Terms of Service

1. Acceptance of Terms

Welcome to Centred ("we," "our," or "us"). Centred is our registered trading name. These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your access to and use of the Centred platform, including our website, services, applications, and related tools (collectively, the "Service"). By accessing or using our Service, you agree to be bound by these Terms and our Privacy Policy.

If you do not agree to these Terms, you may not access or use the Service. We reserve the right to modify these Terms at any time, and your continued use of the Service after such modifications constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.

2. Description of Service

Centred is a platform that facilitates hackathons, innovation challenges, collaborative activities, and ideation sessions. We provide tools and services that enable organisations to organise events and enable participants to collaborate, submit ideas, and engage in innovation activities.

3. User Accounts and Registration

To use certain features of the Service, you must create an account. You agree to:

• Provide accurate, current, and complete information during registration
• Maintain and update your account information to keep it accurate
• Maintain the security of your account credentials
• Accept responsibility for all activities that occur under your account
• Notify us immediately of any unauthorised use of your account
• Be at least 18 years of age. If you are under 18, you must obtain parental or guardian consent, though please note that under Australian law, contracts with minors may be voidable and parental consent alone may not make these Terms enforceable against you

4. Intellectual Property Rights

4.1 Platform Intellectual Property

The Service, including its design, features, functionality, content, and underlying technology, is owned by Centred or its licensors and is protected by copyright, trademark, patent, and other intellectual property laws. You may not copy, modify, distribute, sell, or lease any part of the Service without our express written permission.

4.2 Intellectual Property in Ideation Activities

IMPORTANT: When you participate in ideation activities, challenges, hackathons, or innovation sessions organised by a third-party organisation through our platform, you acknowledge and agree that:

• All ideas, concepts, proposals, submissions, content, and intellectual property that you contribute, submit, or develop as part of such activities (collectively, "Contributions") are assigned to the organisation running the activity. You hereby assign all right, title, and interest in your Contributions to the organising organisation upon submission
• The organising organisation has the exclusive right to use, develop, commercialise, license, and exploit your Contributions in any manner, without any obligation to you
• To the extent permitted by applicable law, you waive any and all claims, rights, or interests you may have in the Contributions, including but not limited to moral rights, attribution rights, and any right to royalties, compensation, or other financial benefit
• You represent and warrant that your Contributions are original to you or that you have the right to assign such rights to the organising organisation

Pre-existing intellectual property: This assignment does not apply to any intellectual property that you owned prior to participating in an activity ("Pre-existing IP"). You retain all rights to your Pre-existing IP. However, to the extent your Pre-existing IP is incorporated into Contributions, you grant the organising organisation a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive licence to use, modify, and distribute such Pre-existing IP solely as part of the Contributions.

This provision applies regardless of whether the Contributions are ultimately commercialised, patented, trademarked, or otherwise exploited by the organising organisation. By participating in activities through our platform, you expressly waive any future claims for royalties, licensing fees, or other compensation related to the use or commercialisation of your Contributions. Individual activities may have their own terms regarding intellectual property, which will be presented to you before participation.

4.3 User-Generated Content

You retain ownership of content you create outside of organised ideation activities (such as profile information, general comments, or content not submitted as part of a specific challenge). However, by using the Service, you grant Centred a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to use, display, and distribute such content as necessary to provide and improve the Service.

5. User Conduct and Responsibilities

You agree to use the Service only for lawful purposes and in accordance with these Terms. You agree not to:

• Violate any applicable laws or regulations
• Infringe upon the rights of others, including intellectual property rights
• Upload, post, or transmit any content that is harmful, offensive, defamatory, or violates others' privacy
• Impersonate any person or entity or misrepresent your affiliation
• Interfere with or disrupt the Service or servers connected to the Service
• Attempt to gain unauthorised access to any part of the Service or other users' accounts
• Use automated systems or bots to access the Service without permission
• Collect or harvest information about other users without their consent
• Use the Service for any commercial purpose not authorised by us
• Reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble any part of the Service

6. Third-Party Organizations and Activities

Our platform enables third-party organisations to organise and run activities, challenges, and events. We are not responsible for:

• The content, rules, or terms of activities organised by third parties
• The actions or decisions of organising organisations
• How organising organisations use, develop, or commercialise Contributions
• Any disputes between participants and organising organisations
• The accuracy or quality of information provided by organising organisations

Your participation in activities organised by third parties is at your own risk. We encourage you to review the terms and conditions provided by organising organisations before participating.

7. Disclaimers and Limitations of Liability

7.1 Service Availability

We strive to provide reliable service but do not guarantee that the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or available at all times. The Service is provided "as is" and "as available" without warranties of any kind, either express or implied.

7.2 Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Centred and its affiliates, officers, employees, and agents shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or any loss of profits, data, or other intangible losses, resulting from your use of or inability to use the Service.

Our total liability to you for any claims arising from or related to the Service shall not exceed the amount you paid to us in the twelve (12) months preceding the claim, or one hundred Australian dollars (AUD $100), whichever is greater.

7.3 Australian Consumer Law

Nothing in these Terms excludes, restricts, or modifies any consumer guarantee, right, or remedy conferred on you by the Australian Consumer Law (Schedule 2 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth)) or any other applicable law that cannot be excluded, restricted, or modified by agreement. If the Australian Consumer Law applies to you as a consumer, and the Service is not of a kind ordinarily acquired for personal, domestic, or household use or consumption, our liability for failure to comply with any consumer guarantee is limited (at our election) to the re-supply of the services or the payment of the cost of having the services supplied again.

8. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Centred and its affiliates, officers, employees, and agents from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, costs, or expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or relating to:

• Your use of the Service
• Your violation of these Terms
• Your violation of any rights of another party
• Your Contributions or content you submit through the Service

9. Termination

We may suspend or terminate your access to the Service at any time for any reason, including if you violate these Terms. Where practicable, we will provide reasonable notice before termination, except in cases of serious or repeated breach, illegal activity, or where required to protect the security or integrity of the Service. Upon termination, your right to use the Service will immediately cease.

You may terminate your account at any time by contacting us or using account deletion features in the Service. Upon termination by either party:

• If you have an active paid subscription, no refunds will be issued for the remainder of the current billing period. Your access will continue until the end of the period already paid for, unless termination is due to a breach of these Terms
• You will have thirty (30) days from the date of termination to request an export of your personal data. After this period, we may delete your data in accordance with our Privacy Policy and applicable law
• Content you submitted as Contributions to activities will remain with the organising organisation as set out in Section 4.2

Sections of these Terms that by their nature should survive termination will survive, including but not limited to intellectual property provisions, disclaimers, limitations of liability, indemnification, and dispute resolution.

10. Dispute Resolution

If you have a dispute with us, you agree to first contact us at support@centred.io to attempt to resolve the dispute informally. If we cannot resolve the dispute within sixty (60) days of your initial notice, either party may refer the dispute to mediation administered by the Resolution Institute (Australia) under its mediation rules. If mediation does not resolve the dispute within thirty (30) days, either party may refer the dispute to binding arbitration administered by the Resolution Institute under its arbitration rules.

The seat of arbitration shall be Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The language of arbitration shall be English. This dispute resolution clause does not prevent either party from seeking urgent injunctive or interlocutory relief from a court of competent jurisdiction, nor does it affect any rights you may have under the Australian Consumer Law that cannot be excluded by agreement.

11. Governing Law

These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of New South Wales, Australia, and the Commonwealth of Australia. You irrevocably submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of New South Wales and any courts which may hear appeals from those courts.

