unions with others who sincerely want to benefit from the knowledge of his or her fellow members.
Our Site is set up to enable specific issues to be dealt with in separate sections of the Site. These sections are each called Campaigns and contain information relevant to the particular issue or union that surrounds the Campaign. A Campaign Coordinator, who in turn appoints one or more Activists to generate interest in the Campaign, moderates each Campaign. All Members are free to view all the Campaigns on the Site and participate in the discussion forums and blogs contained in each Campaign.
Discussions on BetterState.org.au are polite, respectful and cordial. Everyone’s opinion is to be respected, even where other users don’t agree with or share such opinions. Users agree not to verbally attack or intimidate other users in any way, but will instead contribute in a constructive and positive manner. BetterState.org.au is a community and, like all communities, we welcome people from all walks of life and wish to ensure that people can participate in a positive, healthy environment that achieves the aims set out by Unions NSW [maybe include a hyperlink to the aims or principles of Unions NSW] without fear or intimidation, discrimination or harassment.
General Terms of Use
BetterState.org.au (the Site) is owned and operated by the Labor Council of NSW (Unions NSW). These Terms of Use describes the terms and conditions that govern your use of our services on the Site. By registering with, or using, the Site, you agree that you have read and accepted all of the terms and conditions contained in these Terms of Use and this Site’s Privacy Policy [hyperlink Privacy Policy here] (collectively the Policies) and agree to be bound by the Policies for the duration of your Membership and use of the Site. All of our Policies may be accessed at [insert link to page containing both Terms of Use and Privacy Policy]. The Terms of Use comprise each of:
- General Terms of Use
- Forum, Blog and Discussion Rules; and
- Rules for Campaign Coordinators and Activists.
These Policies change from time to time and you agree that such changes form part of these Policies. Each time you use the Site you confirm your agreement with and agree to be bound by our Policies as amended from time to time. If we amend the Privacy Policy such that the manner in which we use your Personal Information (as defined in the Privacy Policy) is altered, then we will notify you of such change via the email address that you have provided to us when you register with the Site. This notification will be sent to you no later than the date on which the change to the Privacy Policy takes effect.
1. Eligibility
To be eligible to register with the Site, you must be at least [18] years of age. Your profile may be deleted and your Membership of this Site may be terminated without warning, if we reasonably believe that you are under [18] years of age and you represent yourself as [18] years of age or older.
Only natural persons (and not corporate entities) may register with, and use, the Site. You must not allow others to use your Membership and must not transfer or sell that membership to any other person. While you are a member of the Site, you must main control of your Membership and you are responsible for what occurs with your Membership and must report any unauthorised use of your Membership to Unions NSW.
Unions NSW may, in its absolute discretion, deregister any person who registers on the Site for any reason.
2. Membership
If you wish to engage in any manner of discussion with other people using the Site, or upload any Content (defined below) to the Site, then you must register as a member of the Site (Member and Membership). Membership of the Site is optional for other users of the Site. Registering with the Site and Membership of the Site is free.
In order to register with the Site, you will be required to provide Unions NSW with certain personal information, which will include a valid email address that you control and may include your name, address, date of birth and gender. The manner in which this information is collected and disclosed is set out in our Privacy Policy. [hyperlink to Privacy Policy]
The Site allows for different categories of Memberships. These include:
(i) Campaign Coordinators, who are appointed by us to moderate each Campaign run on the Site;
(ii) Activists, who are appointed by Campaign Coordinators to build interest in a specific Campaign and who, with Campaign Coordinators, share Content (defined below) and start discussions and blogs on issues relevant to their Campaign; and
(iii) Member, who are general Members of the Site who can participate in discussions and post Content to the Site.
We may add, alter or remove any category of Membership at any time without notice to you. We may also change the roles and responsibilities of any particular category of Member, but will notify you of such change to your Membership no later than when the change is to take effect.
3. Term
Your Membership of the Site will remain in full force for the duration of your use of the Site. You may terminate your Membership of the Site at any time and for any reason by deregistering your account in the [account settings page, located at insert hyperlink to account page].
Unions NSW may terminate your Membership of the Site if:
(i) you breach any of these Terms of Use;
(ii) Unions NSW is required to do so by any law or regulation; or
(iii) Unions NSW ceases to operate the Site, or the Site ceases to exist.
Upon termination, all of the legal rights, obligations and liabilities that each of Unions NSW and you have accrued or incurred will continue in force unless expressly stated otherwise.
4. Password and Account Security
When you register with the Site, you may be provided with, or be required to create, a password to enable you to navigate the site and use the features on the Site. You agree and understand that you are responsible for maintaining your password and keeping it confidential.
You are responsible for:
(i) keeping your account password confidential and secured;
(ii) avoiding unauthorised access to your account; and
(iii) keeping the email address associated with your account current.
You accept full responsibility for all activities that occur on your account.
If you change your email address, then you agree to update your account profile with the new email address to ensure that you continue to receive correspondence from Unions NSW and to answers to enquiries or orders or other matters. If you suspect that there is unauthorised use on your account, you should notify us immediately and change your password.
5. Fees [OPTIONAL]
Unions NSW reserves the right to charge a fee to access any portion of the Site and to change its fees (if any) from time to time in its discretion, provided it notifies you of such change no later than the date in which the new or increased fees take effect.
If you do not wish to pay any fees imposed by Unions NSW to access the Site, then you may terminate your Membership of the Site without penalty. However, if you agree to pay fees to access the Site and Unions NSW terminates your Membership because of your breach of these Terms of Use, then you will not be entitled to a refund of any unused portion of fees paid as at the terminating date (if any).
6. Non-Commercial Use
The Site is to be used by Members for their non-commercial use. While the purpose of the Site is to promote the Better State campaign and Unions within New South Wales, the Site is not to be used by Members to promote their own commercial interests independent of their respective unions.
Unions NSW may remove any posting, and deregister any Member who uses the Site or makes any postings of any nature on the Site that promotes or is intended to seek customers to, that Member’s commercial enterprise or business interests.
7. Linked Sites
The Site may contain hyperlinks to websites of people or organizations other than Unions NSW. The Site may also contain advertisements that contain hyperlinks to advertisers websites. Those links are provided for convenience and information purposes and may not remain current or maintained. Except as expressly stated on the Site, Unions NSW:
(i) is not responsible for any content on those linked websites;
(ii) is not responsible for any loss or damage of any nature that you may suffer as a result of accessing any linked website from the Site; and
(iii) has no control over or rights in those linked websites.
8. Promotions and Competitions
Terms and conditions of entry for any promotions or competitions on the Site will appear with that promotion or competition and should be read in conjunction with these Terms of Use.
9. Intellectual Property Rights
You acknowledge that the content contained on this Site other than content that is uploaded by any Member of the Site in their capacity as a Member and not a representative of Unions NSW, including any trade marks, trade secrets or other proprietary rights are owned or licensed by Unions NSW (the Intellectual Property Rights). You agree not to modify, remove, delete, augment, add to, publish, transmit, sell or transfer the Intellectual Property Rights in any manner, including without limitation:
(i) in connection with activities, products or services which are not owned, operated or connected with Unions NSW; or
(ii) in a manner which may be confusing, misleading or deceptive; or
(iii) in a manner that disparages Unions NSW, or any products or services advertised or promoted on the Site or otherwise by Unions NSW.
10. Disclaimers and Limitation of Liability
Unions NSW is not responsible for and makes no warranties, express or implied, as to any products, services or Content (defined below) appearing on or available through the Site. Unions NSW is also not responsible for the content, accuracy or opinions expressed on any advertisement contained on the Site or any website linked from this Site and such websites are not necessarily investigated, monitored or checked for accuracy or completeness by Unions NSW. Inclusion of any advertisement on the Site or any linked website on the Site does not imply approval or endorsement by Unions NSW.
You use the Site at your own risk and acknowledge and agree that the Site and all content on the Site are provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis. You understand that you may be exposed to Content that is offensive, indecent or objectionable. In particular, Unions NSW, and its affiliates, licensors, agents, Suppliers and contractors do not represent or warrant that:
(i) your use of the Site will meet your requirements;
(ii) the Site will be uninterrupted, error free or secure; and
(iii) any information obtained from the Site by you will be accurate and reliable.
Unions NSW is not responsible for the conduct, whether online or offline, of any user (including any Member) of the Site. Unions NSW assumes no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, communications line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorised access to, or alteration of, any Site user communication. Unions NSW also disclaims any liability for any Content posted, transmitted, emailed or otherwise made available via the Site.
Unions NSW is not liable to you or anyone else for any actual or alleged loss, liability, claim or demand (including solicitors costs) suffered by you or made by a third party (collectively Loss) in connection with the use of the Site or a linked website. This includes any Loss suffered by you or a third party through you as a result of the use of any Content posted, emailed, transmitted or otherwise made available on the Site.
Nothing contained in this clause is intended to limit or replace any rights or remedies that you may have under the Trade Practices Act or equivalent fair trading legislation in your State or Territory.
11. Indemnity
You agree to indemnify and hold Unions NSW, its affiliates, subcontractors and agents, and their respective officers, partners and employees, harmless from any Loss due to, or arising from a breach of these Terms of Use by you, including with respect to any Content uploaded by you to the Site.
12. Privacy and Personal Information
When you register for the Site Unions NSW collects personal information about you. Unions NSW may also collect personal information about you when you use the Site. Unions NSW’s Privacy Policy sets out the collection of personal information and how and when Unions NSW will use that personal information.
You acknowledge and agree that the Privacy Policy forms part of these Terms of Use. The Unions NSW Privacy Policy can be found at: http://betterstate.org.au/privacy.
13. Interruption and Suspension
You acknowledge that the Site may be temporarily unavailable for maintenance and support purposes. We are not responsible for the suspension of or interruption to the Site, regardless of the cause of the interruption or suspension. We may discontinue or change the Site or its availability to you at any time.
14. Severability
The provisions of these Terms of Use are intended to be severable. If for any reason any provision of these Terms of Use is held to be invalid or unenforceable in whole or in part, such provision will be ineffective to the extent of such invalidity or unenforceability without affecting the validity or enforceability of the remaining provisions of these Terms of Use.
15. Governing Law
The laws of New South Wales govern these Terms of Use and you submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts there.
Forum, Blog and Discussion Rules
1. Member Content
The Site allows Members to interact with each other through blogs, discussions forums, video and audio recordings and other means of electronic communication. All information, data, text, software, music, sound, photographs, graphics, video, messages or other materials (Content) whether publicly posted or privately transmitted are the sole responsibility of the person from whom such Content originated. Unions NSW designates the extent to which Members may be permitted to upload, post or transmit Content. Such rights and restrictions are set out in these Terms of Use and on the Site generally. The extent to which you are permitted to upload, post or transmit Content may depend on the nature of your Membership (that is, whether you are a Campaign Coordinator, Activist or general Member).
Unions NSW does not control the Content posted by Members and, as such, does not guarantee the accuracy, integrity or quality of such Content.
2. Member Conduct
When using the Site, you agree not to:
(i) upload, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available any Content that is unlawful or promotes unlawful activities, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortuous, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, contains nudity, solicits personal information from any other Member, invasive of privacy, hateful, or is in any way vilifying of any person’s race, gender, political beliefs, religious beliefs or sexual orientation;
(ii) upload, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available any Content that is deliberately or recklessly intended to undermine and offend the principles of Unions NSW, union membership or any specific union organisation;
(iii) harm minors in any way;
(iv) impersonate another Member, create a false identity or multiple identities or otherwise manipulate identifiers in order to disguise the origin of any Content transmitted on the Site or mislead other Members as to the identity of the person who transmitted the Content;
(v) upload, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, ‘junk mail’, ‘spam’ or any other form of solicitation, except where expressly permitted by the Site;
(vi) upload, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available any material that contains software viruses or other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment;
(vii) act in a manner that negatively affects other Members and visitors ability to engage in real time exchanges or discussions;
(viii) ‘stalk’ or otherwise harass any person;
(ix) gain unauthorised access to the Site or use another Member’s password or account;
(x) collect or store personal data about any other Members or visitors;
(xi) solicit password or member information from other Members;
(xii) sell or otherwise transfer your Membership to any person or let another person use your Membership and sign in under your Membership account.
3. Content Uploaded by Members
In addition to the requirements set out above, if you upload, post, email, transmit other otherwise make available any Content that may give rise to a copyright or other intellectual property right interest (each a Work and collectively Works), you warrant and represent to Unions NSW each and every time that you upload a Work that:
(i) you own the Intellectual Property Rights in that Work or have the express written permission of the owner of that Work or licensee of the Intellectual Property Rights to that Work; and
(ii) the Work does not breach the Intellectual Property Rights of any person or corporation; and
(iii) the Work does not contain any defamatory imputations, or is in contempt of any Court or administrative proceedings; and
(iv) the Work does not infringe the moral rights of any person; and
(v) the Work does not infringe the privacy of any individual; and
(vi) the uploading of the Work does not contravene any law or regulation.
You agree that you have paid, or will pay, all royalties (if any) or license fees required to be paid in association with any Work that you upload to the Site, including any fees payable to a licensing collections agency such as the Australasian Performing Rights Association.
You grant to Unions NSW a non-exclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free licence to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, perform, display and distribute the Work on the Site. Unions NSW is entitled to sub-license its rights to any affiliate or person who is operating or managing the Site on its behalf.
You acknowledge that Unions NSW may modify, adapt or make such other changes to the Work to enable the Work to be viewed and disseminated on the Site.
