General Terms and Conditions

ECA reserves the right to amend the following Terms and Conditions from time to time. Your continued use of ECA services, products and subscriptions, following such notification, will represent agreement to be bound by the terms and conditions as amended.

If any part of these Terms and Conditions is found to be unenforceable, the remaining parts will remain in full force and effect.

If ECA fails to enforce any of these terms and conditions, it will not be considered a waiver. Any amendment to, or waiver of, these terms and conditions will be made in writing and signed by ECA.

You will not transfer any of your rights and obligations under these terms and conditions to anyone else without the written consent of ECA. ECA’s rights and obligations under these terms and conditions are freely assignable by ECA.

Nothing in these Terms and Conditions will prevent us from complying with any law.

Terms of Trade

The Terms of Trade set out the sole obligations and liability of Early Childhood Australia to customers in relation to orders, except where the law prevents Early Childhood Australia from excluding or limiting its liability. Where such liability cannot be excluded due to the application of the Trade Practices Act, ECA’s liability for a non-excludable condition is limited, at ECA’s option, to refunding the price of goods or services valued at that point in time, in respect of which the breach occurred. Or it is limited, at ECA’s option, to providing, replacing or repairing those goods or providing those services again.

Notwithstanding anything contained in these terms of trade to the contrary, ECA’s maximum liability under any order will not exceed the aggregate of the purchase value received by ECA less the value of services provided to-date, at the time of any such approved claim.

You acknowledge and agree that any access to, or use of, the ECA Learning Hub or ECA products and services is at your own risk. ECA will not be liable to you for indirect, consequential or special damages resulting from the use of ECA’s services, products or the Learning Hub portal, including loss of revenue or anticipated profits, loss of goodwill, loss of business or loss of data.

Force Majeure: Early Childhood Australia will use its reasonable endeavours to perform its obligations under these Terms of Trade but will not be liable for any failure to deliver ordered goods where such a failure is as a result of an act of terrorism, 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 obtaining governmental or quasi-governmental approvals, consents, permits, licences, authorities or allocations, and any other cause, whether of the kind specifically enumerated above or otherwise which is not reasonably within the control of Early Childhood Australia.

No variation of these Terms of Trade is binding on Early Childhood Australia unless approved in writing by Early Childhood Australia. If Early Childhood Australia fails to enforce a term of these terms and conditions, this will not affect the rights of Early Childhood Australia, except to the extent that Early Childhood Australia expressly waives such a term in writing.

These Terms of Trade are governed by the laws of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), Australia, and, in the instance that any disputes arise over the course of the Agreement; these disputes will be governed by ACT laws and practices.

You assure and agree to keep ECA indemnified from and against all damages, losses and expenses of any kind (including legal costs) incurred by ECA in connection with any claim made against ECA relating to your actions in accessing or using the ECA’s products and services or the ECA Learning Hub or its products.

Learning Hub Subscriptions and Purchases

  1. About subscriptions and purchases
    1. These terms and conditions are related to the use of, and access to, the Early Childhood Australia (ECA) Learning Hub by the customer (“you”, “your”) for individual products as well as annual subscriptions.
    2. A subscription or individual product purchases provides you with limited access to content available on ECA Learning Hub.
      1. A subscription can be for an individual (single user) or multiple users.
      2. Fees for a subscription are based on the maximum number of registered users. ECA requires written notification, within 30 days, of any increase in the number of users above the maximum listed in the Subscription Agreement.
      3. ECA reserves the right to revise the fees payable, should the maximum number of users exceed that specified in the Subscription Agreement. However, a reduction in the number of registered users does not entitle you (the customer) to a re-negotiation of the fees.
    3. An individual product purchase is for single person usage/view.
  2. Acceptance, registration, responsibilities and account security
    1. When purchasing content or an annual subscription, you accept the terms and conditions set out in this document as well as all covering documents or annexures, and supersede any prior verbal or written agreements.
    2. Your purchase of content or a subscription grants you a non-transferable licence to use the ECA Learning Hub portal.
    3. In order to access the ECA Learning Hub portal, you will need to set up a user account(s) by following ECA’s instructions on this process and providing the required information.
      1. Accounts are designed to be used by individuals and not by groups.
      2. Each account requires an accurate first name, last name, individual unique username and an email address.
      3. Users who complete content will have access to a downloadable Certificate of Completion, where appropriate.
      4. Certificates of Completion belong to individual users (including those users who are part of a subscription group).
      5. Some Learning Hub content may be relevant for accreditation in various states and territories. Where this is the case:
        1. users who are early childhood teachers seeking professional learning for accreditation purposes will be asked if they would like to provide their relevant accreditation details
        2. users attest to the accuracy and truthfulness of the information they have provided
        3. account information is used to provide accurate information for certificates and reporting to state and territory teacher accreditation sites
        4. ECA is not responsible for any inaccuracies and delays in reporting to the teacher accreditation site.
    4. The responsibility for download, archive, filing and maintenance of Certificates of Completion remains with the user.
      1. ECA cannot ensure certificate(s) will be available beyond the subscription period or maximum period provided for completion/view/usage of the product.
      2. The request of a replacement or copy of certificates beyond the subscription period or maximum period provided for completion/view/usage of the product may incur an administrative fee.
      3. ECA is not responsible for inaccurate information on the certificate including and not limited to the name on the certificate, as this is populated from information the user has provided to set up their account as outlined in clause 2.3.
      4. ECA will not in all circumstances replace/change the information on the certificate, such as a change of name or date.
        1. A change of name can be sought if the individual can provide a valid/legal reason for the change, for example if they need all certificates to be in line with their teacher registration or legal name.
        2. The request of name change, if accepted by ECA, may incur an administrative fee.
    5. The responsibility for download, archive and filing of answers (often referred to as reflective answers) submitted by the user to questions posed in the content, remains with the user.
      1. ECA cannot ensure answers will be available beyond the maximum period provided/deadline date/reset for completion/view/usage of the content.
    6. By setting up an account, you grant us ongoing consent for you to receive promotional and marketing information regarding relevant products and services of ECA, unless you actively opt out of receiving such communication.
    7. By setting up an account, ECA reserves the right to contact you about important changes or updates to your ECA Learning Hub account either by phone or email. This will not invalidate or alter your marketing communication preferences.
    8. In the case of a subscription taken out by a company, service, school or any other organisation, the subscribing organisation will be responsible for the provision of individual users’ personal details for account set-up as well as the acceptance of ECA’s Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy, respectively. The provision of this information implies that the individual user has accepted these Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.
    9. Maintaining the security of accounts is important to ECA. You agree to maintain the confidentiality of your information (including passwords), and agree to not authorise any other person(s) to access your account(s).
    10. Some ECA Learning Hub users may be part of user groups and have administration authority giving them access to the information of people within their user group.
    11. When accessing the ECA Learning Hub portal, you will not do, or attempt to do, any of the following:
      1. Gain unauthorised access to any part of the ECA Learning Hub portal or any other system, network or server connected to the portal or any content, information, material or documentation contained hereon, including by hacking or any other means.
