Engagement Terms

1. Acceptance

You accept our offer if you:

• sign and return the Proposal; or
• continue to request (either orally or in writing) that we perform work for you after receiving the Proposal.

You acknowledge that you have had the opportunity to seek independent legal advice on these Engagement Terms or any other agreement with us prior to engaging our services.

2. Proposal

• Our Proposal may take different forms and may also be made up of separate parts (which are to be taken as joined and to form one single document).
• You must tell us immediately if you disagree with anything contained in our Proposal or if you think we have misunderstood your circumstances or intentions.
• If there is any inconsistency between these Terms and the Proposal, the Proposal will prevail to the extent of that inconsistency.

3. Variations

Either party may request variations to the Services at any time. If both parties agree to the variation in writing, then the Proposal will be deemed to be updated to reflect the change, varying the Agreement.

4. Services

‍4.1 Provision of Services

We will provide our Services, as set out in the Proposal, in:

• a professional manner with due care, skill, diligence and in compliance with all laws applicable to the Services (including those contained in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth); and
• accordance with these Terms.

5. Your responsibilities & acknowledgements

• To enable us to properly perform the Services in accordance with this Agreement, you must promptly provide us with:
  • completed and signed authorisation or appointment forms necessary for us to act on your behalf; and
  • any information, reports, records, accounts and other relevant materials which support your claim.
• You warrant that
  • the information you provide to us will be accurate, complete not misleading and in the form, we reasonably require; and
  • you will comply with your obligations under clause 5(a).
• You acknowledge and agree that:
  • you have obligations to maintain your own full and proper records of any documentation used to substantiate your claim; and
  • unless otherwise set out in the Proposal, the Services are provided for your sole benefit and must not be relied upon by a third party or be used to benefit a third party.

6. Delay

• You acknowledge that any timeframes provided by us for delivery of our Services are an estimate only and you agree that we are not liable for any delays. We will take reasonable steps to mitigate and minimise delay on our part and the impact such delay may cause.
• We will endeavour to promptly notify you of any delays or likely delays in progressing your claim as soon as we become aware.
• If you fail to adhere to any due dates or otherwise protract our delivery of the Services through your conduct, any reasonable additional costs incurred by us will be your responsibility time.

7. No advice

7.1 Services not legal or medical

You acknowledge and agree that in providing our Services:

• we are only supporting you with your Claim by passing on information relating to the practices, requirements and procedures of the Department of Veteran Affairs (DVA) or Defence Force Ombudsman based on our experiences; and
• we are not providing you with any legal advice with respect to your claim or medical advice relating to your physical and emotional well-being.

7.2 Recommended support

We strongly recommend that you engage other relevant and qualified professionals to assist, advise and support you with those issues outside of our limited scope.

8. No guarantee of results

You acknowledge and agree:

• that the ultimate success of your claim is subject to assessment criteria internally created by government agencies which they may alter;
• our historical successes are not necessarily representative of our future outcomes; and
• with respect to the likely outcome of your claim achieved from the provision of our Services:
  • we do not make any guarantees; and
  • you should not rely on any representations we may make.

9. Fees, charges and payments

9.1 Fees

As consideration for the Services, you agree to pay us the fees in the amount and manner specified in our Proposal (Fees).

9.2 Expenses

You must pay any and all reasonable costs, outlays, and out-of-pocket expenses incurred by us which are necessary to provide our Services, which predominately relate to medical related costs (Expenses).

9.3 Invoicing

We will invoice you for the Fees and any Expenses in accordance with our Proposal, or where our Proposal is silent as we reasonably determine.

9.4 Payment

• You must pay us all amounts outlined in our invoice within 7 days (unless otherwise specified by us) in the manner reasonably nominated by us, without set-off, counter-claim, holding or deduction.
• Subject to clause 9.5, if you fail to pay in accordance with clause 9.4(a), we may charge you:
  • for all costs and expenses incurred by us in recovering the debt from you, including legal fees, on the indemnity basis; and
  • compound interest at a rate of 10% per annum on the overdue amount which will begin accruing on the first day that payment is overdue.
• If we receive a payment on your behalf from a third party in finalisation of your claim, you agree that we may apply the payment to our outstanding Fees and Expenses before paying the balance to you.

