Terms of Service
1. Acceptance of Terms
By accessing or using hellosuburb.com.au (the "Site"), including browsing content, submitting a business listing, or purchasing a service, you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service ("Terms"). If you do not agree, please discontinue use of the Site.
We may update these Terms from time to time. The updated Terms apply from the date stated above, and continued browsing use of the Site after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms. If a change materially affects an existing paid subscription, we will give affected customers reasonable notice before the change takes effect.
2. Description of Service
HelloSuburb is a hyperlocal suburb guide and business directory providing demographic information, business listings, local events, amenities, and deals for Melbourne suburbs, starting with Endeavour Hills. We aggregate data from public sources (e.g. Casey City Council open data, PTV, the Bureau of Meteorology, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Google Places API) alongside directly submitted business information.
3. No Warranty on Third-Party & Public Data
Much of the information on the Site — including but not limited to bin collection schedules, public transport data, weather, census/demographic statistics, and event listings — is sourced from third-party or government data feeds. While we take reasonable steps to provide useful and current information, third-party and public-source information may contain errors, omissions, or delays.
You acknowledge that:
- Bin day, transit, and event information may change without notice and should be independently verified for anything time-critical (e.g. missing a bin collection).
- To the extent permitted by law, HelloSuburb is not responsible for loss arising solely from errors, omissions, or delays in information supplied by third parties.
- Nothing in these Terms excludes any right or remedy that cannot lawfully be excluded, including consumer guarantees under the Australian Consumer Law.
4. Business Listings
4.1 Submission & Accuracy
Businesses submitting a listing (free, featured, service-area, or sponsored) warrant that the information provided is accurate, current, and that they have the authority to submit it on behalf of the business.
4.2 Ownership Claims
Where a business claims ownership of an existing listing, we use a lightweight verification process. We reserve the right to request further verification, reject a claim, or reverse an incorrectly approved claim at our sole discretion, without liability for any resulting inconvenience.
4.3 Right to Edit or Remove
We may edit, suspend, or remove a listing where we reasonably believe that it is inaccurate, misleading, unlawful, fraudulent, offensive, infringes another person's rights, or breaches these Terms. Where reasonably practicable, we will give the business an opportunity to correct the issue before suspension or removal.
If we terminate a paid listing for reasons unrelated to the business's breach of these Terms, we will provide a pro-rata refund for the unused portion of the prepaid service, unless otherwise agreed or permitted by law.
4.4 No Endorsement
Listing a business on the Site, whether free or paid, does not constitute an endorsement, recommendation, or guarantee of the quality of that business's goods or services. We are not a party to any transaction between a listed business and a customer, and we accept no liability for disputes, goods, or services arising from such transactions.
5. Payments, Subscriptions & Refunds
5.1 Pricing
Current pricing tiers (Featured Listing, Category Sponsorship, Service Area Listing, and one-off Website Build packages) are displayed on the Site. We will disclose the recurring nature of any subscription and the applicable price before you subscribe.
We may change subscription prices from time to time. Any price change will apply from a future billing period after we have given affected subscribers reasonable prior notice. Subscribers may cancel before the new price takes effect.
5.2 Payment Processing
All payments are processed securely via Stripe. By making a payment, you agree to Stripe's terms of service in addition to these Terms.
5.3 Recurring Billing
Featured Listings, Category Sponsorships, and Service Area Listings are billed monthly in advance on the billing date shown at checkout or on your invoice, and continue until cancelled. You may cancel at any time by contacting hello@hellosuburb.com.au. Cancellation prevents the next renewal charge and takes effect at the end of the current paid billing period; it does not entitle you to a refund for the remaining period unless required by law.
5.4 Website Build Deposits
The $99 AUD deposit for one-off website build services reserves project capacity and covers initial consultation, project setup, and commencement work, with the balance ($491 AUD) payable on completion. Once work has commenced, the deposit is generally not refundable for change-of-mind cancellations. This does not limit any rights or remedies available under the Australian Consumer Law.
5.5 Refunds
We do not provide refunds for change of mind except where expressly stated above. Your rights under the Australian Consumer Law are not affected — where a service has a major problem, you may be entitled to cancel and receive a refund for the unused part, or compensation for reduced value.
6. Acceptable Use
You agree not to:
- Submit false, misleading, defamatory, or fraudulent business or personal information
- Use the Site to harvest data, scrape content, or resell listing data without permission
- Attempt to interfere with, disrupt, or gain unauthorised access to the Site or its underlying systems
- Use the Site for any unlawful purpose
We reserve the right to suspend or terminate access for any user or business found in breach of these terms.
7. Intellectual Property
All content on the Site — including design, branding, text, graphics, and the underlying software — is owned by or licensed to HelloSuburb, except for business-submitted content and third-party data (which remains the property of its respective source). You may not copy, reproduce, or redistribute Site content without our prior written permission.
When you submit content to HelloSuburb (e.g. business descriptions, logos, photos), you retain ownership of that content but grant us a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to host, store, reproduce, format, adapt, and display that content as reasonably necessary to operate, promote, and improve HelloSuburb and your listing, including on suburb/category pages, in search results, and on our social media channels. You warrant that you own the submitted content or have permission to allow us to use it in this way.
8. Limitation of Liability
To the maximum extent permitted by law, and where our liability may lawfully be limited:
- For paying customers (listing, sponsorship, or website build services), HelloSuburb's total liability for any claim arising from that service is limited to the amount you paid us for that specific service in the 12 months preceding the claim.
- For visitors who have not paid for a service, our liability for any claim arising from your use of the Site is limited to re-supplying the relevant information or service, where reasonably possible.
- We are not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, or consequential damages, including loss of profits, data, or business opportunity.
- Nothing in these Terms excludes, restricts, or modifies any consumer guarantee, right, or remedy under the Australian Consumer Law that cannot lawfully be excluded.
9. Indemnity
You indemnify HelloSuburb against reasonably incurred losses, liabilities, and third-party claims arising directly from content you submit that infringes another person's rights, your unlawful use of the Site, or your material breach of these Terms, to the extent that the loss was caused by your conduct.
10. Third-Party Links & Services
The Site may reference or link to third-party services (e.g. Google Maps, PTV, government data portals). We are not responsible for the content, accuracy, or practices of these third parties. Third-party content and data may also be subject to the applicable provider's own terms, licences, attribution requirements, and usage restrictions, which we cannot override.
11. Changes to the Service
We may modify, suspend, expand to new suburbs, or discontinue any part of the Site or its features at any time. Where we discontinue a prepaid service before the end of its paid period for reasons unrelated to your breach of these Terms, we will provide an appropriate pro-rata refund or alternative service, unless otherwise agreed or required by law.
12. Termination
We may suspend or terminate your access to the Site or any paid service at our discretion if we reasonably believe you have breached these Terms, without obligation to refund fees already paid except as required by law.
13. Governing Law
These Terms are governed by the laws of Victoria, Australia. Any disputes arising from these Terms or use of the Site will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Victoria.
14. Contact
For questions about these Terms: