1. About these Terms

(1) Northside Community Voices Inc. (NCV, we, us) is an incorporated association in Queensland. It is non-partisan and not-for-profit.

(2) These Terms apply to anyone who uses our website at www.ncvoices.org.au and the online services it provides (together, the Services). They are a policy of NCV made by the Board under the Constitution.

(3) Our area means the City of Moreton Bay local government area, or any local government area that succeeds or replaces it.

(4) Questions about these Terms can be sent to [email protected].

2. Agreeing to these Terms

(1) Anyone may read the public parts of the Services without an account. By using the Services you agree to these Terms.

(2) To become a Member or a Friend of NCV you must confirm that you have read, accept and agree to be bound by these Terms, the Code of Conduct and the Privacy Policy, as the Constitution requires.

3. Changes to these Terms

(1) The Board may change these Terms by resolution. A change takes effect on the day the Board sets, and not before the new version is published. Earlier versions are kept in NCV’s Governance Register.

(2) We will tell Members and Friends of NCV about any change that affects them. Members may ask a general meeting to set aside a change, as the Constitution allows.

(3) We may change, add to or withdraw parts of the Services from time to time.

4. Accounts

4.1. Minimum age

You must be 16 or over to register for an account of any kind. NCV does not register anyone under 16, in any capacity, and does not knowingly collect their personal information. A young person under 16 may share a view without an account, provided they give no name, contact details or other information that identifies them.

4.2. Members

(1) You may become a Member if you live in our area, are 16 or over, and are not excluded under clause 4.4. You apply through the Become a Member page, and you become a Member without further approval once your application is accepted.

(2) Where you live is taken from the residential address on your own registered record.

4.3. Friends of NCV

If you are 16 or over and live outside our area, are excluded from membership under clause 4.4, or simply prefer not to be a Member, you may register as a Friend of NCV. Friends can use most of the Services and volunteer with us, but cannot vote at NCV meetings, stand for the Board, or take part in processes that record the views of Members as Members. You cannot be a Member and a Friend at the same time.

4.4. Who cannot be a Member

To protect NCV’s non-partisan standing, you cannot be a Member while you hold elected office in any Australian parliament or local government. You may be a Friend of NCV instead. Members and employees of a registered political party are welcome as Members, but may not serve on the Board or be the convenor of a Working Group or an Action Group. If you become a candidate for public office, or ask NCV to support you as one, you remain a Member, but you must stand aside from any role you hold for NCV and take no part in NCV’s assessment of your election. If any of this applies to you after you join, please tell us. If you are elected, the Constitution provides that your membership becomes a Friend registration until it no longer applies.

4.5. Volunteers and role-holders

NCV may give additional access to people who hold a role for NCV, whether or not they live in our area. They must be 16 or over, hold a Member or Friend registration, and complete the training NCV requires for the role before starting. Additional access lasts only while the role is held. Some roles have further requirements under By-laws 4.7 and 4.8.

4.6. Your account

(1) Your account is for you alone. Do not register in another person’s name, share your password, or let anyone else use your account. Tell us promptly if you think your password has been lost or misused.

(2) The information you give us must be true. We may correct or suspend an account where information given to us proves false or misleading.

(3) Keeping in touch with NCV by email is a separate choice from registering, and you can unsubscribe at any time. Members will still receive notices of general meetings, which the Constitution requires us to send.

5. Candidates and your information

NCV is independent of every political party and elected official. NCV may decide to support a candidate only as its Constitution and By-laws allow. NCV will never give a candidate or campaign your personal information unless you have expressly agreed. If a supported candidate wants to contact Members in their electorate, we will ask those Members first, and pass on the details only of those who say yes.

6. What you post

6.1. Your content

(1) You are responsible for what you post or submit through the Services, such as issues, comments, survey answers and pictures (your content).

(2) You keep ownership of your content. You give NCV a free, non-exclusive, worldwide, perpetual licence to use, reproduce, adapt, combine with other contributions and publish your content for NCV’s objects. This includes reporting it, without your name, to elected representatives and decision-makers.

(3) You confirm that you have the right to post your content, and that it does not breach anyone else’s rights or privacy.

6.2. How to behave

When using the Services you must follow NCV’s Code of Conduct. In particular, you must not post content that—

(a) is unlawful, defamatory, threatening, harassing, obscene or sexually explicit;

(b) attacks or promotes hatred or discrimination against any person or group;

(c) discloses another person’s private information, such as their address or phone number, without their permission;

(d) misrepresents who you are, or claims to speak for NCV when you have not been authorised to;

(e) advertises goods or services, or promotes a political party or candidate; or

(f) is spam, or seeks to collect other people’s account or contact details.

6.3. Moderation

(1) NCV may review content before or after it appears, and may edit, combine with similar contributions, hide or remove content that breaches these Terms or the Code of Conduct.

(2) If you want your own content removed, ask us. We will take it off public view. We may keep a record of it where the Privacy Policy explains why.

6.4. NCV’s material

Apart from your content, the material in the Services belongs to NCV or its licensors. You may view it and share links to it for personal, non-commercial purposes. You may not use NCV’s name or logo in a way that suggests NCV endorses you, your organisation or a candidate.

6.5. Other websites

The Services may link to other websites. NCV is not responsible for their content.

7. If something goes wrong

7.1. Suspending access

NCV may suspend your access to the Services, or remove content, straight away if that is needed to protect other people, NCV or the Services. We will tell you why.

7.2. Ending a membership or registration

(1) A Member’s membership can be ended by the Board only under the Constitution. The Board must tell you the grounds in writing and give you a full and fair opportunity to respond, and you may appeal to a general meeting.

(2) The Board may end a Friend of NCV’s registration for a serious or repeated breach of these Terms or the Code of Conduct. It must first tell the Friend why and give them an opportunity to respond.

(3) You may end your own membership or registration at any time through your account or by emailing [email protected].

7.3. Disputes

If you are a Member and your dispute is with another Member, the Board or NCV, the grievance procedure in the Constitution applies. Anyone else may use NCV’s Complaints Policy. Please start by writing to [email protected].

8. Our responsibility to you

(1) The Services are provided free by volunteers. We do our best to keep them accurate and available, but we cannot promise they will always be error-free or uninterrupted.

(2) To the extent the law allows, NCV is not liable for indirect or consequential loss arising from your use of the Services.

(3) Nothing in these Terms excludes, restricts or modifies any right or remedy you have under the Australian Consumer Law or any other law that cannot be excluded.

(4) These Terms are governed by the law of Queensland.

9. Related documents

The Constitution, the By-laws, the Code of Conduct, the Privacy Policy and the Complaints Policy are published on our website.