To the extent permitted by applicable law, you unconditionally and irrevocably:
(i) consent, and will obtain all other necessary unconditional and irrevocable written consents from other persons involved in producing any Content, to any act or omission that would otherwise infringe any moral rights in any Content which are transmitted by you onto the Site, whether occurring before or after a consent is given; and
(ii) waive, and will obtain all other necessary unconditional and irrevocable written waivers of, all moral rights, for our benefit, or the benefit of our licensees, successors in title and anyone authorised by any of them to do acts comprised in the copyright. You agree that you must not institute, maintain or support any claim or proceeding against us, our licensees or successors for infringement of any of your moral rights (or the moral rights of any third person) arising from the transmission of Content through use of the Site.
4. Refusal to Upload Content and Removal of Works
Unions NSW may refuse to upload any Content (including any Work) to the Site or may, in its absolute discretion, remove a Work from the Site for any reason. If Unions NSW receives notice from any person that a Work infringes the Intellectual Property Rights of a person or that the Work otherwise breaches any law (including being defamatory or is in contempt of court or an administrative proceedings), then Unions NSW may remove the offending Work and notify you of the reasons for that Work’s removal.
5. Removal of Content
You acknowledge that we, or the Campaign Coordinators (defined below), do not and cannot review all Content posted to the Site and that neither we or our Campaign Coordinators are responsible for such Content or obligated in any way to delete, move or edit any Content.
If there has been Content posted to the Site that you believe breaches these Terms of Use, then you should contact us at [insert hyperlink here] or contact the relevant Campaign Coordinator.
We (or the relevant Campaign Coordinator) will review the disputed Content to determine whether it breaches these Terms of Use. If the disputed Content is deemed to breach these Terms of Use, then it will be removed from the Site and the Member who uploaded, posted, emailed or transmitted the Content will be notified of the Content’s removal. Our decision, or the decision of the relevant Campaign Coordinator as to whether Content is removed or remains on the Site is final and binding on you.
If you have uploaded, posted, transmitted or emailed Content on the Site that we or a Campaign Coordinator determines breaches these Terms of Use (the Offending Content), whether or not another Member has complained to us or a Campaign Coordinator about the Offending Content, then we will notify you of the removal of the Content and require that you refrain from reposting, uploading, retransmitting or email the Offending Content again on the Site (First Notice).
If we have sent you a First Notice, and you either subsequently repost, upload, transmit or email the Offending Content to the Site again or you post, upload, transmit or email other Content that we, or a Campaign Coordinator, deems to be in breach of these Terms of Use and is removed from the Site, we will again notify you of the removal of the Offending Content or Content (as the case may be) (the Second Notice) and upon delivery of the Second Notice terminate your Membership of the Site with immediate effect.
Notwithstanding the preceding paragraphs, you acknowledge and agree that we are entitled to terminate your Membership with immediate effect if we believe that any Content uploaded, posted, transmitted or emailed to the Site by you breaches any law or is seriously offensive, defamatory or causes personal distress to any Member or visitor to the Site. Any Content that breaches any law may be referred to the appropriate law enforcement agencies or your Internet service provider for further action.
Rules for Campaign Coordinators and Activists
1. Campaign Coordinators
a. All Campaign Coordinators must be 18 years of age or older. Any Member may request to become a Campaign Coordinator by submitting a request to Unions NSW at [insert hyperlink here]. All Campaign Coordinators must at all times have a valid, accurate and active Membership to the Site. Unions NSW reserve the right to suspend or terminate a Campaign Coordinator at any time for any reason.
b. Campaign Coordinators are responsible for overseeing and maintaining the Content for their Campaigns. All Content posted in a Campaign will be subject to a Campaign Coordinators control and review. Campaign Coordinators are able to upload, transmit and distribute Content on the Campaign portal of the Site. The Terms of Use that apply generally for Members in relation to Content and set out above apply to Campaign Coordinators.
c. All Campaign Coordinators must at all time be registered as a subscriber to the particular Campaign for which they serve as a moderator. Campaign Coordinators may elect which Campaign that you wish to moderate. Campaign Coordinators may also suggest a new Campaign to Unions NSW that, if approved, they will become moderator.
d. Campaign Coordinators understand and acknowledge that you are appointed as a volunteer and that the nature of your activities that you may perform in your capacity as a volunteer may involve on-line activity, contact with unidentified and/or unfamiliar persons, or other potential risk of personal injury or damage to property. Knowing this and in consideration of being allowed to volunteer, you assume full and complete responsibility for any personal injury and/or property damage that you sustain or cause during your participation as a Campaign Coordinator. In addition, you release, hold harmless Unions NSW for any loss, damages, expenses or claims arising from your participation as Campaign Coordinator.
