Terms and Conditions

These Terms of Service (“Terms of Service”), along with EEC’s Privacy Policy, Cookies Policy, the Contract (if applicable) and any related documents referenced herein (collectively, the “Agreement”):
A. establish the terms under which you may access and use the EEC Professional Development Hub available at www.eec.learnworlds.com (“Hub”); and
B. form a binding agreement between you and the Energy Efficiency Council Inc. (ABN 63 136 469 291) (“EEC”, “we”, “us” or “our”).

1. Definitions

In these Terms of Service, unless the context otherwise requires, the following expressions have the following meanings: 
  • “Account” means an account, assigned to an individual, required to access and/or use certain areas of the Hub.
  • “Certifications” means a certification service delivered under the banner of the EEC Professional Certification Framework.
  • “Classroom Courses” means a course designated as a classroom course via the Hub, which: 

       (a) has a classroom component, either in-person or via a meeting or webinar platform; and
       (b) may have an online learning component via the Hub.
  • “Cookies Policy” means the cookies policy available at eec.learnworlds.com/cookies.
  • “Contract” means a contract for the purchase of a Corporate Subscription.
  • “Corporate Subscription” refers to an arrangement that grants access to agreed Products via the Hub for multiple End-Users under a single agreement.
  • “Corporate Subscriber” means, in the case of a Corporate Subscription, the entity or organisation named as the customer in the Contract.
  • “Customer” means the person that purchases a Product, as specified in the Contract or sign up form for an Account (as applicable).
  • “End-User Content” means any content submitted by an End-User.
  • “End-user” means a user of the Hub.
  • “Online Courses” means a course delivered wholly online and self-paced via the Hub. Online courses are designated as such on the course landing page on the Hub.
  • “Platform” means collectively the online facilities, code, tools, services, additional services and information that we utilise for the creation, editing, and hosting of the Hub.
  • “Platform Provider” means LearnWorlds Ltd.
  • “Privacy Laws” means any applicable Australian law, regulation or binding code or requirement of a government body relating to privacy or the protection of personal information.
  • “Privacy Policy” means the privacy policy available at eec.learnworlds.com/privacy.
  • “Products” means: 
        (a) Classroom Courses;
        (b) Online Courses; 
        (c) Certifications;
        (d) Corporate Subscriptions; and
        (e) any other products or services we make accessible to End-users via the Hub.
  • “you” or “your” means:
        (a) all End-users; and
        (b) the Corporate Subscriber.

2. About Us

EEC owns and operates the Hub and Products. If you have any queries about these Terms of Service, please contact us at:

3. Access and availability

3.1 Platform Provider
You acknowledge and agree that:
(a) the Platform on which we have built the Hub and offer our Products is provided by the Platform Provider; 
(b) as detailed in www.learnworlds.com/plans, the Platform Provider will continue to develop and improve the Platform over time, in some cases making significant changes to it; and
(c) EEC shall bear no responsibility for: 
    (i) bugs, errors, security issues or other technical issues related to the Platform; 
    (ii) Platform downtime; or 
    (iii) changes or updates made by the Platform Provider.

3.2 Hub and Product changes and availability
(a) From time to time, EEC may:
    (i) make changes to the Hub, such as improvements, alterations to the sign up process, or to reflect changes in the law or other regulatory requirements; and
    (ii) make changes to a Product, such as course content or flow, improvements, corrections and updates; and
    (iii) cancel or discontinue a Product.
(b) We will give you reasonable prior notice either by email or an on-website announcement of any: 
    (i) material changes to the Hub or Products (including, if applicable, anything that you need to do) (Change Notice); and
    (ii) cancellation or discontinuance of a Product you have purchased or have access to via a Corporate Subscription. 
(c) If the change to the Hub or Product is material and adversely impacts the functionality of the Hub or your use of the Product (as applicable), you may terminate the Agreement by giving written notice within 30 days of:
    (i) if the Change Notice was sent by email, the date sent to you; and
    (ii) if the Change Notice was issued by on-website announcement, the date of publication. 
(d) We endeavour to make the Hub and Products available to you at all times. However, we may need to temporarily suspend availability to make changes, as outlined under clause 3.2(a). Unless we are responding to an emergency or an urgent issue, we will inform you in advance of any interruptions to availability by email or an on-website announcement.

3.3 Suspension or removal of access 
We reserve the right to remove or suspend your access to the Hub immediately by written notice if you have (or we have reasonable grounds to suspect you have) repeatedly or materially breached the Agreement. This right is not modified by any other section of these Terms of Service.

3.4 Duration of access
Unless otherwise stated or agreed with you in writing, access to a Product is for the following duration: 
(a) Online Course: 12 months from the enrolment date.
(b) Classroom Course: Until completion of the Classroom Course and receipt of the certificate of completion or attendance (as applicable). This will vary depending on the Classroom Course.
(c) Corporate Subscription: The 12 month period commencing on the starting date and expiring on the finishing date, as set out in the Contract (“Subscription Period”).  
(d) Certification: For as long as the certification is maintained.

3.5 Subscriptions and End-users
Corporate Subscriptions include access for multiple End-user Accounts (each, a “Seat”).  Each Seat can be allocated to an End-user at the discretion of the Customer’s primary Account holder or authorised representative. Access to the Hub for all Seats will expire at the end of the Subscription Period regardless of when during the Subscription Period they were assigned.

3.6 No resale of Products
You must not on-sell or re-sell any Product or Seat. The on-selling or re-selling of Products or Seats will result in the immediate cancellation of this Agreement and removal of access to all Products (including, in the case of a Corporate Subscription, all Seats). 

4. Pricing & payments

4.1 Pricing
All prices are stated in Australian dollars and include GST, unless otherwise specified. The EEC reserves the right to vary pricing at any time without notice. Changes in price will not affect any current Product that you have already purchased but will apply to any subsequent renewal or new Product purchase.

4.2 Payment terms
(a) Unless otherwise stated on the Product landing page, payment for: 
    (i) a Classroom Course is due in full 30 days prior to commencement of the Classroom Course; and
    (ii) Online Courses and Certifications  must be made upfront in full at the time of purchase. 
(b) Your chosen payment method from the available options provided on the Hub will be charged when we or our nominated third party payment processor processes your order. 
(c) If the price of the Classroom Course or Certification changes between your application being placed and us accepting that application and taking payment, you will be charged the price shown on the Hub at the time of submitting your application.  
(d) Unless otherwise agreed in the Contract, payment for a Corporate Subscription is due within 14 days of the date of our invoice. 

4.3 Consequences for non-payment
(a)  If you do not make any payment due to us on time, as set out in clause 4.2:
    (i) if the payment relates to a Classroom Course, your offer of enrolment in the Classroom Course will be forfeited;
    (ii) if the payment relates to a Certification, processing of your application for Certification will be suspended until full payment is received; and
    (iii) if the payment relates to any other Product, we may suspend your access to the Hub or the relevant Product, and in the case of a Corporate Subscription, any associated End-user access may also be suspended, until full payment is received. 
(b) If you believe that we have charged you an incorrect amount, please contact us at training@eec.org.au as soon as reasonably possible to let us know. 

5. EEC member discounts

(a) EEC members receive significant discounts for our Products.
(b) To access these discounts via the Hub:
    (i) The EEC membership must be current at the time of purchase; and
    (ii) The End-user utilising the discount must be an employee of the EEC member organisation at the time of purchase; and
    (iii) The End-user utilising the discount must use the EEC member discount code at the time of purchase. Member benefits cannot be applied retrospectively.
    (iv) End-users found to have used the EEC member discount code incorrectly will have their purchase cancelled and refunded, less applicable fees and charges.

6. Subsidies

(a) Individual applicants for certification may be entitled to a subsidy for certification application fees, subject to availability and compliance with prescribed eligibility criteria.

(b) Details of available subsidies, including applicable eligibility requirements, will be published on the relevant Product landing page and may also be communicated through     other EEC-branded platforms.
(c) The availability, scope, and value of any subsidy may be varied or withdrawn at any time without notice.
(d) Where subsidies are restricted by jurisdiction, eligibility will be determined by the applicant’s state of residence.
(e) Subsidies may be limited to a maximum number of applicants per organisation, after which standard application fees shall apply.
(f) A subsidy will be granted only once per individual applicant.

7. Cancellations, changes, transfers, and refunds

7.1 General
(a) You may cancel your purchase of a Product or Subscription in the following circumstances, and you will be entitled to a full or partial refund for services or content not provided, as set out in clause 7.4:
    (i) we have made a material error in the description of the Hub or our Products;
    (ii) there is a significant, unresolvable fault that prevents you or, if you have a Corporate Subscription, your End-users from using the Hub or our Products; 
    (iii) in accordance with clause 3.2(c); or
    (iv) we have materially breached these Terms of Service or have in any way failed to comply with our legal obligations to you.
(b) Except as otherwise set out in these Terms of Service, Product fees are non-refundable and non-transferable.

7.2 Corporate Subscriptions
(a) You may upgrade a Corporate Subscription at any time. Upgrades will apply to the remainder of the Subscription period and the difference in fees will be applied on a pro-rata basis.
(b) Corporate Subscriptions cannot be downgraded during the Subscription Period.
(c) If you wish to transfer a Seat in your Corporate Subscription to a different End-user, you may submit a written request to training@eec.org.au, providing an explanation of the reasonable grounds on which you are making the request and providing any other details requested by EEC. EEC will consider your request but reserves the right to accept or reject it in its sole discretion.

7.3 Classroom Courses
(a) Unless clause 7.1(a) applies, requests to cancel enrolment in a Classroom Course must be received more than 30 days prior to the Classroom Course commencement date and will incur a cancellation fee of 50% of the price of the Classroom Course. Cancellations made on or after 30 days prior to course commencement cannot be accepted. Cancellation requests must be received in writing to: training@eec.org.au.
(b) The EEC will consider requests to transfer enrolments to an alternate attendee for Classroom courses at its discretion. Transfer requests must be received more than 30 days prior to course commencement. Transfer requests made on or after 30 days prior to course commencement cannot be accepted. Transfer requests must be received in writing to: training@eec.org.au.

7.4 Refunds
(a) If you cancel your purchase of a Product in accordance with clause 7.1(a) or EEC cancels or discontinues the Product without cause, you will be entitled to: 
    (i) Certifications: A refund of 100% of the price paid;
    (ii) Online Courses: A refund of an amount calculated as follows:(price of your Online Course / 365 days) x the number of whole days remaining until your access to the Product expires
    (iii) Corporate Subscriptions: A refund of an amount calculated as follows: (price of your Corporate Subscription / the total number of days in the Subscription Period) x the number of whole days remaining until your Subscription Period expires
    (iv) Classroom Course: Your choice of a transfer to the next available course dates or a full refund of any paid course fees.
(b) Any refunds due to you will be made no later than 14 calendar days after the date on which we confirm that you are entitled to the refund. 

8. Privacy and data

(a) The use of the Hub is governed by our Privacy Policy and Cookies Policy. 
(b) All personal information that we may use will be collected, processed, and held in accordance with Privacy Laws.
(c) EEC reserves the right to access your Account at any time in order to respond to Your requests for technical support, to maintain the safety and security of the Hub, and for other legitimate business purposes, necessary for the Hub to operate and for The EEC to be able to offer the requested Services to You.
(d) You acknowledge and agree that the Products are designed for the Australian market and, accordingly, EEC does not intend to:
    (i) target or promote the Products to any person residing outside Australia; and
    (ii) collect, process or hold any personal information of persons residing outside Australia.

9. Intellectual property, rights, and licences

(a) The copyright for the content on the Hub is owned or licensed by EEC and is protected under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) and by other copyright laws. No material on the Hub or in our Products may be reproduced, adapted, uploaded to a third party, linked to, framed, performed in public, distributed or transmitted in any form by any process without the specific written consent of the EEC. 
(b) All trade marks, custom graphics, icons, and other items that appear on the Hub are owned or licensed by EEC. 
(c) If you have a Corporate Subscription, which includes access to the Hub via a dedicated, branded portal, you grant us a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, royalty free licence to use your branding device for the purposes of providing the Corporate Subscription.
(d) We grant you a limited, non-exclusive, revocable, non-transferable licence to use the Hub to access our Products, subject to these Terms of Service. 
(e) We have and retain the ownership of copyright and other intellectual property rights in our content, (subject to any third-party rights in that content and the terms of any licence under which we use such content) meaning software (including machine images), data, text, audio, video or images, offerings, and personal data uploaded, collected, posted, stored, displayed, distributed, or transmitted on or in connection with the Hub.
(f) By accepting these Terms of Service, you hereby undertake:
    (i) not to copy, download or otherwise attempt to acquire any part of the Hub or our Products;
    (ii) not to allow or facilitate any use of the Hub or our Products that would constitute a breach of these Terms of Service;
    (iii) not to license, sublicense, sell, rent, lease, or otherwise permit third parties to use our Products; (iv) not to circumvent or disable any security or other technological features or measures of the Hub; and
    (v) not to engage in any activity that would interfere with or damage the Hub or our Products.

10. Acceptable use policy

(a) You may only use the Hub and our Products in a manner that is lawful and that complies with the provisions of this clause. Specifically:
    (i) you must ensure that you comply fully with any and all applicable local, national and international laws and/or regulations;
    (ii) you must not use the Hub in any way, or for any purpose, that is unlawful or fraudulent;
    (iii) you must not use the Hub to knowingly send, upload, or in any other way transmit data that contains any form of virus or other malware, or any other code designed to adversely affect computer hardware, software or any data of any kind;
    (iv) you must not use the Hub in any way, or for any purpose, that is intended to harm any person or persons in any way;
    (v) you must not use abusive, hostile or offensive language in any communication of any kind via the Hub or when contacting our customer support;
    (vi) you may not probe, scan or test the vulnerability or security of the Platform or any of the Platform Provider’s system or network and you may not access the Platform or its source for any such reason;
    (vii) you may not use any manual or automated system or software to extract or scrape data from websites or other interfaces through which the Platform is made available;
    (viii) you may not deny others access to, or reverse engineer, the Platform, or assist anyone else to do so, to the extent such restriction is permitted by law; and
    (ix) you must not use any web crawlers or spiders, data monitoring tools or any data copying and replication technologies within the Hub, the Platform and the Services without the prior written consent of the Platform Provider. 
(b) The following types of content and/or communication of any kind to any recipient including EEC’s personnel are not permitted on the Hub and you must not create, submit, communicate, link to, or otherwise do anything that:
    (i) is sexually explicit or pornographic;
    (ii) is obscene, offensive, abusive, hateful, or otherwise inflammatory;
    (iii) promotes violence;
    (iv) promotes or assists in any form of unlawful activity;
    (v) discriminates against, or is in any way defamatory of, any person, group or class of persons, race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation, or age;
    (vi) is intended or otherwise likely to threaten, harass, annoy, alarm, inconvenience, upset, or embarrass another person;
    (vii) is calculated or otherwise likely to deceive;
    (viii) is intended or otherwise likely to infringe (or threaten to infringe) another person’s right to privacy or otherwise uses their personal data in a way that you do not have a right to;
    (ix) misleadingly impersonates any person or otherwise misrepresents your identity or affiliation in a way that is calculated to deceive;
    (x) implies any form of affiliation with us where none exists;
    (xi) infringes, or assists in the infringement of, the intellectual property rights (including, but not limited to, copyright, patents, trade marks and database rights) of any other party; or
    (xii) is in breach of any legal duty owed to a third party including, but not limited to, contractual duties and duties of confidence.
(c) We reserve the right to suspend or terminate your Account, Subscription, and/or your access to the Hub, and block access to the Platform from a particular IP address or other user identifier or report you to the competent authorities if you materially breach the provisions of this clause or any of the other provisions of these Terms of Service. Specifically, we may take one or more of the following actions at any order we find fit:
    (i) suspend, whether temporarily or permanently, your Account and/or your right to access the Hub;
    (ii) if you have a Corporate Subscription, remove any of your End-users; 
    (iii) remove any of your content (or any part thereof) which violates this clause 10;
    (iv) issue you with a written warning;
    (v) take legal action against you as appropriate;
    (vi) disclose such information to law enforcement authorities as required or as we deem reasonably necessary; and/or
    (vii) any other actions which we deem reasonably appropriate (and lawful).
(d) If your Account is closed or your Product cancelled because you have breached these Terms of Service, you will not be entitled to a refund. 
(e) We hereby exclude any and all liability arising out of any actions (including, but not limited to, those set out above) that we may take in response to breaches of these Terms of Service.

11. Disclaimers

(a) Nothing in clause 11 operates to exclude, restrict or modify the application of any implied condition or warranty provision, the exercise of any right or remedy or the imposition of any liability under the Australian Consumer Law or any other statute where to do so would contravene that statute or cause any term of these Terms to be void.
(b) You expressly acknowledge and agree that use of and reliance on the Hub, our Products and any content provided via the Hub or Products is at your sole risk. The Hub, the Platform and any relevant information is provided “as is”. 
(c) We do not warrant that use of the Hub or our Products will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error-free. We do not warrant that the information that may be obtained from the use of the Hub or our Products will be accurate or reliable.
(d) No part of the Hub or our Products or any accompanying documentation (whether provided in electronic form or otherwise) constitutes advice on which you should rely and is provided for general information purposes only. You should make your own enquiries and seek professional or specialist advice before taking any action relating to, or in reliance on, any aspect of our Products.
(e) We make no representation, warranty, or guarantee that the Hub or our Products will not infringe the rights of third parties, that it will be compatible with all software and hardware, or that it will be secure or that it will deliver specific results.
(f) We make reasonable efforts to ensure that the content contained within the Hub is complete, accurate and up-to-date. We do not, however, make representations, warranties or guarantees (whether express or implied) that the Hub (and the content therein) is complete, accurate or up-to-date.

12. Liability

(a) To the fullest extent permissible by law, neither party accepts liability for loss or damage that is not foreseeable.
(b) Neither party shall be liable for, and will be excused in respect of any failure or delay in performing their obligations resulting from, any cause that is beyond the reasonable control of that party, including in the case of EEC: 
    (i) virus or other malware, a distributed denial of service attack, or other harmful material; 
    (ii) ISP equipment failure, host equipment failure, communications network failure, natural events, acts of war, or legal restrictions and censorship; and
    (iii) any act or omission of the Platform Provider.
(c) Nothing in these Terms of Service exclude or restrict a party’s liability: 
    (i) in any situation where it would be unlawful for us to do so; or
    (ii) for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, for death or personal injury resulting from wilful misconduct or gross negligence, or for any other forms of liability which cannot be excluded or restricted by law. 

13. Viruses, malware, and security

(a) The Platform Provider exercises all reasonable skill and care to ensure that the Platform is secure and free from viruses and other malware. We do not, however, guarantee that the Platform is secure or free from viruses or other malware and accept no liability in respect of the same.
(b) You are responsible for protecting your hardware, software, data and any other relevant material from viruses, malware and other internet security risks.
(c) You must not deliberately introduce viruses or other malware, or any other material which is malicious or technologically harmful either to or via the Hub.
(d) You must not attempt to gain unauthorised access to any part of the Hub.
(e) You must not attack the Hub or the Platform by means of a denial of service attack, a distributed denial of service attack, or by any other means.
(f) Any and all such breaches will be reported to the relevant law enforcement authorities and we will cooperate fully with those authorities by disclosing your identity to them. Your right to use the Hub and the Platform will cease immediately in the event of such breach and, where applicable, your Account, content, and access to the Hub will be suspended and/or deleted.

14. Outbound links

The Hub contains links to third-party websites and resources (“linked sites”). These linked sites are provided solely as a convenience to you and not as an endorsement by EEC. EEC makes no representations or warranties regarding the availability, correctness, accuracy, performance or quality of the linked site or any content, software, service or application found at any linked site. EEC may receive payments and/or commissions from operators of linked sites in relation to goods or services supplied by the operator as a result of you linking to the third party website from the Hub.

15. Inbound links

The EEC generally encourages and agrees to your linking to the home page of the Hub through a plain text link on your website without the need for agreement between yourself and EEC. However, linking to any other page of the Hub is strictly prohibited without express written permission from EEC.

16. Affiliate commissions

If you were referred to our Products by a participant in the EEC Affiliate Program via an affiliate link, EEC may make a commission payment to that participant.

17. Feedback, suggestions, comments, or requests

Comments and feedback on the Hub and our Products may be made in writing to training@eec.org.au. If you do make comments, you acknowledge that: they will not be considered confidential or proprietary, and The EEC is under no obligation to keep such information confidential, and The EEC will have an unrestricted, irrevocable, world-wide, royalty free right to use, communicate, reproduce, publish, display, distribute and exploit such comments in any manner it chooses.

18. Changes to these Terms of Service

(a) We reserve the right to alter these Terms of Service at any time and will provide 30 days’ written notice to you of any such alteration.
(b) If you do not agree to an alteration to these Terms of Service, you may notify us in writing within 14 days of receiving notice in accordance with clause 17(a), explaining your concerns. If the parties are unable to resolve the concerns within 7 days of us being notified, either party may terminate the Agreement by giving notice to the other party before the alterations to these Terms of Service take effect in accordance with clause 18(a). If neither party terminates the Agreement in accordance with this clause, the alterations to these Terms of Service will be binding on you from the date they take effect.

19. General

(a) The Agreement and the relationship between you and us (whether contractual or otherwise) shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with the law of Victoria, Australia. Any dispute between the parties relating to the Agreement shall fall within the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Victoria, Australia.
(b) The parties agree that in the event that one or more of the provisions of these Terms of Service is found to be unlawful, invalid, or otherwise unenforceable, the relevant provisions shall be deemed severed from the remainder of these Terms of Service. The remainder of the Terms of Service shall be valid and enforceable.
(c) The parties shall agree that no failure by either party to enforce the performance of any provision in these Terms of Service shall constitute a waiver of the right to subsequently enforce that provision or any other provision of these Terms of Service. Such failure shall not be deemed to be a waiver of any preceding or subsequent breach and shall not constitute a continuing waiver.
(d) Neither party may not assign any or all of its rights or obligations under these Terms of Service without our prior written consent of the other party, such consent not to be unreasonably withheld.