Terms and Conditions

1. Who we are

These Terms and Conditions ("Terms") govern your access to and use of the Phonicspal platform and services (the "Service") provided by Phonicspal Pty Ltd (ACN: [insert ACN]) ("Phonicspal", "we", "us"). By creating an account or otherwise using the Service, you agree to be bound by these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

Our Privacy Policy explains how we handle personal information and forms part of your agreement with us.

2. Eligibility and accounts

• The Service is intended for adult educators, school staff, and homeschool parents in Australia.
• Where student-facing features are used, access must be created and supervised by a teacher or school administrator.
• Accounts are provisioned via our authentication provider (Clerk). You are responsible for safeguarding your credentials and for all activity under your account. Notify us promptly if you suspect unauthorised access.
• You must provide accurate and current information when creating your account and keep it up to date.

3. Subscriptions, fees and payment

• Some features are available on a free plan; others require a paid subscription. Pricing, inclusions and usage quotas are displayed at sign-up or on our pricing page.
• Paid subscriptions are billed in advance on a recurring basis (monthly or annually). You authorise us to charge your nominated payment method at each renewal.
• We may change pricing with at least 30 days' notice. The new price takes effect at your next billing cycle after the notice period.
• Unless otherwise stated, fees are in Australian dollars and inclusive of GST.

4. Acceptable use

• Use the Service lawfully, ethically and for educational purposes.
• Do not upload unlawful, harmful, abusive, or infringing content.
• Do not attempt to disrupt, probe, or bypass security or rate limits.
• Do not scrape, reverse-engineer, or redistribute Service content or data outside the scope of your licence.
• Do not use outputs (including AI-generated content) in a way that infringes third-party rights or misleads students.

5. Student personal information

If you input or upload student personal information (such as student names or class groupings), you represent and warrant that you have lawful authority (for example, from your school and/or a parent/guardian as required under applicable privacy legislation) to do so and to instruct us to process that information to provide the Service. You must not upload unnecessary sensitive information about students.

We process student information solely to deliver the Service on the school's or teacher's instructions. We do not use student data for marketing, advertising, or profiling. See our Privacy Policy for full details.

6. AI-generated content

The Service uses artificial intelligence (currently Google Gemini) to generate educational stories, sentences, images, and suggestions. You acknowledge that:

• AI-generated content may contain errors, inaccuracies, or age-inappropriate phrasing. You are responsible for reviewing all AI-generated content before using it with students.
• AI-generated content does not constitute professional educational advice. It is a tool to assist your planning, not replace your professional judgement.
• We take steps to minimise personal information sent to AI processors. Curriculum parameters (phonemes, word lists, complexity settings) are sent; student names and personal data are not.
• We do not guarantee that AI outputs will be free from bias or error, and we continually refine our prompts and filters.

7. Public content and sharing

• You may choose to share stories publicly on the Service. Public stories are visible to other Phonicspal users and may display your name if you have opted in.
• You grant us a licence to display, distribute, and make available any content you mark as public. You may change visibility at any time.
• Temporary slide-sharing links (e.g. QR codes for classroom use) provide time-limited access without authentication and expire automatically.

8. Email communications

We send transactional emails (e.g. account welcome) and, if you opt in, educational newsletters and digests. You can unsubscribe from marketing emails at any time using the link in each email or by updating your account settings. We comply with the Spam Act 2003 (Cth).

9. Licence and intellectual property

• We grant you a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable licence to use the Service for classroom and school planning purposes during your subscription.
• We and our licensors own all intellectual property in the Service, including software, data structures, phonics datasets, UI/UX, and brand assets. Except for the licence above, no rights are granted.
• By submitting content (e.g. uploads, lesson content, feedback), you grant us a worldwide, royalty-free licence to host, display, and process that content to operate and improve the Service. You retain your rights to your content.

10. Third-party trademarks and programme names

Phonicspal references third-party phonics programme names (such as InitiaLit, Sounds-Write, Little Learners Love Literacy, Jolly Phonics, UFLI Foundations, Get Reading Right, PhOrMeS, Sound Waves, PLD, Read Write Inc., Letters & Sounds, Literacy Hub, Bug Club Phonics, Phonics Hero, Phonics Plus Victoria, Reading Eggs, ELSA, and others) solely to describe compatibility and to help educators align their existing scope and sequence with our tools.

• All programme names, logos, and related marks are the property of their respective owners.
• Phonicspal is independent and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or in any way officially connected to any of these programmes or their providers.
• References to third-party programmes are nominative — used in good faith to identify the programme being discussed — and do not imply any partnership, certification, or approval.
• If you are a rights holder and believe a reference on our Service misrepresents your programme or use of your mark, please contact us at team@phonicspal.com and we will review and, where appropriate, amend or remove the reference promptly.

11. Third-party services

The Service integrates with third-party providers to deliver its features. Key providers include:

• Clerk (authentication and user management)
• Google Gemini (AI text and image generation)
• ElevenLabs (text-to-speech audio)
• PostHog (product analytics, proxied via our domain)
• Vercel (hosting, media storage, and performance analytics)
• Resend (transactional and marketing email delivery)

Your use of these services may be subject to their own terms and privacy policies. We are not responsible for third-party services beyond the scope of our agreements with them.

12. Service changes and availability

We may modify, add, or discontinue features with reasonable notice where practicable. We use commercially reasonable efforts to provide a reliable Service but do not guarantee uninterrupted or error-free availability. Scheduled maintenance will be communicated in advance where possible.

13. Australian Consumer Law

Our goods and services come with guarantees that cannot be excluded under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) in Schedule 2 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth). Nothing in these Terms purports to modify or exclude the conditions, warranties and undertakings implied by the ACL or any other statutory rights you may have. To the extent our liability cannot be excluded, it is limited (at our option) to re-supplying the services or paying the cost of having them re-supplied.

14. Warranties and disclaimers

Subject to section 13 (Australian Consumer Law) above, and to the maximum extent permitted by law, the Service is provided "as is" and "as available". We exclude all other warranties, guarantees, and representations not expressly set out in these Terms, including fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy of AI-generated content, and uninterrupted availability.

15. Limitation of liability

• Subject to section 13 (Australian Consumer Law), our aggregate liability arising out of or relating to the Service is limited to the total fees paid by you to us in the 12 months preceding the event giving rise to the liability, or AUD $100, whichever is greater.
• To the extent permitted by law, we are not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, including loss of data, revenue, or opportunity.
• Nothing in these Terms limits liability that cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law (including the ACL).

16. Indemnity

You indemnify us against losses, costs, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising from your breach of these Terms, unlawful use of the Service, or infringement of third-party rights, except to the extent caused by our negligence or wilful misconduct.

17. Termination

• You may stop using the Service and close your account at any time via your account settings or by contacting us.
• We may suspend or terminate access for material breach, risks to security/operation, or extended inactivity, with notice where practicable.
• Upon termination, your licence to use the Service ends. We will retain your data for a reasonable period (currently 30 days) to allow reactivation, after which it may be deleted unless retention is required by law.
• Schools may request export or deletion of student data at any time by contacting us.

18. Dispute resolution

If you have a dispute about the Service, please contact us at team@phonicspal.com first. We will try to resolve it within 30 days. If we cannot resolve the dispute informally, either party may pursue resolution through the courts of Queensland in accordance with section 20.

19. Force majeure

We are not liable for failure or delay in performing our obligations where the failure or delay is caused by events beyond our reasonable control (including natural disasters, internet or infrastructure outages, pandemics, government actions, or third-party service failures).

20. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of Queensland, Australia. You submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Queensland and the Commonwealth courts competent to hear appeals from them.

21. General

• Entire agreement: These Terms (together with our Privacy Policy) constitute the entire agreement between you and us regarding the Service and supersede all prior agreements.
• Severability: If any provision of these Terms is found to be invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions continue in full force.
• Waiver: Our failure to enforce any right or provision does not constitute a waiver of that right or provision.
• Assignment: You may not assign your rights under these Terms without our written consent. We may assign our rights in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets.

22. Changes

We may update these Terms from time to time. The updated version will be posted on this page with a new "Last updated" date. If changes are material, we will notify you by email or in-app notice at least 14 days before the changes take effect. Continued use after that period constitutes acceptance.

23. Contact

Questions about these Terms can be sent to team@phonicspal.com.