      2. Use the ECA Learning Hub portal to obtain, trace or exploit the information, including personal information, of any user connected to the portal.
      3. Breach or circumvent any security or authentication measures on the ECA Learning Hub portal or any other system, network or server connected to the portal.
      4. Use any software, process or other means to interfere with the working of the portal in any way.
      5. Use the portal for any purpose that is illegal or breaches these terms and conditions.
    12. You will take all reasonable steps to ensure that the use and access of the ECA Learning Hub’s portal complies with the obligations set out in these terms and conditions as well as the Learning Hub Subscription Agreement, where applicable.
  3. Intellectual property rights
    1. You will not share, modify, copy, reproduce, resell, republish or display any content (including photographs and video material) from the ECA Learning Hub portal, and/or represent it as your own, upload to a third party, post, transmit or distribute this content in any way, except if authorised in writing by ECA.
    2. Unless explicit permission is given to you (or any other relevant third party customer) in writing by ECA, you are not authorised to use any of ECA’s trademarks.
    3. All content and other materials available on the ECA Learning Hub portal are owned by or licensed to ECA and are protected by Australian intellectual property rights. You agree to abide by all copyright notices and other restrictions contained in, or accessed through, the ECA Learning Hub portal.
  4. Privacy
    1. These terms and conditions must be read in conjunction with the ECA Privacy Policy and any other relevant third party. ECA complies with the terms of the ECA Privacy Policy.
    2. You acknowledge and agree that personal information submitted to the ECA Learning Hub will be handled by both ECA and any third party provider relevant to the running and maintenance of the ECA Learning Hub in accordance with their privacy statements, applicable laws and the terms/conditions set out in this section.
  5. Payment and pricing
    1. For ECA Learning Hub Products, all prices quoted by ECA are inclusive of GST.
    2. Where the ECA Learning Hub Products are only available for online purchase, payment must be made up-front for online purchases unless ECA agrees to Invoice for payment. If Products are agreed by ECA to be supplied on invoice, payment must be made to ECA within 30 days of the date of the invoice.
    3. The Products available for purchase or use on, or through, the ECA Learning Hub are subject to change without notice. While every effort will be made to provide products in accordance with marketing materials or another undertaking given by ECA, the provision of products and their availability will be at the sole discretion of ECA.
    4. For subscriptions outside the advertised tier/maximum user numbers, multi-year subscriptions, customised subscriptions and subscriptions on own Learning Management System (LMS):
      1. Pricing for the subscription will be set out based on maximum user numbers with access to the content at given point during the subscription as agreed upon by both parties through prior communication or through a service agreement
      2. You can only increase the maximum number of users with access to the content with prior written agreement with ECA.
      3. Any increase in the maximum number of users will incur an additional per user fee to be agreed upon in writing by you and ECA.
      4. Payment must be received within 30 days of the date of the invoice unless you have been given special terms/ dispensation to pay over a longer period.
      5. Non-payment will result in the suspension of the service until such time as payment is received.
      6. Your LMS must be SCORM-compliant, or significant additional charges maybe incurred.
      7. You will be informed of any extra charges if your LMS is not SCORM-compliant prior to your invoice being processed.
  6. Cancellations
    1. You cannot seek to cancel your subscription or purchase for reasons including, but not limited to:
      1. Change of mind
      2. An inability to undertake learning within the specified period.
    2. In the event that the ECA Learning Hub portal goes through a major technical fault (as agreed by both parties in writing) that cannot be resolved within a reasonable period of time (30 business days), you may seek a refund.
    3. Any refund on a subscription, granted for the above-mentioned circumstances, will be on a pro-rata basis. ECA will deduct the value of goods/services already used, or deduct the pro-rata advertised value of contents used, whichever is higher.
    4. ECA might terminate these Terms and Conditions and stop providing access to the ECA Learning Hub portal and its Products to you at any time, for any reason at ECA’s sole discretion. ECA will notify you prior to the termination of services. Should ECA enact this clause, you would be entitled to a pro-rata partial refund limited to the value of any unused subscription fees at the time of termination.
    5. ECA reserves the right to terminate a Learning Hub subscription/account at any time, if that user has breached any of ECA’s terms and conditions
  7. Disclaimer 
    1. ECA reserves the right to modify the content, inclusions, type and availability of any digital product (Products) at any time.
    2. ECA reserves the right to provide free Learning Hub access as a promotion to non–Learning Hub users for a limited time. You will not be eligible for free access and/or a partial or full refund during such promotions.
    3. If any of ECA’s digital products (Products) are temporarily unavailable, you will not be entitled to receive a partial or full refund.
    4. ECA disclaims all responsibility and all liability (including without limitation, liability in negligence) for all expenses, losses, damages and costs you might incur as a result of the information supplied by ECA.

ECA Shop Purchases Terms and Conditions

All goods supplied by Early Childhood Australia Ltd., ABN 44 950 767 752, are sold on the following terms:

  1. Prices 
    1. All prices quoted by Early Childhood Australia are processed in AUD, include GST and are subject to change without prior notice.
  2. Delivery Charges
    1. Delivery costs are calculated automatically, based on your location within Australia or overseas. The price includes postage and handling costs.
  3. Delivery
    1. Deliveries will be dispatched by Early Childhood Australia to the address provided by the customer as soon as practicable after receipt of an order. All orders placed after 12pm on a business day will be processed on the following business day. Items will be dispatched once processed. Delivery dates or times indicated at the time of the order placement (if any) are approximate only and do not constitute a guarantee of delivery by such date. If an order contains a number of goods that cannot all be immediately supplied, Early Childhood Australia may amend the order, in respect of the goods that cannot be supplied immediately, and no claim will arise due to the shortfall. Goods that cannot be supplied immediately will be placed on back order and supplied as soon as possible. Customers will receive an email once items are dispatched, with a tracking number.
  4. Payment
    1. Payment in full is required before goods will be shipped. Payment on invoice can be requested for businesses, and are due within 30 days of the date of invoice. The customer is responsible for any taxes, duties or levies charged.
  5. Gift Vouchers
    1. You will receive your gift voucher via email within two business days. If you have not received your gift voucher after this time, please contact ECA’s customer service team at customerservice@earlychildhood.org.au or by calling +61 2 6242 1800. All gift vouchers have a three-year expiry date from the date of issue. Please check the expiry date and issue date on your gift voucher. Gift vouchers $100 and under must be used within a single transaction and cannot be used with other vouchers.
  6. Refunds
    1. Refunds will be considered case by case. If a refund is approved, a 5% admin fee will be deducted from the total refund amount. Please note that no refunds for any digital subscription or content will be offered.
  7. Credit/Returns/Claims
    1. Goods are supplied by Early Childhood Australia on a sale basis only, not on approval. Returns will not be accepted for a change of mind by the customer.
    2. In the event of incorrect deliveries, damaged goods (including faulty printing and/or binding), the customer must notify Early Childhood Australia as soon as possible after receipt of the goods. Returns will be accepted and refunds given for damaged goods or incorrect deliveries. Damaged goods must be claimed on receipt of goods or within 14 days of date of invoice. Early Childhood Australia is not responsible for return shipping charges save for receipt of damaged or faulty goods or shipping errors made by Early Childhood Australia. Please note we are unable to refund the initial postage and handling fee except in the case where the item is damaged, faulty or has been delivered incorrectly.
    3. Returned items will only be accepted if received by Early Childhood Australia in full saleable condition, with no marks or damage. Returns within Australia must be made within 14 days of date of invoice and must be accompanied by a completed Goods Returned Form. Click here to download a Returns Form.
    4. Customers wishing to return international orders should contact Early Childhood Australia within 7 days of receipt of goods. Returned goods may also incur an additional 10% administrative fee.
    5. Claims for failure of receipt of ordered goods, excluding subscriptions, must be made within 6 months of the date ordered. Claims made for failure of receipt of goods ordered as a subscription must be made within 6 months of the date of publication of the book. A maximum of 2 claims by any one customer within a 12 month period will be accepted. Claims will not be processed without a completed Claims Form. Click here to download a Claims Form.
  8. Retention of title
    1. Despite delivery of goods, the title of the goods will remain with Early Childhood Australia until the customer has paid in full all amounts owing, in accordance with any invoice issued by Early Childhood Australia in relation to such goods, including all GST and other taxes, duties or levies.

