Member Terms and Conditions

1. These Terms, and who we are

1.1 Noble Pals is the alumni community of PAL Buddhist School. It is operated by PAL Buddhist School Limited ACN [ACN to be confirmed] ABN [ABN to be confirmed] ("the School", "we", "us"). In these Terms, "you" means you as a member or applicant.

1.2 By ticking the acknowledgment boxes and submitting your application, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, please do not apply — nothing is lost, and you remain part of this School's story regardless.

1.3 These Terms operate together with the Noble Pals Charter, Safeguarding and Data Policy, and with our Privacy Collection Notice. If there is any inconsistency between these Terms and that Policy, the Policy prevails to the extent it gives you greater protection.

1.4 Membership of Noble Pals is free. We do not charge you to join, and we never will charge you to remain a member.

2. Who can join

2.1 You may join Noble Pals only if you: (a) completed your secondary schooling (Year 12) at PAL Buddhist School; (b) were enrolled at the School for at least five years; and (c) are aged 18 years or over.

2.2 By applying, you confirm that each of those things is true. If you are a recent school leaver who is still 17, you are warmly invited to register your interest and to join on your eighteenth birthday.

2.3 A School administrator checks every application against the School's enrolment records. We may approve, decline, or ask you for more information. If we decline, we will tell you why and you may ask the Principal to look at it again.

3. Your account

3.1 You sign in with your own email address using a secure link or code. There is no password to lose. Keep access to your email account secure, because anyone who can read your inbox can reach your Noble Pals account.

3.2 Your account is personal to you. Please do not share it, let someone else use it, or create an account for anyone but yourself.

3.3 Tell us promptly if you think someone else has accessed your account, so we can help you secure it.

4. Your personal information — what we collect and what we will never do with it

4.1.1 To verify that you are a former student, we collect your name, date of birth, the years you attended, your student or enrolment number, and any supporting note you provide. We collect your email address so we can sign you in and contact you.

4.1.2 Everything else is up to you: your photograph, headline, biography, interests, life journey entries, what help you can offer or seek, and anything you post or write.

4.1.3 Your date of birth and enrolment number are used for verification only. They are never displayed to other members, and never will be.

4.2.1 We use your information to verify your eligibility, to operate Noble Pals, and to communicate with you about the community and the School.

4.2.2 What other members can see depends on choices you make. Your profile is visible to approved members as you configure it. The alumni directory is opt-in: you do not appear in it unless you choose to, and you can remove yourself at any time. Posts you make to the Global Feed are visible to all approved members; posts to your Cohort Feed are visible only to your graduating year.

4.2.3 Your private reflections are private by default. They are visible to no one but you unless you expressly choose to share a particular reflection with your cohort.

4.3 What we will never do:

• 4.3.1 We will never sell, rent, licence or trade your personal information.
• 4.3.2 We will never give any third party access to the alumni directory, your information, or your reflections for a commercial or political purpose.
• 4.3.3 We will never pass your information to another organisation — including organisations related to the School, such as its foundation — without your express consent.
• 4.3.4 We will never use your photograph, your writing or your reflection in the School's marketing, website, or publications without asking you first and obtaining your written permission for that specific use.

4.4 – 4.6 Your rights, security, and information outside Australia

4.4.1 You may at any time: see what we hold about you; correct anything that is wrong; remove yourself from the directory; withdraw consent you previously gave; download your information; or close your account and have your personal information deleted or de-identified.

4.4.2 To do any of those things, use the settings in the platform or write to us at [privacy contact email to be confirmed]. We will respond within a reasonable time and ordinarily within 30 days.

4.4.3 If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information, please tell us first so we can put it right. If you remain unhappy, you may complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.

4.5.1 We take reasonable steps to protect your information: access is limited to administrators who need it, administrator access is reviewed at least annually, and our technology suppliers are bound by contract to protect your data and to tell us promptly of any breach.

4.5.2 We cannot promise that any online system is perfectly secure, and we will not pretend otherwise. If a data breach occurs that is likely to cause you serious harm, we will tell you and we will notify the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, as the law requires.

4.5.3 We keep your information only while you are a member and for a reasonable period afterwards, unless we are required by law to keep it longer.

4.6.1 If we store or process your information outside Australia, we will take reasonable steps to ensure it is handled to the standard of the Australian Privacy Principles, and we will tell you where it is held if you ask.

4.6.2 If you live outside Australia, additional privacy laws may give you further rights. Nothing in these Terms takes away a right you have under the law of the place where you live.

5. The alumni directory

5.1 The directory is opt-in. Joining Noble Pals does not put you in it.

5.2 If you opt in, other approved members can find you and see the details you have chosen to show. You control which details those are, and you can leave the directory at any time.

5.3 The directory exists so that alumni can find one another. Please do not use it to collect members' details, to market anything, to recruit, to campaign, or for any purpose other than genuine personal connection. Doing so is a serious breach of these Terms.

6. What you write and post

6.1 You own everything you write, post and upload. Joining Noble Pals does not change that.

6.2 By posting, you give us permission to display your content within Noble Pals so the community can work. That permission is non-exclusive, limited to that purpose, and you can revoke it by deleting your content or closing your account. We will ask you separately, and get your written permission, before using anything of yours anywhere else.

6.3 You confirm that what you post is yours to post — that you wrote it or took it, or you have permission — and that it does not infringe anyone else's rights.

6.4.1 You can edit a milestone reflection at any time. A reflection is a living note about your own life, and it stays yours to revise.

6.4.2 You can also delete a reflection at any time. Your words about your own life remain yours to withdraw.

7. Photographs of other people

7.1 Please do not post a photograph of another person without their agreement, particularly a photograph including a child. If someone asks you to take down a photograph of them, please do.

7.2 If you tell us that a photograph of you has been posted without your agreement, we will remove it.

8. Community standards

8.1 Noble Pals is guided by the same standards as the School itself: the PBS Ten Codes of Moral Conduct, and above all right speech — which asks of anything we say whether it is true, whether it is kind, whether it is useful, and whether this is the right moment.

8.2 You agree not to post, send or share anything that:

• is unlawful, or encourages anything unlawful;
• defames, harasses, bullies, threatens or intimidates any person;
• discriminates against or vilifies any person or group;
• is sexually explicit, or sexualises any person — and, without exception, anything that sexualises a child;
• promotes violence, self-harm or disordered eating;
• discloses another person's personal information without their consent;
• impersonates anyone, or misrepresents your connection to the School;
• is commercial solicitation, advertising, multi-level marketing, or a scam;
• is political campaigning or electioneering;
• infringes anyone's copyright, trade mark or other rights; or
• contains malicious code, or attempts to gain unauthorised access to the platform or to another member's account.

9. Reporting, moderation and suspension

9.1 Every post and comment has a report button. If something troubles you, please use it. We aim to look at every report within two business days, and within 24 hours if it concerns safety or anything unlawful.

9.2 We may remove content, issue a warning, restrict access to parts of the platform, suspend your membership, or, in a serious case, end it. We will act proportionately, and we will ordinarily raise a concern with you privately before taking a formal step.

9.3 If we remove your content or suspend you, we will tell you what happened and why, and you may appeal once to a School administrator who was not involved in the original decision.

9.4 We may act immediately and without prior warning where content appears unlawful, threatens someone's safety, or involves a child. In those cases we may also preserve the material and report it to the police or the eSafety Commissioner, and we will cooperate with any lawful request.

9.5 We are not able to review everything that is posted before it appears, and we do not pre-approve posts. Noble Pals depends on its members writing as they would speak in person, and on all of us reporting what falls short.

10. Giving

10.1 You may see information about giving to the School or to its foundation. Giving is always voluntary. Nothing you give, and nothing you decline to give, affects your membership, your standing in this community, or how you are treated here.

10.2 We will not use the directory to target you for solicitation without your consent, and we will not suggest an amount to you personally.

11. Ending your membership

11.1 You may leave at any time, for any reason or none, through your account settings or by writing to us. We will not ask you to justify it.

11.2 On leaving, you may download your information. We will delete or de-identify your personal information within a reasonable period, other than anything we must keep by law or for our own records of moderation decisions.

11.3 We may end or suspend your membership if you seriously or repeatedly breach these Terms, if you are found not to have been eligible, or if we close Noble Pals. If we close the community, we will give you reasonable notice and an opportunity to download what is yours.

11.4 Clauses 4.3, 6.1, 6.3, 12, 13, 14 and 17 continue to apply after your membership ends.

12. What we promise, and what we do not

12.1.1 We will operate Noble Pals with reasonable care and skill, handle your information as clause 4 describes, and act on reports as clause 9 describes.

12.2.1 Noble Pals is provided free of charge and on an 'as is' basis. We cannot promise that it will always be available, uninterrupted or error-free; that it will be compatible with every device; that information posted by other members is accurate, lawful or kind; or that any online system is perfectly secure.

12.2.2 We are not responsible for what other members say or do. Content on Noble Pals is written by its members and does not represent the views of the School unless it is posted by the School itself.

12.3.1 Nothing in these Terms excludes, restricts or modifies any right or remedy, or any guarantee, warranty or other term implied or imposed by the Australian Consumer Law or any other law that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited. If a term of these Terms would do so, that term does not apply to the extent of the inconsistency.

12.3.2 Subject to clause 12.3.1, and to the extent permitted by law: we are not liable for loss you suffer because of the acts or omissions of another member; we are not liable for indirect or consequential loss, or for loss of profits, opportunity or data; and our total liability to you arising out of Noble Pals is limited, at our option, to resupplying the service or to $100.

12.3.3 Nothing in this clause limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud, or for anything else the law does not permit us to limit.

12.4.1 Every protection and limitation in these Terms applies not only to the School but also, individually, to the School's directors, officers, employees, contractors, administrators, moderators, ambassadors and volunteers. You agree not to bring a claim arising out of Noble Pals against any of those people personally in respect of anything done, or not done, in good faith in connection with the community. The School holds the benefit of this clause on trust for each of them.

13. Your responsibility

13.1 You are responsible for what you post and for how you behave here.

13.2 If the School suffers loss, or has a claim made against it, because you breached clause 8 (community standards), clause 5.3 (misuse of the directory), or clause 6.3 (rights in what you post), or because you acted unlawfully, you agree to reimburse the School for that loss to the extent it was caused by your conduct. This does not apply to the extent the loss was caused by the School's own negligence or breach.

14. The limits of our role

14.1.1 Posts, comments, profiles and reflections are written by members. We do not approve them before they appear, and we do not check them for accuracy, fairness or lawfulness in advance. We have no obligation to monitor the platform, and you should not assume anything you read here has been reviewed by the School.

14.1.2 What we do is act on what we are told. If you report something, clause 9 applies and we will deal with it.

14.2.1 Our vetting checks one thing: that an applicant is a former student who meets clause 2.1, according to the School's enrolment records. It is not a character reference, a background check, a police check, or any assessment of a person's honesty, competence or safety.

14.2.2 Membership of Noble Pals says a person attended this School. It says nothing more than that, and you should not treat it as a reason to trust someone with your money, your business, your family or your safety.

14.3.1 If you enter into a business arrangement, employ or are employed by, lend to, borrow from, invest with, buy from, sell to, or otherwise deal with another member, you do so entirely at your own risk and on your own judgment. The School is not a party to it, does not vouch for it, and is not responsible for it.

14.3.2 Please apply the same care you would apply to a stranger, because in law that is what another member is. Where money, employment or anything significant is involved, take your own advice.

14.4.1 Nothing posted on Noble Pals — by a member, an ambassador, an administrator, or the School itself — is professional advice. That includes legal, financial, medical, psychological, migration, career and educational advice.

14.4.2 A member may be a doctor, a lawyer, an accountant or a counsellor. If they say something helpful here, that is a kindness between former schoolmates, not a professional engagement, and no professional relationship or duty of care arises.

14.5.1 Members may arrange reunions, meals, trips and other gatherings, and we are glad when they do. Unless an event is expressly described as an official School or Noble Pals event organised by the School, it is a private gathering between individuals.

14.5.2 For a private gathering, the School does not organise it, supervise it, insure it, vet who attends, or accept any responsibility for what happens at it. You attend at your own risk. The organiser, not the School, is responsible for the safety and lawfulness of their event.

14.5.3 Listing or mentioning a member-organised gathering on Noble Pals does not make it a School event or imply the School's endorsement of it.

14.6.1 Profiles, journey entries and 'open to' preferences are written by members about themselves. We do not verify them. The School does not endorse, recommend or guarantee any member, any member's business, services, products, views or qualifications.

14.6.2 No member may state or imply that the School endorses them, their business, or their views because of their membership, or use the Noble Pals or School name or logos in their own marketing.

14.7.1 Noble Pals may contain links to other websites and may rely on services operated by others. We do not control them, do not endorse them, and are not responsible for their content, their conduct or their handling of your information.

14.8.1 Nothing in clause 14 affects: our obligations in relation to your personal information under clause 4 and the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), which we cannot and do not contract out of; our commitment to act on reports under clause 9; our responsibility for our own acts and omissions in operating the platform; any obligation we have under a law that cannot be excluded; or our duty to report unlawful material to the proper authorities.

15. Changes to these Terms

15.1 We may update these Terms. If a change materially affects your rights, we will give you at least 14 days' notice by email or in the platform before it takes effect, and you may leave if you do not wish to accept it.

15.2 Minor changes — corrections, clarifications, updated contact details — take effect when published.

16. Complaints

16.1 If you are unhappy with anything about Noble Pals, write to [contact email to be confirmed]. We would much rather hear from you than have you leave quietly.

16.2 For a privacy concern, see clause 4.4.3. For cyberbullying or image-based abuse, you may also complain to the eSafety Commissioner at esafety.gov.au.

17. General

17.1 These Terms are governed by the law of New South Wales, Australia, and the courts of New South Wales have non-exclusive jurisdiction.

17.2 If any part of these Terms is found to be invalid or unenforceable, that part is severed and the rest continues to apply.

17.3 If we do not enforce a term straight away, we do not give up the right to enforce it later.

17.4 These Terms, the Privacy Collection Notice, and the Noble Pals Charter, Safeguarding and Data Policy are the whole agreement between us about Noble Pals.

17.5 We may send you notices by email or through the platform. You can reach us at [contact email to be confirmed] or [postal address to be confirmed].