9.5 Disputed fee

• If you dispute the whole or any portion of the amount in an invoice, you must pay the portion of the invoice which is not in dispute (in accordance with clause 9.4) and provide notice to us within 7 days of receipt of the invoice your reasons for dispute (Dispute Notice).
• Upon receipt of your Dispute Notice, we will within a reasonable time review the determination of the amount of the invoice and address your disputed amount.
• If the dispute cannot be resolved within 7 days of our response under sub-clause (b), the dispute must be referred to the dispute resolution procedure in clause 11.

9.6 GST

• Unless otherwise expressly stated in our Proposal or these Terms, all amounts payable to us under this Agreement are exclusive of GST.
• If GST is imposed on any supply made under or in accordance with this engagement and GST has not been accounted for in determining the consideration payable for the supply, then we may recover from you an amount on account of GST. That amount is equal to the value of the supply calculated in accordance with the A New Tax System (Goods and services Tax) Act 1999 (Cth) multiplied by the prevailing GST rate.

10. Confidentiality and privacy

10.1 Recipient must keep Confidential Information confidential

The parties agree that:

• Confidential Information means information that is by its nature confidential and which a party knows or ought to know is confidential, but does not include information that:
  • is or becomes generally available in the public domain, other than through any breach of confidence; or
  • is rightfully received from a third person other than as a result of a breach of confidence.
• Each party must:
  • keep confidential all Confidential Information; and
  • only use Confidential Information for the purpose of providing or receiving (as the case may be) the Services.

‍10.2 Privacy

We will use our best endeavours to comply with our privacy policy when dealing with your personal information and any other data, information and material which you provide or make available to us in connection with the provision of our Services (Claim Material).

11. Disputes

• • If a dispute (Dispute) arises between the parties to this Agreement which they cannot resolve, then the party claiming that a Dispute has arisen must deliver to the other parties a notice containing particulars of the Dispute (Dispute Notice).
  • During the period of 10 business days after delivery of the Dispute Notice, or any longer period agreed in writing by the parties to the Dispute (Initial Period), the parties must meet in good faith in an attempt to resolve the Dispute.
  • If the parties cannot resolve the Dispute within the Initial Period then unless they all agree otherwise, they must appoint a mediator to mediate the Dispute in accordance with the rules of the Resolution Institute. The parties must participate in the mediation in good faith.
  • The mediator must be agreed on by the parties

Services, within 10 business days after the Dispute Notice is given to the parties and if they cannot agree within that time the mediator will be nominated by the president of the Resolution Institute.

• The mediation concludes when
  • all the parties agree in writing on a resolution of the Dispute; or
  • a party, not earlier than 20 business days after appointment of the mediator, has given 5 business days’ notice to the other parties and to the mediator, terminating the mediation, and that 5 business days has expired without all the parties agreeing in writing on a resolution of the issue.

12. Liability

12.1 Limitation of liability

Unless otherwise required by law, our liability for damages arising from any breach of this Agreement or any issue with the Services we have provided in relation to it, in contract, tort or equity are limited to the amount that you have paid to us under this Agreement.

12.2 Consequential loss

To the maximum extent permitted by law, we will not be liable or responsible for any indirect economic loss, loss of income or profit, liability under other agreements or to third parties, loss of opportunity or any other special, indirect, remote or punitive loss or damage arising in connection with this Agreement or the delivery of our Services, even if we were appraised of the likelihood of such loss occurring.

13. Indemnity

13.1 Your indemnity

• You agree to indemnify us and keep us indemnified against any reasonable loss, damage or cost that may be incurred by us arising from or in connection with:
  • any breach or default by you of this Agreement;
  • a negligent act or omission by you or by a party you are responsible for; or
  • your failure to comply with any law;
  • any claim made against us by any third party in connection with the information or documents that you have provided to us.

13.2 Limitation

To the extent that any claim or loss occurs as a result of any negligent act or omission caused by us, or our failure to comply with material obligations of this Agreement, your liability under clause 13.1 will be proportionately reduced.

14. Term and termination

14.1 Duration of Agreement

This Agreement commences on the date of your acceptance of it (under clause 1) and continues until:

• your Claim is finalised and any payments owed to us are received; or
• termination under clauses 14.2 or 14.3.

14.2 Termination by notice

Either party may terminate this Agreement, upon providing 14 days’ notice to the other, at any time by providing written notice to the other.

14.3 Termination for breach

• If either party breaches any of these Terms and such a breach is capable of rectification, the other party must give the defaulting party written notice requesting that the breach be rectified within 5 business days (Breach Notice).
• If a breach has not been rectified within 5 business days of the giving of a Breach Notice, the party giving the Breach Notice may terminate this Agreement immediately by notice in writing to the other.
• If any party breaches a material term and the breach is not capable of rectification, the other party may terminate this engagement immediately by notice in writing to the party in breach.
• for the purposes of this clause 14, a material term refers to any breach of the Agreement that directly results in either us having to terminate representing you and/or precludes us from continuing to represent you (e.g. engaging a different agent without our authority or any other action by you that prevents continuation of representation).

14.4 Consequences of termination

• Following termination, you must promptly pay allExpenses that have been incurred by us to date andany outstanding Fees in accordance with clause 9.4 that are not subject to dispute under clause 9.5.
• Fees payable upon termination of our Services mayinclude a Service Fee, as detailed in the Proposal, regardless of the period of engagement.
• Following termination, we must return or delete allof your Confidential Information and any Claim Material that has been provided during theprovision of our Services, except for one copy where required for quality assurance or insurance purposes.

15.General

• This Agreement contains the entire agreement between the parties about its subject matter. Any previous understanding, agreement, representation or warranty relating to that subject matter is replaced by this Agreement and has no further effect.
• Each party must promptly do all further acts and execute and deliver all further documents required by law or reasonably requested by another party to give effect to this document.
• The parties agree that the electronic signature of a party to this Agreement will be as valid as an original signature of such party and will be effective to bind such party to this Agreement.
• This document is governed by the law in force in the Queensland, Australia (Jurisdiction) and each party submits to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the Jurisdiction, in relation to any proceedings that may be brought at any time relating to this document. Each party irrevocably waives any objection to proceedings being commenced in the Jurisdiction.
• No right or obligation of any party will merge on completion of any transaction contemplated by this document. Any indemnity given in this document survives the expiry or termination of this document and a party may enforce a right of indemnity at any time, including before it has suffered loss.
• Each party represents and warrants to each other party that it has the power to enter into and perform its obligations under this Agreement and this Agreement creates valid and binding obligations enforceable in accordance with their terms.
• Any provision of this Agreement that is illegal, void or unenforceable will be severed without prejudice to the balance of the provisions of this Agreement which remain in force.

16.Interpretation

In interpreting this Agreement:

• the singular includes the plural and vice versa, and a gender includes other genders;
• another grammatical form of a defined word or expression has a corresponding meaning;
• a reference to a party means a party to this document and includes the party’s executors, administrators, successors, and permitted assigns;
• a reference to a person includes a firm, individual, corporation, association, government body or other corporate body;
• a rule of construction does not apply to the disadvantage of a party because the party was responsible for the preparation of this document or any part of it;
• if a day on or by which an obligation must be performed or an event must occur is not a BusinessDay, the obligation must be performed, or the event must occur on or by the next Business Day;
• a reference to a law or statute includes regulations under it, re-enactments and replacements; and
• headings are for ease of reference only and do not affect interpretation.