Website(s) Terms and Conditions of use for the Profession of Independent Financial Advisers Limited

In these terms and conditions “PIFA” or “Profession” means Profession of Independent Financial Advisers Limited (ABN 65 141 934 732) and includes its related bodies which may be referred to as “our”, “us” or “we”; and “you” means any and all users or visitors to the public version of PIFA’s website as well as the version restricted to members only.

General

These terms constitute your agreement with us relating to your use of this website. These terms do not govern the provision of any services or products by us to you and do not affect the terms of any other agreement you have entered into with us. The terms of any other agreement you have entered into with us will prevail over these terms to the extent of any inconsistency.

You agree that your use of this website is also subject to all our rules, procedures, guidelines and policies which apply to you separately from these terms (for example, if you are a visitor or member of ours). In the case of members, this includes the company Constitution and By-Laws, as amended from time to time.

You must only use this website for lawful and proper purposes and in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations that apply in Australia and any other jurisdiction from which you are accessing this website.

By accessing or using this website you signify that you have read these terms and agree to be bound by and comply with them. If you do not agree to be bound by these terms, please immediately discontinue use of this website.
Membership entry point

The membership entry point for the Profession of Independent Financial Advisers Limited is as an Associate member.

Membership is facilitated via an online application, and by submitting an application, applicants agree to abide by these terms and conditions as well as the company’s Constitution and By-Laws, as amended from time to time.

Associate membership expiry

The Associate class of membership expires after 18 months and is non-renewable. Once admitted as an Associate of the Profession, the member has until the expiry of his or her membership to successfully apply for ‘Independent Financial Adviser’ class of membership, which is renewable.

One of the prerequisites for application as a full practising member is successful completion of the e-Course, ‘Path to Professionalism’. Time to completion will depend the member’s initial starting point in terms of their legal definition of independence, complexity and size of practice, and the amount of time and effort a member devotes to the e-Course. There is no minimum amount of time a member must take to complete the e-Course, however a member must complete the program before the expiry of his or her membership.

Independent Financial Adviser membership

Associates may, on completion of the program and before the expiry of their membership, apply for the Independent Financial Adviser class of membership.

Successful applicants who are admitted as Independent Financial Advisers are issued a practising certificate by the Profession which expires at the end of June each year. Members apply annually for renewal of their practising certificate during June which the Profession issues in July.

Privacy policy

We appreciate that your privacy is important to you. We are committed to handling personal information in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles set out in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).

We will only collect, use and disclose your personal information in accordance with our Privacy Policy (available at [https://members.pifa.org.au/privacy-policy/]). The Privacy Policy forms part of these terms. Please refer to the Privacy Policy for further information, including if you wish to:

• understand how, in the context of this website and otherwise, your personal information is collected, used, protected and recorded by us;
• access or correct your personal information;
• learn about how we use cookies and tracking pixels;
• understand how secure information you submit via this website is;
• understand how we may use and disclose your personal information for the purposes of direct marketing; or
• make a complaint regarding the way in which your personal information is being handled.

Visitors to our website

People can generally visit PIFA websites without revealing who they are or providing any personal information, notwithstanding our use of cookies. PIFA will not collect any personal information about visitors to PIFA websites, except when such visitors take steps to provide personal information to us (for example, by logging in to the website or when submitting an enquiry with your contact details). Information provided through PIFA websites will be collected, held, used and disclosed in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

If you provide us with personal information through PIFA websites, we may log your usage of PIFA sites to assist us to make PIFA websites more accessible and valuable to our visitors and members.

The PIFA website uses cookies and tracking pixels. A ‘cookie’ is a small text file stored on your computer which assists in managing customised settings of the website and delivering content. A ‘tracking pixel’ is an HTML code snippet which is loaded when a user visits a website or opens an email; it is useful for tracking user behaviour and conversions. With a tracking pixel, advertisers can acquire data for online marketing, web analysis or email marketing.

The PIFA website uses these devices (first party and third party) to serve advertisements based on your visits to the website and third party websites. PIFA uses third party services (including Google Analytics) to undertake demographic analysis of visitors to our website and to display advertisements on third-party websites.

You can use the settings in your browser to control how your browser deals with cookies. You can control the settings and/or opt out of display advertisements using Google’s Ad Settings (https://www.google.com.au/settings/ads).

The internet is not always a secure method of transmitting information. Whilst PIFA takes reasonable steps to ensure that information it receives is maintained securely, it cannot ensure that communications conducted via the internet will be secure.


Security

You may be issued with a login, password or other details to enable you to access a personal account, profile or parts of this website which are not available to the public. These access details may be designed to protect your personal information or other confidential information.

You acknowledge and agree that you must not disclose your login name, password or any other access details to any person and that you must otherwise keep them safe and secure. We exclude all liability for any loss arising out of access to a personal account, profile or another part of this website by a third party (whether authorised or not) as a result of any failure by you to keep your access details safe and secure.
Exposure to risks to computer systems

You must take your own precautions to ensure that the process that you employ for accessing this website does not expose you to risk of viruses, malicious computer code or other forms of interference which might damage your own computer systems and/or devices.

Information on the website

PIFA does not assume liability or responsibility for any errors or omissions on this website. We do not accept responsibility for loss suffered as a result of reliance by you upon the accuracy or currency of information on this website.

We and any other party involved in creating, producing, or delivering this website, will not be liable for any direct, incidental, consequential, indirect or punitive damages, costs, loss of data, customer losses, loss of profits or economic losses or liabilities whatsoever arising out of your access to, or use of, this website. We do we accept responsibility for any interference or damage to your own computer system which arises with your use of this website or any linked website.

Links to other sites

This website may contain links to the websites of other organisations. We do not necessarily endorse or support the views, opinions, standards or information contained within these linked websites.

You will not hold us liable for any loss, damage, cost or expense you might incur as a result of the use of, or reliance upon, the materials which appear at any linked site. Your access to and use of linked websites is solely at your own risk.

We respect the intellectual property rights of others. You should be aware that material found on linked sites may contain intellectual property protected by law, including that it is likely to be protected by copyright and may also contain trademarks. It is your responsibility to use the material on each linked site in accordance with the site’s specific terms and conditions of use and any other laws or requirements which may apply.

Changes to this website

We may make changes to the content of this website (including the information, services, products and other materials displayed) at any time without notice to you. We may also modify these terms at any time without notice, and such modification shall be effective immediately upon posting of the modified terms of use on this website. Accordingly, your continued use of this website is deemed to be your acceptance of these terms as modified from time to time.

Pricing

Unless otherwise provided, any pricing on this website is:
(a) reflected in Australian Dollars (AUD); and
(b) inclusive of taxes, including GST, where applicable.

Breach

We retain the right to suspend or terminate your access to any account or profile accessible through this website if we determine, in our absolute discretion, that you have breached any of these terms or any of our other policies.

Governing law

These terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws in force in the Australian Capital Territory.

You irrevocably submit to the exclusive jurisdictions of the Courts of the Australian Capital Territory and of the Commonwealth of Australia including any Courts having appellate jurisdiction.

Indemnity

You indemnify us and our officers, employees, Directors or Councillors and related bodies corporate from and against all actions, claims, suits, demands, damages, liabilities and costs arising out of, or in connection to the use of the website, the services by you or someone using your member identification and password.