Last updated: 2026-May-11

Welcome to CORE. These Terms of Service (“Terms”) govern your access to and use of the CORE platform, tools, websites, and services (collectively, the “Service”).

By using CORE, you agree to these Terms.

1. About Core Australia

Core Systems Australia, (“CORE”, “we”, “our”, “us”) is a not-for-profit, community-operated platform that provides a ready-to-use WordPress + CiviCRM + Integration system for community groups, causes, and campaigns.

Core may offer guaranteed commercial support, but only on agreed terms with a formal negotiated commercial contract.

2. Acceptance of These Terms

By using the Service, creating a CORE site, or accessing any CORE-hosted instance, you agree that:

  • These Terms form a binding agreement between you and CORE
  • Continued use of the Service constitutes acceptance of any updated Terms
  • You have the authority to act on behalf of your organisation, where applicable

If you do not agree with these Terms, you must stop using the Service.

3. Eligibility

You must:

  • Be 16 years or older
  • If you are 13–16, use CORE only with active parental/guardian permission and only where allowed by law
  • Have the capacity to enter into agreements
  • Use the Service in compliance with local, state, and federal laws

4. Your Account and Responsibilities

4.1 Account Security

You are responsible for:

  • Keeping your passwords secure
  • Enabling two-factor authentication (2FA) where available
  • Preventing unauthorised access to your account
  • All actions taken using your account

We are not responsible for unauthorised access caused by weak passwords, shared accounts, or failure to secure devices.

4.2 Ownership of a CORE Site

The “Site Owner” is the person or organisation that created the CORE instance or holds the primary administrative email.

The Site Owner controls:

  • Admin permissions
  • Content
  • Data ownership
  • User access

We do not manage internal ownership disputes.

4.3 Ownership Transfer

CORE may transfer ownership of a site:

  • At the request of the current Site Owner
  • Upon written agreement between involved parties
  • To an authorised organisational delegate

CORE does not adjudicate disputes between individuals or factions within an organisation.

4.4 Your Use of the Service

You must not use CORE to:

  • Break local, state, or federal laws
  • Defame, harass, or harm others
  • Spread harmful misinformation
  • Send unsolicited bulk communications
  • Perform activities that endanger CORE infrastructure
  • Engage in election-related activity that violates the Electoral Act or related regulations
  • Attempt to access or disrupt another COREsite

An additional Acceptable Use Policy may apply.

5. Community Support

CORE is a community-supported, open-source ecosystem.
Support:

  • Is not guaranteed
  • Is provided voluntarily
  • May be withdrawn at any time

Users remain fully responsible for operating their own site.

6. Platform Availability

The Service is provided “as-is” and “as available”.

  • This means:
  • No guaranteed uptime
  • Features may change, break, or be removed
  • Maintenance windows may occur
  • Outages may happen due to third-party providers
  • CORE is not liable for downtime or service interruptions.

7. Third-Party Services

CORE may integrate with or rely on third-party services such as:

  • Email providers (SES, Mailgun, SendGrid, etc.)
  • SMS gateways
  • Mapping tools
  • Payment processors
  • Analytics tools
  • Hosting services (AWS, Cloudflare, etc.)

CORE Does not control these services

  • Is not responsible for outages, errors, breaches, or costs they cause
  • Is not liable for their failures

You must comply with their terms in addition to ours.

8. Data & Content

8.1 You Own Your Content

You retain full ownership of all content you upload or generate through the Service, including but not limited to:

  • Contacts and CRM records
  • Email content and campaigns
  • Media and file uploads
  • Event information
  • Posts, pages, forms, and documents
  • Any other data you create or import

Nothing in these Terms transfers ownership of your content to CORE.

8.2 Licence You Grant to CORE

By using the Service, you grant CORE a limited, non-exclusive, worldwide licence to:

  • Store your data
  • Display your content as part of your website
  • Back up and replicate data for operational purposes
  • Process your data as necessary to provide the Service

This licence exists solely to enable us to operate the Service.
CORE  does not claim ownership over your data and does not use your content for marketing, analytics, or any unrelated purpose.

8.3 Your Responsibility for Content

You are entirely responsible for all content you upload, store, or distribute through the Service. This includes ensuring that your content:

  • Is lawful in every jurisdiction where you operate
  • Complies with privacy, anti-spam, and data-protection laws
  • Does not infringe copyright, trademarks, or other intellectual property
  • Does not defame, harass, or harm individuals or organisations
  • Is accurate, non-misleading, and presented in good faith
  • Is collected and stored with proper consent, where applicable

You are also responsible for ensuring that email-related content, mailing lists, and contact data comply with:

  • Anti-spam legislation
  • Email provider acceptable use policies
  • Any consent and permission requirements

CORE  does not review or vet your content and is not liable for issues arising from it.

8.4 Data Retention & Deletion

When your account or site is suspended, terminated, or closed:

  • Access to your site and data may be removed immediately
  • Your data may be permanently deleted after a short retention period
  • Backups are not guaranteed and may not be recoverable
  • CORE is under no obligation to retain or return your data

You are responsible for:

  • Exporting your data before closure
  • Maintaining your own backups
  • Ensuring compliance with any legal record-keeping obligations you may have

If you lose access to your site without exporting your data, CORE is not responsible for any resulting loss.

9. Email Sending & Email Compliance

Certain features of the CORE platform allow you to send email using integrated email services. By enabling or using any email-sending functionality within your site, you accept full responsibility for all outbound email sent from your account or site.

CORE  does not monitor, review, approve, or assume liability for your email content, contact lists, or sending practices.

9.1 Compliance Obligations

You must comply with:

  • All applicable email, privacy, and electronic communication laws
  • All anti-spam regulations, including (where applicable):
  • Australian Spam Act 2003
  • CAN-SPAM Act
  • GDPR and similar international standards
  • Acceptable use policies of any integrated email provider

You must not upload or send to purchased, scraped, rented, or third-party marketing lists.

9.2 Consent and Mailing Lists

You are solely responsible for ensuring that:

  • All recipients have clearly opted in
  • Your communications are lawful, accurate, and non-misleading
  • Your mailing lists remain permission-based
  • Your list management practices comply with anti-spam legislation

CORE does not validate, review, or approve your contact lists.

9.3 Bounce, Complaint & Unsubscribe Handling

You must maintain a functional process for:

  • Hard and soft bounce handling
  • Spam complaint management
  • Automatically or manually removing invalid recipients

  • Honouring unsubscribe requests promptly

CORE may surface bounce/complaint information in technical logs, but you are responsible for acting on it to maintain compliance and sending reputation.

9.4 Deliverability, Reputation & Sending Limits

You understand and agree that:

  • Your sending reputation belongs to you, not CORE
  • Poor list hygiene may result in throttling, reduced deliverability, or loss of sending capability
  • Sending limits may apply and can change unexpectedly
  • You are responsible for monitoring your email volume and performance
  • Email providers may block, restrict, or suspend messages based on your behaviour

CORE is not liable for any enforcement action, sending restriction, or message blocking imposed by upstream providers.

9.5 Test-Sending & Testing Domains

When you first configure email on your CORE site:

  • CORE will provide a dedicated testing domain for development and verification
  • This domain is intended solely for testing and internal evaluation
  • You must not rely on this domain for production sending
  • You must verify and configure your own production sending domain before sending to real recipients

Using the testing domain for outreach, newsletters, campaigns, or other production activity is strictly prohibited.

9.6 DNS, Domain Verification & Identity Management

You are responsible for:

  • Verifying your own sending domains
  • Configuring DNS records such as SPF, DKIM, and DMARC
  • Ensuring accurate “From”, “Reply-To”, and “Return-Path” addresses
  • Maintaining control over domains used for sending
  • Resolving any domain conflicts or verification issues

CORE  can assist with provide documentation or automated tools, but setup accuracy is your responsibility.

9.7 Costs & Billing

Where email providers charge for usage:

  • You are responsible for all costs associated with email sending

  • Pricing is set by the upstream provider and may change

  • CORE does not issue credits, refunds, or disputes on your behalf

9.8 Email Liability & Indemnification

CORE is not responsible for:

  • Message delivery failures
  • Spam filtering or blocklisting
  • Provider-level throttling
  • Loss of messages or delays
  • Sending suspensions imposed by third-party services
  • Legal issues arising from your email content or list practices

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless CORE, its volunteers, contributors, and infrastructure providers from any claims, penalties, or losses arising out of:

  • Your email-sending behaviour
  • Your content
  • Your list management
  • Your breach of email laws or provider terms

10. Security

CORE takes reasonable steps to maintain secure systems, but:

  • No platform is perfectly secure
  • Backups may not be available
  • You must manage your own data exports
  • You must safeguard login credentials

You agree not to upload extremely sensitive data such as credit card numbers, medical records, or government identifiers.

11. Suspension and Termination

CORE may suspend or terminate your access immediately if:

  • You breach these Terms
  • Your site engages in spam or harmful activity
  • Your site threatens platform stability or security
  • You engage in illegal or unethical conduct
  • You misuse messaging tools
  • You fail to comply with applicable laws

Once suspended, data access may be restricted.

CORE may refuse future service to users who commit serious violations.

12. Force Majeure

CORE is not responsible for failures caused by events outside our control, including:

  • Cyberattacks
  • Natural disasters
  • Power outages
  • Government action
  • Network or hosting failures
  • Infrastructure disruptions
  • Emergencies

13. Dispute Resolution

These Terms are governed by the laws of Queensland, Australia.

Any disputes must be resolved through the courts of Queensland, unless another jurisdiction is required by law.

14. Warranty Disclaimer

To the maximum extent permitted by law:

  • CORE provides the Service without any warranty, express or implied
  • We do not guarantee uptime, feature availability, or data integrity
  • You use CORE at your own risk

Australian Consumer Law rights still apply where required.

15. Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law:

  • CORE is not liable for loss of data, revenue, reputation, or business
  • CORE is not liable for actions taken using your account
  • CORE’s total liability is limited to the greater of $0 (the Service is free), or the amount you actually paid for CORE (if any)
  •  

16. Indemnity

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless CORE, its volunteers, contributors, and infrastructure providers from claims arising out of:

  • Your content
  • Your misuse of the Service
  • Your breach of these Terms
  • Your violation of the law
  • Claims of defamation, copyright infringement, or privacy breaches

17. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time.
Major changes will be announced on this website or through other communication channels.

Continued use of the Service constitutes acceptance of updated Terms.

18. Contact

For questions, contact:
📧 [email protected]
🌐 www.coreaustralia.org.au

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