Terms of Service

1. Definitions

In these Terms, unless the context otherwise requires:

• "Account" means your user account on the Platform, created and managed as described in section 3.
• "Apprentice" means an individual enrolled in an Australian trade apprenticeship who uses the Platform to log and evidence their workplace experience.
• "Australian Consumer Law" means Schedule 2 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth).
• "Card" means a week's record of an Apprentice's logged work (the work areas, hours, support level, activities, equipment, and units of competency claimed), together with any Evidence attached to it.
• "Declaration" means the attestation a Supervisor makes when approving or rejecting a Card, described in section 7.
• "Employer" means a business entity that employs an Apprentice and whose Supervisors review and sign off the Apprentice's Cards.
• "Evidence" means any photograph, PDF, or other file an Apprentice attaches to a Card.
• "Platform" means the TradeTicket web application and all related services.
• "RTO" means a Registered Training Organisation (including a TAFE) under the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act 2011 (Cth), responsible for assessing and certifying the Apprentice's competency.
• "Supervisor" means an Employer-side user who reviews and approves or rejects an Apprentice's Cards.
• "Unit" or "Unit of Competency" means a unit within the Apprentice's training qualification that a Card's logged work may count towards.
• "USI" means Unique Student Identifier, the identifier defined under the Student Identifiers Act 2014 (Cth).
• "User" or "you" means any individual who accesses or uses the Platform, in any role.

2. Acceptance of Terms

2.1 Agreement to Terms

By accessing or using the Platform, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms and our Privacy Policy.

2.2 Authority to Accept

If you are accepting these Terms on behalf of an organisation (such as an Employer or an RTO), you represent and warrant that you have the authority to bind that organisation to these Terms.

2.3 Changes to Terms

We may modify these Terms at any time. Because this is a prototype, we don't yet operate a formal change-notice process (such as scheduled email notice); a real deployment would need one before it holds real apprentice data. Your continued use of the Platform after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the modified Terms.

3. Eligibility and Account Access

3.1 Eligibility Requirements

To use the Platform, you must be one of:

• an Apprentice enrolled in an Australian trade apprenticeship
• an Employer or Supervisor of an apprentice
• an RTO/TAFE staff member responsible for assessing or overseeing apprentices
• an administrator authorised to manage accounts on the Platform

3.2 How Accounts Are Created

There is no public sign-up form. Accounts are created and managed by an administrator. In this prototype, seeded as demo data; in a real deployment, provisioned by the training provider or employer running the Platform. You are responsible for keeping information associated with your Account accurate, and for reporting anything wrong with it.

4. Description of the Platform

4.1 What TradeTicket Does

TradeTicket is a workplace-evidence and sign-off tool for Australian trade apprentices. It lets:

• an Apprentice log each week's work (work areas, hours, support level, activities, and equipment used) against the Units it counts towards, and attach photo or PDF Evidence
• a Supervisor review a submitted Card, see automated authenticity checks on any attached Evidence, and approve or reject it under a formal Declaration
• RTO/TAFE staff oversee a cohort, record formal assessments, and override an Employer's decision on a Card where warranted
• a rules engine turn approved Cards and RTO assessments into a computed view of how close each Unit is to complete, and an overall readiness view
• an administrator manage Users and Employers on the Platform

4.2 What TradeTicket Does Not Do

TradeTicket is a record-keeping and workflow tool. It does not itself grant, assess, or certify competency. Only the RTO responsible for an Apprentice's qualification can do that, in accordance with the relevant training package and the ASQA/DEWR Standards for RTOs. Anything the Platform shows about progress, including percentages, readiness views, or "what's blocking capstone" summaries, is a computed estimate to help the people involved see where things stand, not a qualification decision.

4.3 Service Availability

This is a prototype, typically run on a single laptop for a demo. We do not promise any level of uptime, availability, or continuity of service, and the Platform may be unavailable, modified, or discontinued at any time without notice.

5. User Obligations and Conduct

5.1 Acceptable Use

You agree to use the Platform only for its intended purpose and in compliance with applicable law, including the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles, the Student Identifiers Act 2014 (Cth), and the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth).

