Website, services and subscription terms

Using this website

By using this website, you agree to these terms. If you do not agree, please stop using the website. We may update website content and these terms from time to time.

General information, not advice

Website content and free resources are general information. They are not legal advice, technical certification, regulator approval or a substitute for advice on your specific facts.

Laws, regulator guidance, proposals and product requirements can change. Confirm the current position before making a decision.

Engaging Watchdog

Watchdog Compliance provides regulatory compliance consulting, review, implementation support and training. Watchdog is not a law practice, does not act as the client's legal representative and does not provide legal advice as part of its standard services.

Some Watchdog personnel have been admitted to the Australian legal profession. Admission, describing information as confidential, copying an admitted lawyer or marking a communication or document as privileged does not by itself create legal professional privilege. Whether privilege applies depends on the purpose and circumstances of the communication and applicable law.

An enquiry, email, course registration or website interaction does not by itself create a lawyer-client or other professional engagement. A professional engagement begins only when Watchdog and the client confirm it in writing. The applicable proposal, order, statement of work or other written confirmation sets the scope, responsibilities, fees and any additional terms. Confidentiality and legal professional privilege are not the same thing.

Professional services, memberships and reliance

Where a proposal, order, statement of work or other written engagement incorporates these terms, they apply to the compliance services or membership together with that written engagement. If there is an inconsistency, the more specific written engagement applies to the extent of the inconsistency.

Watchdog's assessments, findings and recommendations are professional compliance opinions based on the agreed scope, the information and assumptions available to Watchdog, and sources current at the date of the work. They are not legal advice or legal opinions and do not guarantee compliance, regulator acceptance, certification or any particular commercial or legal outcome.

The client is responsible for providing accurate and complete information, considering Watchdog's findings and recommendations, obtaining legal, technical, testing, financial or other specialist advice where appropriate, and making and implementing its final decisions. Legal advice is outside Watchdog's standard services and should be obtained from the client's own practising lawyer.

Subject to the privacy policy and any more specific written engagement, Watchdog will take reasonable steps to keep the client's non-public information confidential and use it for the engagement, service administration, security and legal obligations. Watchdog may disclose it to personnel, professional advisers and service providers who reasonably need it for those purposes and are subject to appropriate confidentiality obligations, or where disclosure is required by law. Contractual confidentiality does not make a communication legally privileged.

Unless the written engagement says otherwise, Watchdog's work is prepared only for the engaging client and the agreed purpose. No other person may rely on it, and the client must not provide it to another person for reliance, without Watchdog's prior written agreement. Watchdog has no ongoing duty to update completed work for later changes in facts, products, law or official guidance unless an update service is expressly included in the written engagement.

Training and digital products

Course and product pages may describe offerings that are in development or subject to separate terms. Registering interest is not an order or purchase. Before enrolment or activation, Watchdog will confirm the price, start or access date, access period, inclusions, cancellation and refund arrangements, and any separate individual or team terms that apply.

Watchdog PRO professional certificates are industry-developed training. They are not nationally recognised training, AQF qualifications, NZQA-approved qualifications, regulator approval, legal advice or technical product certification.

Nothing in these website terms limits rights or remedies that cannot lawfully be excluded, including applicable consumer guarantee rights under the Australian Consumer Law or New Zealand Consumer Guarantees Act. The remedy available for a problem with a course, digital product or service depends on the applicable law and circumstances.

Product demonstrations

A Watchdog product demonstration is provided only so a prospective customer can evaluate the product. It is not a live compliance workspace, professional engagement, legal advice, technical certification or a completed compliance record. Use fictional or anonymised information only and do not enter personal, confidential, commercially sensitive or client information.

Watchdog grants you a limited, revocable and non-transferable permission to access the demonstration for this evaluation purpose. Sessions may be reset or removed without notice. You must not share access for a commercial purpose, copy or reproduce the demonstration, scrape or automate access, reverse engineer it, bypass its controls, or use its protected content, workflows or materials to train a model or develop a competing product, except as permitted by law or with Watchdog's prior written permission.