12. Payment Terms, Subscriptions, and Activity Credits

Certain features of the Service require a paid subscription. By subscribing to a paid plan, you agree to the following:

12.1 Subscriptions and Billing

• Billing: Subscription fees are billed in advance on a recurring basis (monthly or annually, depending on the plan selected). All fees are quoted in Australian dollars unless otherwise stated
• Payment processing: Payments are processed by our third-party payment provider, Stripe. Your payment information is handled directly by Stripe in accordance with PCI DSS standards. We do not store your full credit card details on our servers
• Automatic renewal: Subscriptions automatically renew at the end of each billing cycle unless cancelled before the renewal date. You may cancel your subscription at any time through the Service or by contacting us
• Price changes: We may change subscription fees upon thirty (30) days' prior notice. Continued use of the Service after the new fees take effect constitutes acceptance. If you do not agree to the new fees, you may cancel your subscription before the next billing cycle
• Free trials: We may offer free trials at our discretion. At the end of a trial period, your account will be converted to a paid subscription unless you cancel beforehand

12.2 Refunds

Subscription fees are non-refundable except as required by the Australian Consumer Law. If you cancel a subscription mid-cycle, your access continues until the end of the current billing period, but no pro-rata refund will be issued. If you believe you are entitled to a refund under the Australian Consumer Law, please contact us at support@centred.io.

12.3 Activity Credits

Certain subscription plans include a monthly allocation of activity credits ("Credits"). Credits are used to publish activities on the platform — each published activity consumes one Credit. The specific details of Credit allocation, pricing, and plan inclusions are described on our pricing page and may be updated from time to time.

• Allocation and top-ups: The number of Credits included in each billing cycle depends on your subscription plan. Additional Credits may be purchased as top-ups at any time through the Service
• Rollover: Unused Credits from a billing cycle roll over and remain available for up to twelve (12) months from the date they were allocated. After twelve months, unspent Credits expire automatically
• No cash value: Credits have no monetary value. They are non-refundable, non-transferable, and cannot be exchanged for cash, other services, or any other form of compensation
• Credit return on cancellation of activities: If you cancel (unpublish) a published activity before it has commenced — meaning the scheduled start date has not yet passed and no substantive participation has begun — the Credit consumed by that activity will be returned to your account. If the activity has already commenced (its scheduled start date has passed, or substantive participation has begun), no Credit will be returned upon cancellation
• Account termination: Upon termination of your account or subscription, any unused Credits are forfeited and will not be refunded or compensated

13. Artificial Intelligence and Generated Content

The Service may include features powered by artificial intelligence ("AI") and machine learning technologies. By using AI-powered features, you acknowledge and agree that:

• AI-generated content (including but not limited to text, suggestions, personas, and summaries) is produced by automated systems and may contain inaccuracies, errors, or biases. You should review and verify all AI-generated content before relying on it
• We do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or fitness for purpose of any AI-generated content
• Your inputs to AI features (such as prompts and context) may be processed by third-party AI service providers. We take reasonable steps to ensure these providers handle your data securely, but we cannot guarantee absolute confidentiality of inputs processed by third-party systems
• You are responsible for your use of AI-generated content, including ensuring that it does not infringe third-party rights or violate applicable laws
• AI features may be modified, suspended, or discontinued at any time without notice

14. Force Majeure

We shall not be liable for any failure or delay in performing our obligations under these Terms where such failure or delay results from circumstances beyond our reasonable control, including but not limited to natural disasters, acts of government, pandemics, internet or telecommunications failures, cyberattacks, power outages, or failures of third-party service providers. If such an event continues for more than sixty (60) days, either party may terminate these Terms by providing written notice to the other party.

15. Notices

We may provide notices to you by email to the address associated with your account, by posting a notice within the Service, or by publishing updates on our website. Notices sent by email are deemed received on the date sent. It is your responsibility to keep your email address current. You may provide notices to us by emailing support@centred.io.

16. General Provisions

These Terms constitute the entire agreement between you and Centred regarding the Service. If any provision of these Terms is found to be unenforceable, the remaining provisions will remain in full effect. Our failure to enforce any right or provision of these Terms shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision.

We may assign these Terms or any rights hereunder without your consent. You may not assign these Terms or any rights hereunder without our prior written consent.

17. Contact Information

If you have questions about these Terms, please contact us: