Young Carers Network is an online digital service run by Carers Australia, on behalf of the Australian Government Department of Social Services. We’ll refer to Carers Australia as ‘we’ or ‘us’ in these terms of use.

We think of the Young Carers Network website service as a ‘portal’ or ‘gateway’ for you to sign into, so that you can apply for the Young Carers Bursary Program, share your story with other young carers/Carers Australia and link with services and events that support you as a young carer. We will refer to this as your “Young Carer Profile.”

In this website’s context, a Young Carers Service is a program or part of a program, that provides online (or otherwise) services to you.

1. Why terms of use are important

By having a Young Carer Profile or using the Young Carer Network, you agree to be bound by these terms of use.

Importantly, this means making sure you know and follow your responsibilities as a user.

2. Changes to terms of use

When we make changes to these terms of use, these new terms of use replace any Young Carers Network terms of use you may have previously accepted.

3. Who can have a Young Carer Profile

To have a Young Carers Profile you must be a “natural person” aged between 12 and 25 and have a valid email address and appropriate identification.

Being a “natural person” means you are an individual human being, not a business, a robot, a software program etc.

4. Privacy and your personal information

By having a Young Carer Profile, you agree to Carers Australia’s collection, use, and disclosure of your personal information as set out in the Privacy Policy.

5. Your responsibilities

It is important to understand your responsibilities when using your Young Carer Profile or the Young Carers Network website.

If you do not comply with the responsibilities set out below, we may lock, suspend, or terminate your profile and in some instances, it is possible you could face civil or criminal penalties.

If you do not keep your personal information secure, it is possible someone could try and pretend to be you online and obtain services from the Young Carers Network.

Provide correct and up to date information to you Young Carer Profile and Young Carers Network

You are responsible for making sure your personal details (such as your name, contact details, etc.) are correct and up to date in your Young Carer Profile. If your details change, you should sign in to your Young Carers Profile and update your details.

Keep your Young Carer Profile safe

You are responsible for your Young Carers Profile and making sure only you or your authorized representative can access it.

You must keep your Young Carer Profile password safe. Do not share these details with anyone except your authorized representative.

If you do not take reasonable precautions to keep your Young Carer Profile details safe and someone is able to sign in to your account, or if you give someone your details so that they can sign into your account, you are responsible for everything that person does with your account.

Something does not seem, right?

If you think that someone else has accessed your Young Carers Profile you should change your password immediately.

Do not access another person's Young Carers Profile

You are not allowed to access another person’s Young Carer Profile unless you are an authorized representative.

Young Carer Network/Profile notification settings

You need to keep your preference settings for Young Carers Network inbox message notifications up to date, so you know when you have messages from Young Carer Network to read.

You are responsible for reading all your notifications and Young Carer Network messages in a timely manner.

 

If you receive a Young Carer Network Inbox message addressed to another person, you must tell Young Carers Network immediately.

Banned uses of Young Carer Profile/Young Carer Network

You are not allowed to use Young Carers Network, or use your Young Carer Profile:

  • to participate in any illegal or fraudulent activity;
  • to cause disruption to Young Carer Network;
  • in a way that infringes a person’s rights or prevents them from using Young Carer Network or Young Carer Profile;
  • in any way that may harass, cause distress or inconvenience others;
  • to post or send unlawful, defamatory, offensive or scandalous material; or
  • to post or send material that breaks or encourages breaking the law.

Rules when using the Young Carers Network or Young Carer Profile

  1. You must be more than 12 years old but younger than 26 years old to use the YCN (13+ to post Forum comments or Stories).
  2. Keep your password secret. Don’t share it with your friends.
  3. Be respectful of others and keep it positive. We don’t allow nasty comments, intimidation, bullying or abuse of others.
  4. Don’t share private information like your real name, address or location when you post. It’s personal and belongs to you.
  5. No hacking or modifying the YCN.
  6. No posting of links on YCN to your own or other websites.
  7. Do not pretend to be another YCN user or a Carers Australia staff member.
  8. You must not have been convicted of an offense which involved violence or harm to another person.
  9. You must not be a registered sex offender.

Posting a story on the Young Carer Network

All stories are posted anonymously. This means your real name and identity are not disclosed to anyone who reads your story.

Do not include personal information such as your address, school, family members name or friend’s names in your story. If you do, we may not publish it until this is removed.

Your story must be your own.

Your story belongs to you. This means no one can use it or reproduce it without your permission. When you post a story to the YCN you agree that Carers Australia may use, modify, and reproduce your story on the YCN and outside of the YCN. This may include reproducing your story on social media, hardcopy publications or other websites.

Users are not paid for stories.

Carers Australia reserves the right to publish stories they deem appropriate for the Story Wall.

Do not monitor or copy Young Carers Network

You are not allowed to use any software (like bots, scraper tools etc.) to access, monitor, or copy Young Carer Network or its contents unless we have given you written permission.

6. When your access can be taken away

If you do not comply with the above responsibilities we may lock, suspend or terminate your Young Carer Profile.

If you have agreed to the Young Carer Network and Young Carer Profile terms of use and you do not comply with those terms of use, we may lock, suspend or terminate your Young Carer Profile.

We may also lock, suspend or terminate your Young Carer Profile at any time and for any reason.

Closure of inactive accounts

In some cases, we may also close accounts that have not been used for a certain amount of time. We may do so when:

  • have not signed in to your Young Carer Profile for 12 months;

If your account has been closed and you wish to resume using Young Carer Profile contact us.

7. Young Carer Network/Young Carer Profile Inbox

By creating a Young Carers Profile, you are agreeing to receive all correspondence that Carers Australia decides it wants to send to you.

8. What we are responsible for

We are responsible for:

  • taking reasonable steps to ensure the security of your personal information while it is being collected by, stored or passing through Young Carer Network;
  • making sure the links from Young Carer Network to other systems and/or websites are secure;
  • handling your personal information in accordance with the privacy law (see Privacy Statement for more detail); and
  • taking reasonable care to provide you with information about the Young Carer Network service.

9. What we are not responsible for

We are not responsible for:

  • making sure Young Carer Network is error-free;
  • ensuring any defects with Young Carer Network will be fixed;
  • ensuring that you have continuous access to Young Carer Network;
  • any notification of delivery failures to your nominated mobile number or email address, telling you to access your Young Carer Profile Inbox to read a message;
  • ensuring that the information on a service or program relevant to young carers is accurate, complete, current or does not infringe on the rights of any person;
  • the removal or deletion of your Young Carer Profile Inbox messages, so that it will no longer appear in your Young Carer Profile Inbox after a certain date.

10. Your personal devices (for example, mobile, tablet, computer)

When you use your Young Carer Profile to sign into the Young Carer Network services, like mobile phone apps, you may be asked for your permission to access certain hardware or software features of your device, for example, your camera.

Access to features on your personal device is only for the purpose of being able to assist you with a particular service. For example, being able to take a picture of a document so you can upload it to your profile.

When you agree to provide access to a feature on your personal device, that access is limited to only that feature and does not mean you have agreed to allow Carers Australia or Young Carer Network access to all features on your device.

11. Rights we grant you

We give you permission (in the form of a non-transferable, non-exclusive, revocable license) to use the Young Carer Network service on your device(s) (for example, your computer or mobile), so long as you comply with these terms of use and any other applicable laws.

12. Applicable law

The laws of the Australian Capital Territory, Australia (ACT) apply to these terms of use.