5.2 Prohibited Conduct

You must not:

• log work you did not do, or hours, activities, or equipment you did not actually work with or on
• upload Evidence that is not genuinely your own work, or misrepresent what a piece of Evidence shows
• use another User's Account, or share your own login/session with anyone else
• attempt to gain unauthorised access to any part of the Platform or another User's records
• use automated means (bots, scrapers) to access the Platform
• reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble any part of the Platform
• remove, circumvent, or disable any security or access-control feature
• upload malware or any other malicious content
• collect or store personal information about other Users beyond what the Platform shows you in the ordinary course of your role

5.3 Role-Specific Obligations

Apprentices must log work honestly and only attach Evidence that is genuinely theirs. See section 6.2 for what to be careful about when photographing a worksite.

Supervisors must only make an approve or reject decision, and accept the associated Declaration, when they genuinely believe it to be true (see section 7).

RTO/TAFE staff must record assessments and overrides accurately, with a genuine reason, and in accordance with the VET Quality Framework and their RTO's own obligations.

6. Evidence, Content, and Intellectual Property

6.1 You Own What You Upload

You retain ownership of any Evidence or other content you upload to the Platform. By uploading it, you grant TradeTicket, your Employer, and your RTO a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to store, display, and use it for the purpose of reviewing, signing off, and assessing your apprenticeship progress. See our Copyright Notice for more detail.

6.2 Worksite Photographs

Photos taken on an active worksite routinely capture more than your own work: other workers, clients, and equipment that isn't yours to share. Before you upload a photo:

• avoid framing other people's faces where you can, especially clients or members of the public
• be mindful of client premises, confidential documents, or anything a client wouldn't want photographed and shared
• follow your Employer's and the client site's own rules about photography, which take priority over anything in these Terms

You are responsible for what you choose to photograph. TradeTicket does not review photos before they are uploaded and does not seek consent from anyone who appears in them. See our Privacy Policy for how we handle photos once uploaded.

6.3 Content Representations

You represent and warrant that:

• you own or have the necessary rights to upload and share any content you upload
• your content does not infringe any third party's intellectual property rights
• your content complies with applicable law and, where a worksite is involved, your Employer's and the client's rules

6.4 Our Intellectual Property

The Platform itself (its design, features, code, and documentation) is owned by TradeTicket or its licensors. You may not copy, modify, distribute, or create derivative works from the Platform, or use our name or branding without permission.

7. Accuracy of Logged Work and Sign-Off

7.1 Logged Work Is a Claim Until Signed Off

A Card an Apprentice submits is a claim about work performed. It only counts towards progress once a Supervisor approves it, and even then an RTO assessor can require further evidence or override the decision (see 7.3).

7.2 The Supervisor Declaration Is a Formal Attestation

Approving a Card requires the Supervisor to tick a Declaration that the record is true and the Evidence is the Apprentice's own. Rejecting a Card requires its own attestation: that the Supervisor actually reviewed the record and Evidence before sending it back. The exact wording is shown to the Supervisor at the moment they decide and is stored on the Card permanently, even if the wording is reworded in a later version of the Platform.

7.3 RTO Override

An RTO/TAFE assessor may override an Employer's approval or rejection of a Card, with a reason. Every override is permanently recorded (who did it, when, and why) and cannot be deleted by anyone.

7.4 Automated Checks Are Not Proof

The Platform runs automated checks on Evidence (see our Privacy Policy for detail) and shows the results to whoever is deciding on a Card. These checks raise questions for a careful reviewer to ask; they do not prove a photo is genuine or fake, and passing or failing a check is not itself a decision.

8. Third-Party Services

This prototype does not currently integrate with any external Learning Management System, payment processor, or other third-party service. It runs on a local database and stores uploaded files on the machine running it. If a future version adds hosting, storage, or other third-party infrastructure, this section will need to name them and this policy will need updating accordingly.

If the Platform ever contains links to external websites, we are not responsible for the content, privacy practices, or availability of those sites.

9. Privacy and Data Protection

Our collection, use, and disclosure of personal information, including USIs, logged work, and Evidence, is governed by our Privacy Policy, which forms part of these Terms. Please read it, particularly the sections on photographs and on evidence metadata, before uploading anything.

10. Warranties and Disclaimers

To the maximum extent permitted by law, and subject to section 10.2:

• the Platform is provided "as is" and "as available", as a prototype, not a finished product
• we do not warrant that the Platform is secure, error-free, or fit for handling real apprentice data in its current form. See our README's "Known limitations" section, which lists specific gaps including that authentication is a stub and there is no production-grade rate limiting or hardening
• some of the qualification data shipped with the Platform is marked "inferred" rather than sourced from a real system, and is flagged as such in the underlying data. We do not warrant its accuracy for real assessment purposes
• EXIF camera metadata used in Evidence checks is a signal, not proof. It can be stripped or forged, and we do not warrant it establishes the authenticity of any file
• we do not warrant any particular competency, assessment, or employment outcome

10.2 Consumer Guarantees

11. Limitation of Liability

11.1 Exclusion of Certain Losses

To the maximum extent permitted by law, we are not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, or consequential damages, or losses arising from your reliance on the Platform's computed progress views, automated Evidence checks, or third-party data.

11.2 Liability Cap

Subject to section 10.2 (Consumer Guarantees), our total aggregate liability to you for all claims arising out of or in connection with these Terms or your use of the Platform is limited to $100 AUD. [Placeholder figure: a lawyer needs to confirm whether this is appropriate, particularly once the Platform is used with real apprentices whose qualification outcomes it touches.]

11.3 Exceptions

The limitations in this section do not apply to liability that cannot be limited by law, liability for fraud or wilful misconduct, or liability for personal injury or death caused by our negligence.

12. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless TradeTicket and its officers, employees, and agents from claims, damages, and reasonable legal costs arising from:

• your breach of these Terms
• your violation of any applicable law
• your infringement of a third party's intellectual property or privacy rights, including anyone identifiable in a photo you upload
• content you upload, submit, or transmit through the Platform

13. Termination and Account Deactivation

13.1 How Account Removal Actually Works

Unlike a typical consumer app, you cannot self-delete your Account from a profile page. Accounts are managed by an administrator. By design, the Platform will not hard-delete a User who has Cards or Evidence on record, and will not delete an Employer while anyone is still linked to it. Deactivation is used instead, which stops sign-in without destroying the underlying record. This exists to protect the integrity of records that a real RTO would rely on for assessment decisions.

13.2 Termination by Us

We may suspend or deactivate your access to the Platform immediately if you breach these Terms, engage in fraudulent activity, or pose a security risk.

13.3 The Audit Trail Survives Termination

Approvals, rejections, and RTO overrides connected to your Account are recorded permanently and are not removed when your Account is deactivated or your access ends. This is what lets an RTO or employer rely on the record later.

14. Dispute Resolution

14.1 Informal Resolution

Before initiating any formal dispute resolution, you agree to first contact us at nick.patterson [at] origae.dev and attempt to resolve the dispute informally.

14.2 A Real Complaints Path Is Still Missing

This prototype does not yet have a formal in-app mechanism for an Apprentice to dispute a rejection or an RTO override, beyond what's already visible to them on the Card. A real deployment needs one before it can be relied on the way this section implies.

14.3 Governing Law and Jurisdiction

These Terms are governed by the laws of Victoria, Australia. You irrevocably submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Victoria. [Placeholder: confirm this is the right jurisdiction for the actual entity operating TradeTicket.]

15. General Provisions

15.1 Entire Agreement

These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and TradeTicket regarding the Platform.

15.2 Severability

If any provision of these Terms is found to be invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions will continue in full force and effect.

15.3 No Partnership

Nothing in these Terms creates a partnership, joint venture, agency, or employment relationship between you and TradeTicket.

15.4 Notices

Notices to us must be sent to:

16. Contact Information

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