Terms and Conditions

Last updated 2 July 2020

Thank you for joining the CPA Australia Member Connect (Platform), CPA Australia’s global online member community. This is a great medium with which to engage with your peers, benefit from their experience, and participate in an ongoing conversation.

This platforms use has not been intended to perform and manage member service duties and it is recommended to follow the standard process by contacting CPA Australia on P: 1300 73 73 73 (within Australia) or P: +61 3 9606 9677 (outside of Australia).

The platform is not intended for CPA Australia to manage or respond to technical advice queries. The information posted on this platform does not constitute professional advice.

Any and all of the views and / or opinions expressed in this community represent the thoughts of individuals. They do not reflect the views and / or opinions of the directors, officers, employees, board of directors or any other corporate affiliates of CPA Australia.

To ensure the best possible experience for all users of the Platform, we have established some basic standards for participation.

Purpose

The purpose of these Terms of Use (Terms) is to share our expectations on how you use the Platform and provide a set of rules which govern the use of the Platform to help ensure all users have the best possible experience in using the Platform.

Please take a moment to read through and become familiar with these Terms. If you have questions, contact the Member Services department via the https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/about-us/contact-us link on our corporate website, or email communitymanager@cpaaustralia.com.au 

By joining and using the Platform, you agree that you have read and will follow these Terms. In order to preserve an environment that encourages both civil and fruitful dialogue, we reserve the right to suspend or terminate participation in the Platform for anyone who violates these Terms. Violation on any of the following terms may be referred to CPA Australia’s professional conduct team where further disciplinary action may be taken.  

The Rules

1. General etiquette

   1. Respect others. Focus on the content of posts and not on the people making them. Please extend the benefit of the doubt to guests and members; there’s no such thing as a silly question.
      
      
   2. Respect the purpose of the Platform. Use the Platform to share successes, challenges, constructive feedback, questions, and goals instead of products or services that you provide. If you’ve found a product or service helpful, please share your experience with the Platform in a respectful way.
      
      
   3. Duplicate posts, off-topic and redundant comments will be removed (this includes promotion of events, groups, pages, Web sites, organisations and programs not related to or affiliated with CPA Australia).
      
      
   4. Use caution when discussing products. Information posted on the discussion groups and in the libraries is available for all to see, and comments are subject to applicable laws, including defamation and competition laws.
      
      
   5. All defamatory, abusive, profane, threatening, offensive, or illegal materials are strictly prohibited. Do not post anything that you would not want the world to see or that you would not want anyone to know came from you. Do not post abusive comments about other individuals in the online community or deliberately inflammatory remarks about CPA Australia, its staff or affiliates.
      
      
   6. Respect intellectual property. Post content that you have personally created or have permission to use and have properly attributed to the content creator.
      
      
   7. When posting items in our collaborative environment, please indicate if the item is not available for reuse. It’s also advisable to contact the owner of any material if you would like to reuse it.
      
      
   8. Post your message or documents only to the most appropriate communities. This helps ensure all messages receive the best response by eliminating "noise."
      
      
   9. Do not spam the community with repeated posts in multiple discussions. Spamming the community can also be @tagging many members in a discussion or private messaging a large number of members with the same communication.
      
      
   10. If you receive unsolicited spam like private messages from other members, this activity can be reported to the community manager and will be dealt with accordingly.
       
       

2. Discussion Group Etiquette

   1. State concisely and clearly the topic of your post in the subject line. This allows members to respond more appropriately to your posting and makes it easier for members to search the archives by subject.
      
      
   2. When replying with messages such as "thanks for the information" or "me, too" to individuals, do this by using the "Reply to Sender" link in every message. Rather than responding the entire group. This will ensure notifications are relevant and effective.
      
      
   3. Do not send administrative messages, such as “remove me from the list,” to the group. Instead, use the web interface to change your settings or to remove yourself from a list. If you are changing email addresses, you do not need to remove yourself from the list and re-join under your new email address. Simply change your settings.
      
      

3. The Legal Stuff

   1. The Platform is provided as a service for the members of CPA Australia (CPA Australia). CPA Australia is not responsible for the opinions and information posted on the Platform by others. CPA Australia disclaims all warranties with regard to information posted on the Platform, whether posted by CPA Australia or any third party; this disclaimer includes all implied warranties of merchantability and fitness. In no event shall CPA Australia be liable for any special, indirect, or consequential damages or any damages whatsoever resulting from loss of use, data, or profits, arising out of or in connection with the use or performance of any information posted on the Platform.
      