e. As a Campaign Coordinator you understand and acknowledge that you may become privy to confidential information about Unions NSW or its affiliates or other Members. You agree to maintain the confidentiality of any information marked “confidential” as well as any information about other Members, Unions NSW or its affiliates’ internal procedures, business operations, personnel information, personal information and website operations that is not otherwise publicly disclosed by Unions NSW or its affiliates. You agree to not use any confidential information in any manner that would be detrimental to Unions NSW or its affiliates, any Member or any other person who uses the services offered by Unions NSW on its official websites, and to avoid any actions that might impair the reputation of Unions NSW or its affiliates or that might adversely affect the fulfillment of Unions NSW's charter.
f. By submitting a request to be a moderator, your name and your avatar may be displayed on the Campaign as the moderator. You authorise Unions NSW to use and publicly display your name and avatar likeness in any manner in conjunction with your role as moderator of a Campaign to which you are appointed Campaign Coordinator.
g. The role of the Campaign Coordinator is to serve as the primary advocate and driver of issues for a Campaign on the Site and to moderate all Content uploaded, posted or transmitted on the portal of the Site containing the Campaign. As a moderator, you are asked to monitor any content and conduct on that particular Campaign and to exercise in diligent good faith and in an objective manner the limited administrative privileges granted to you. In particular, you should look for any Content that the average reasonable person would breach these Terms of Use. You should also look for any Content that is patently incorrect or inaccurate based on facts generally known to the public and for Content that falsely impersonates a Unions NSW officer or employee.
h. Upon your appointment as a Campaign Coordinator to a particular Campaign, your on-line account will be set up with limited administrative privileges. These privileges may be accessed from either your on-line account or the moderator icon appearing on the home page of the portal housing the Campaign. Your administrative privileges will allow you to do the following:
(i) Delete Content: You can remove any content from the Campaign.
(ii) Move Content: You can move any Content from one area to another area within the same Campaign. If the Content is not suitable for that Campaign, you can notify the Member who posted the Content to move the Content to another Campaign and, upon doing so, delete the Content from your Campaign. If you move any content from one post to another post, the subscribers to that Forum will receive a notification.
(iii) Deal With Member Complaints: You can liaise with any Member who reports any Content as being in breach of these Terms of Use and review any such complaint with a view to upholding the complaint and deleting the Content or dismissing the Complaint. You may also seek to have a representative of Unions NSW review the Content complained of by a Member and seek Unions NSW determination as to whether the Content should be removed.
(iv) Appoint Activists: You may appoint any Member as an Activist for your Campaign.
The above administrative privileges are subject to ongoing review by Unions NSW and may be revoked or expanded upon within Union NSW’s absolute discretion. Campaign Coordinators will be notified of any changes to their roles by email correspondence or otherwise by notice on the Site.
2. Activists
a. A Campaign Coordinator appoints an Activist and there may be more than one Activist for any Campaign. The role of an Activist is to generate interest in the Campaign managed by the Campaign Coordinator throughout the Campaign and the Site. An Activist may commence forum discussions, write blogs, provide data and text and upload Content to the Campaign. The Terms of Use that apply generally for Members in relation to Content and set out above apply to Activists.
b. All Activists must be 18 years of age or older. Any Member may request to become an Activist by submitting a request to the Campaign Coordinator of a Campaign, a link to which is located on the portal for each Campaign. All Activists must at all times have a valid, accurate and active Membership to the Site. Unions NSW or a Campaign Coordinator each reserve the right to suspend or terminate an Activist at any time for any reason. Activists must comply with the reasonable instructions of a Campaign Coordinator or Unions NSW.
c. By submitting a request to be an Activist, your name and your avatar may be displayed on the Campaign as an Activist. You authorise Unions NSW to use and publicly display your name and avatar likeness in any manner in conjunction with your role as Activist of a Campaign to which you are appointed.
d. Activists understand and acknowledge that you are appointed as a volunteer and that the nature of your activities that you may perform in your capacity as a volunteer may involve on-line activity, contact with unidentified and/or unfamiliar persons, or other potential risk of personal injury or damage to property. Knowing this and in consideration of being allowed to volunteer, you assume full and complete responsibility for any personal injury and/or property damage that you sustain or cause during your participation as an Activist. In addition, you release, hold harmless Unions NSW for any loss, damages, expenses or claims arising from your participation as Activist.
Date of Terms of Use: 20 October 2010