Illegal Logging Due Diligence System subscription

These additional terms apply when an organisation subscribes to the Watchdog Illegal Logging Due Diligence System. The customer entering the subscription confirms that the person completing checkout is authorised to act for the subscribing Australian importer entity.

The standard subscription is A$99 including GST per named user per month, with a minimum of three named users. The minimum subscription is therefore A$297 including GST per month. The subscription covers one configured workspace for one Australian importer entity, standard onboarding, the standard system features described on the product page, routine system support and updates to the standard Watchdog workflow.

Payment confirms the subscription but does not immediately open a generic or shared workspace. Watchdog completes the onboarding and security checks described below before releasing access.

Named users and permitted access

Each named user must have an individual account linked to their own business email address. Accounts, sign-in links and credentials must not be shared. The customer must tell Watchdog promptly when a user leaves, changes role or no longer requires access.

Watchdog configures administrator, assessor and approver roles from the customer's nominated-user list. The number of active named users must not exceed the number paid for. Replacing a user does not increase the subscription price where the number of active users remains unchanged, and the former user's attributable audit history remains with the customer workspace.

The customer may use the system only for its own internal illegal-logging due-diligence work. Access does not extend to another company, related entity, adviser or service provider unless Watchdog agrees in writing and the appropriate access, confidentiality and pricing arrangements are in place.

Onboarding and activation

After payment, Watchdog will normally contact the primary workspace administrator within one business day. The customer must provide the importer entity details, nominated users, roles and the information needed to confirm the agreed privacy and security settings.

Watchdog then creates and tests a separate client workspace and sends each approved user a secure sign-in invitation. Access is released only after the required setup information and onboarding confirmations have been received. A delay caused by missing customer information does not suspend the subscription, but Watchdog will work with the customer to resolve any setup issue promptly.

The standard subscription does not include substantial data migration, custom integrations, client-specific development, supplier engagement, translation, external testing, certification or other tailored work unless Watchdog agrees a separate scope and fee in writing.

Client information, privacy and security

The customer retains ownership of the information and documents it enters into its workspace. Watchdog may access and use that information only to provide, secure, maintain and support the subscribed service, meet legal obligations and exercise its rights under these terms. Watchdog does not sell client information.

Each customer workspace is configured separately to reduce the risk of one client receiving another client's information. The customer must upload evidence through its secure workspace and must not send confidential supplier evidence or due-diligence records through a general website enquiry form.

The present service does not include a contractual commitment that all data will be stored only in Australia. Hosting and service providers may store or process information in locations in which they operate. Before access is released, Watchdog will provide the customer with the available hosting, privacy and security information so the customer can confirm that the arrangement meets its requirements.

Watchdog applies reasonable administrative and technical safeguards appropriate to the service, but no online service can guarantee absolute security or uninterrupted availability. Watchdog will manage security incidents in accordance with applicable law and notify the customer when notification is legally required or reasonably necessary for the customer to respond.

Payment card details are collected and processed by Stripe and are not stored in the Watchdog workspace. Personal information is otherwise handled in accordance with the Watchdog privacy policy.

Customer responsibilities and compliance decisions

The system provides a controlled workflow and record-keeping environment. The customer remains responsible for the legality of its imports, the accuracy and completeness of information entered, the quality and relevance of supporting evidence, its risk conclusion, any mitigation, internal approval and compliance with the law.

The customer must obtain the information and evidence it needs, keep product and supplier records current, investigate uncertainty or conflicting information, and make the final decision before import. The system does not automatically certify timber legality, guarantee compliance, replace the importer's judgement or provide legal advice as part of the standard subscription.

The customer must use the system lawfully, follow the user instructions and maintain reasonable controls over its devices, email accounts, users and uploaded material. It must not upload malicious content, information it has no right to use, or unnecessary sensitive personal information.

Specialist review and additional work

A Watchdog specialist consultation is optional and is not included in the standard subscription. The rate is A$330 including GST per hour. Before work begins, Watchdog will confirm the question, the material to be reviewed, an estimate and the person authorised to approve the work. Watchdog will not exceed the approved estimate without obtaining further approval.

Specialist assistance supports the customer's assessment but does not transfer the importer's statutory responsibilities or guarantee a particular regulator, supplier, commercial or legal outcome. Legal advice is outside Watchdog's standard services and should be obtained from the customer's own practising lawyer. Testing, certification and other third-party work must also be separately arranged or agreed.

Billing, user changes and cancellation

The subscription is billed monthly in advance and renews automatically until cancelled. The recurring amount is the number of paid named users multiplied by A$99 including GST, subject to the three-user minimum. Stripe will issue the payment confirmation or tax invoice information available through checkout and the customer portal.

The customer can ask Watchdog to add, replace, deactivate or change the role of a named user. An increase in paid users takes effect when Watchdog confirms the change and provides the updated recurring amount. A reduction takes effect from the next billing period and cannot reduce the subscription below three users.

The customer may cancel at any time by contacting Watchdog, or through the Stripe customer portal if that option is enabled. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current paid billing period, access continues until that date and no further renewal is charged. Payments for a commenced billing period are not refundable for change of mind or unused access, except where a refund or other remedy is required by law.

Watchdog will give at least 30 days' notice of a subscription price increase. If the customer does not agree to the new price, it may cancel before the increase takes effect without an additional cancellation charge.

Suspension, ending access and records

Watchdog may temporarily suspend affected access where payment is overdue, an account or workspace presents a security risk, or these terms are materially breached. Where practical, Watchdog will give notice and a reasonable opportunity to resolve the issue before suspension. Urgent security action may be taken immediately to protect the customer, other clients or the service.

Before a subscription ends, the customer should download the completed records it needs to retain. Watchdog will provide a reasonable opportunity to obtain the export formats available in the standard service. Following offboarding, Watchdog may retain information for a limited period for backup, security, dispute and legal purposes and will then delete or de-identify it in accordance with the agreed retention arrangements and applicable law.

Ending the subscription does not affect rights and obligations that arose before it ended. Intellectual property, confidentiality, payment, liability and record-handling provisions continue where their nature requires it.

Intellectual property

Unless stated otherwise, Watchdog Compliance owns or licenses the website and demonstration content, software, interfaces, workflows, course materials, resources, design and branding. You may view and use public website information for your own lawful internal purposes. You must not reproduce, sell, scrape, train models on or commercially exploit protected material without permission, except as permitted by law.

Acceptable use

Do not interfere with the website, attempt unauthorised access, introduce malicious code, misuse accounts, infringe rights or use content for unlawful, misleading or harmful purposes.

Links and availability

Links to third-party sites are provided for convenience and do not necessarily indicate endorsement. We do not guarantee uninterrupted access or that every page is complete, current or error-free.

Liability and consumer rights

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Watchdog Compliance excludes liability arising solely from reliance on general website content or from decisions made without completing the required assessment and review. Watchdog is not responsible for customer-supplied information, supplier conduct, third-party services or a customer's import decision, except to the extent liability cannot lawfully be excluded.

Nothing in these terms excludes, restricts or modifies a guarantee, right or remedy that cannot lawfully be excluded, including any applicable rights under the Australian Consumer Law. Where the law permits a remedy to be limited, the available remedy will be determined by the applicable law and circumstances.

Changes to subscription terms

Watchdog may update these terms to reflect changes to the service, security, law or business operations. Watchdog will give reasonable advance notice of a material change affecting an active subscription. If the customer does not agree to a material change, it may cancel before the change takes effect and no further renewal will be charged. Changes required urgently for law or security may take effect sooner, with notice as soon as reasonably practicable.

Contact

Questions about these website terms can be sent to contact@watchdogcompliance.com.