      
   2. Do not post any defamatory, abusive, profane, threatening, offensive, illegal materials or material that may be contrary to any applicable professional standards. Do not post any information or other material protected by copyright without the permission of the copyright owner. By posting material, the posting party warrants and represents that he or she owns the copyright with respect to such material or has received permission from the copyright owner. In addition, the posting party grants CPA Australia and users of the Platform the non-exclusive right and license to display, copy, publish, distribute, transmit, print, and use such information or other material.
      
      
   3. Messages should not be posted if they encourage or facilitate members to arrive at any agreement that either expressly or impliedly leads to price fixing, a boycott of another's business, or other conduct intended to illegally restrict free trade. Messages that encourage or facilitate an agreement about the following subjects are inappropriate: prices, discounts, or terms or conditions of sale; salaries; profits, profit margins, or cost data; market shares, sales territories, or markets; allocation of customers or territories; or selection, rejection, or termination of customers or suppliers.
      
      
   4. CPA Australia does not actively monitor the Platform for inappropriate postings and does not on its own undertake editorial control of postings. However, in the event that any inappropriate posting is brought to the attention of CPA Australia, it will take all appropriate action.
      
      
   5. CPA Australia reserves the right to terminate access to any user who does not abide by these Terms.
      
      
   6. Information posted on this platform is not intended to be professional advice and should not be considered professional advice. It is also not intended to replace consultation with an appropriately qualified professional or provider.
      
      
   7. The laws applicable to the use of the Platform and to disputes arising in connection with the Platform are the laws applying in the State of Victoria in Australia. If you access the Platform from outside Australia, you are also responsible for ensuring compliance with all applicable laws in the place where you are located.
      
      
   8. To the extent applicable, the CPA Australia General Website Terms of Use (a copy of which is available on its website here: https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/ utilities/terms) also applies to the use of the Platform by you.
      
      
   9. CPA Australia may change these Terms at its discretion and without notice. A version of the current Terms will be available on the Platform as they are changed. By continuing to use the Platform, you acknowledge and accept the Terms as they apply from time to time.
      
      
   10. Do not collect or scrape data, member contact details or any other form of content from this platform for personal use or gain.
       
       
   11. Do not post any Job Advertisements or run competitions (Game of Skill or Chance).
       
       

4. Privacy Policy

   1. CPA Australia’s Privacy Policy (a copy of which is available on its website here: https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/utilities /privacy/privacy-policy) also applies to the use of the Platform by you.
      
      
   2. In addition to CPA Australia’s Privacy Policy, the following paragraphs set out how we will handle your personal information collected in relation to your use of the Platform.
      
      
   3. Any personal information you provide to us in connection with the Platform including and similar to your name, address, telephone number and e-mail address will not be released, sold, or rented to any entities or individuals outside of our organization except as noted below.
      
      

      With Whom Do We Share the Personal Information We Collect Through The Platform:

   4. Our Service Providers
      We may share your personal information with companies (including our affiliates) that perform services on our behalf, for example, companies that help process credit card payments. Our service providers are required by contract to protect the confidentiality of the personal information we share with them and to use it only to provide specific services on our behalf.
      
      
   5. Business Transfers
      Your personal information may be transferred to another entity (either an affiliated entity or an unrelated third party) in connection with a merger, reorganisation, dissolution or similar corporate event. If such a transfer were ever to occur, the acquiring entity’s use of your personal information will still be subject to CPA Australia’s Privacy Policy.
      
      
   6. Government and Legal Disclosures
      We may disclose the personal information we collect through the Platform, when we, in good faith, believe disclosure is appropriate to comply with the law (or a court order or subpoena); to prevent or investigate a possible crime, such as fraud or identity theft; to enforce our Terms or other agreements that govern your use of the Platform; or to protect the rights, property or safety of our company, our users, or others.
      
      
   7. External Sites
      We are not responsible for the content of external internet sites. You are advised to read the privacy policy of external sites before disclosing any personal information.
      
      
   8. Cookies
      A "cookie" is a small data text file that is placed in your browser and allows us to recognise you each time you visit the Platform (personalisation, etc). Cookies themselves do not contain any personal information, and we do not use cookies to collect personal information. Cookies may also be used by 3rd party content providers such as news-feeds. CPA Australia uses cookies necessary for the function of its websites and to personalise the user’s experience such as saving a user’s preferences. CPA Australia sometimes uses cookies to deliver advertising on various websites you may visit.

      
      Remember The Risks Whenever You Use The Internet

      While we do our best to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of any information that you transmit to us in connection with the Platform and you are solely responsible for maintaining the secrecy of any passwords or other account information. In addition other Internet sites or services that may be accessible through the Platform have separate data and privacy practices independent of us, and therefore we disclaim any responsibility or liability for their policies or actions. Please contact those vendors and others directly if you have any questions about their privacy policies.  For any other information please contact us using the Contact Us page.