ECA Membership Terms and Conditions

  1. Parties to the Membership Agreement
    1. Early Childhood Australia Pty Limited (ECA) is a not-for-profit public company limited by guarantee. The Principal Purpose for which the Company is established is to pursue charitable purposes towards advancing the welfare of all children aged 0–8 years. The income and property of ECA must be applied solely towards the Principal Purpose.
    2. The ECA Constitution, 21 April 2021, is the governance document for ECA. These terms and conditions are drawn from and accord with that document.
    3. To be eligible for Membership of ECA, a person/organisation must be committed to the Principal Purpose of ECA, subscribe to the ECA Code of Ethics and meet the eligibility requirements set out in each Membership Class (see Table 1 below).
    4. A person becomes a Member when their name is entered into the ECA Membership Register (having applied for and given consent to Membership by ordering a Membership or Membership renewal and making a payment or requesting an invoice for future payment).
    5. ECA may determine the amount of the Annual Membership Fee from time to time and impose different Annual Membership Fees for different Membership Classes (see Table 1 below). The Annual Membership Fee is due and payable by each member within 30 days of a fee notice being issued to that member.
    6. A Member that does not pay their Annual Membership fee within 30 days of a late payment notice is deemed to have resigned their Membership.
    7. The liability of a Member (in the event of the winding-up of ECA) is limited to the Guaranteed Amount, being $10.
    8. An Organisational Member must appoint an individual as its Representative. An Organisational Member may appoint more than one Representative but only one Representative: (i) may exercise the organisation’s powers as Member at any one time; and (ii) may be counted for the purposes of determining a quorum at a general meeting.
    9. Organisations are required to nominate a key contact for us to contact email about these matters, as well as a contact email for billing and renewal. These can be the same, or different.
    10. Membership includes Member Alerts, notifications about voting in General Meetings, and National Board elections, as well as communication from ECA about your membership status. A member cannot unsubscribe from member communications, but subscription to all other marketing lists can be edited here.
  2. ECA General Meetings and Elections
    1. The National Board of Directors of ECA may call a General Meeting at any time. Notice of a general meeting must be given to every Member and every Director at least 21 days in advance (except in circumstances set out in the Constitution) and must:
      1. be in writing;
      2. state the place, day and time of the meeting;
      3. provide details of any technology that will be used to facilitate the meeting;
      4. state the general nature of the business to be transacted at the meeting;
      5. state the wording of any Special Resolution to be considered (and state that it is proposed as a Special Resolution); and
      6. state that proxy voting is not permitted.
    2. ECA may hold a General Meeting at any two or more locations using any technology that gives the Members as a whole a reasonable opportunity to participate and a person participating through the use of technology will be deemed to be present at the meeting in person.
    3. Members have weighted votes at General Meetings according to their Membership Class (see Table 1 below). On a vote conducted at a general meeting each person present carries the weighted votes of each Member they represent.
    4. Voting at General Meetings must occur by poll (including in-person ballot, mail-in ballot and/or electronic ballot as determined by the Board)
    5. The Board must hold an Annual General Meeting at least once in every calendar year. The business of an Annual General Meeting may include any of the following (even if not stated in the notice of meeting:
      1. the annual financial statements and any auditor’s report;
      2. the appointment of Directors; and
      3. the appointment and remuneration of any auditor.
    6. ECA elections for the National Board of Directors must be held by postal or electronic ballot of the Members entitled to vote. Members have voting rights according to their Membership Class (see Table 1 below).
Table 1. ECA Membership Classes
Membership Class Annual fee Right to notice of General Meetings Voting rights at General Meetings
Services and schools –early childhood services, schools and other organisations working directly with young children and families $330 ✓ Three votes
Professionals –early childhood education and care professionals who work with or for young children, their families and carers $175 ✓ One vote
Students and concession holders –individuals studying early childhood education or equivalent, or unemployed, retired or on extended leave $20 ✓ One vote
Institutions –universities, research institutions, registered training organisations, local, state and federal government agencies and other institutions $479 ✓ Three votes
Life members – honorary form of membership bestowed upon individuals who have made a significant contribution to ECA and the early childhood sector over the course of their lifetimes N/A ✓ One vote
International – individuals/organisations outside of Australia who wish to support the work of ECA Membership class + international surcharge ($40) ✓ Non voting

Support Services and Problem-Solving

For Learning Hub, Shop purchases and Membership enquiries, ECA provides support from our National Office based in Canberra (ACT) from 9.00 am to 5.00 pm Monday to Friday, excluding ACT Public Holidays.

Contact us:

customerservice@earlychildhood.org.au
t: +61 2 6242 1800 (international customers)

Early Childhood Australia
PO Box 4925
KINGSTON
ACT 2604

t: +61 2 6242 1800
e: eca@earlychildhood.org.au
w: www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au