Consultant Booking Terms and Conditions

Consultant Booking Terms

Last updated: 6 August 2026

These Consultant Booking Terms and Conditions govern consultations requested, arranged or booked through AquaNetica.

By completing a booking, making a payment or selecting the required acceptance checkbox, You confirm that You have read, understood and agreed to these Consultant Booking Terms and Conditions.

Interpretation and Definitions

Interpretation

Words whose initial letters are capitalised have meanings defined under the following conditions. These definitions have the same meaning whether they appear in singular or plural.

Definitions

For the purposes of these Consultant Booking Terms and Conditions:

AquaNetica, We, Us or Our refers to AquaNetica Pty Ltd, Level 4, 114 William Street, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia.

Booking means a consultation, meeting, advisory session or other professional service requested or arranged through the AquaNetica platform.

Consultant means the independent professional or consulting business selected by You through AquaNetica.

Customer, You or Your means the individual or organisation requesting or purchasing a Booking.

Platform means the AquaNetica website, booking system and associated services.

Professional Services means the advice, consultation, information, recommendations or deliverables provided by a Consultant.

Acknowledgement

These Terms form an agreement between You and AquaNetica in relation to Your use of the Platform and AquaNetica’s booking and facilitation services.

The Professional Services are provided by the selected Consultant under a separate professional relationship between You and that Consultant.

You must be at least 18 years old and legally capable of entering into a binding agreement to make a Booking.

Where You make a Booking on behalf of a company or other organisation, You confirm that You have authority to accept these Terms on its behalf.

Role of AquaNetica

AquaNetica provides a platform through which aquaculture and Blue Economy professionals and businesses may discover, communicate with and book independent Consultants.

AquaNetica may facilitate:

  • Consultant introductions;
  • appointment scheduling;
  • booking communications;
  • collection and sharing of booking information;
  • payment processing;
  • booking confirmations; and
  • general customer support.

AquaNetica does not itself provide the Professional Services booked through the Platform unless this is expressly stated in writing.

AquaNetica remains responsible for operating its own Platform and providing its own booking and facilitation services. However, AquaNetica is not responsible for providing, supervising or controlling the Consultant’s Professional Services.

Independent Consultants

Consultants available through AquaNetica are independent professionals or independent businesses.

Consultants are not employees, workers, agents, representatives, partners or joint-venture partners of AquaNetica.

Consultants are not authorised to enter into agreements, make representations or accept obligations on behalf of AquaNetica.

The Consultant is responsible for:

  • the Professional Services they provide;
  • the accuracy and quality of their advice;
  • maintaining any required qualifications, registrations, licences or insurance;
  • complying with applicable professional and legal obligations;
  • determining how the Professional Services will be performed;
  • any recommendations or deliverables they provide; and
  • any representations they make about their experience or capabilities.

Consultant Profiles and Selection

Consultants are responsible for keeping their profiles, qualifications, experience, availability and service descriptions accurate and current.

AquaNetica may review Consultant profiles and request supporting information. However, unless expressly stated otherwise, AquaNetica does not independently verify or guarantee every qualification, licence, reference, statement or claim made by a Consultant.

The inclusion of a Consultant on AquaNetica does not constitute an endorsement, certification or guarantee of that Consultant or of any particular result.

You are responsible for deciding whether a Consultant is suitable for Your requirements.

Before relying on regulated or specialist advice, You should confirm that the Consultant holds any qualifications, registrations, licences or insurance required for the relevant work and jurisdiction.

The Professional Relationship

The agreement for the Professional Services is directly between You and the selected Consultant.

AquaNetica is not a party to that professional relationship except in relation to the booking, facilitation, payment or support services expressly provided by AquaNetica.

For projects involving ongoing work, detailed deliverables, intellectual property, site access, confidential information, engineering design, regulatory submissions or substantial commercial commitments, You and the Consultant should enter into a separate written consulting agreement, statement of work or non-disclosure agreement.

Unless separately agreed in writing, a Booking covers only the consultation duration and service description displayed at the time of booking.

Nature of Consultant Advice

Professional advice may be based on limited information supplied before or during a consultation.

You are responsible for providing information that is accurate, complete and relevant to the matter being discussed.

No particular commercial, operational, biological, environmental, technical, regulatory or financial outcome is guaranteed.

You remain responsible for:

  • evaluating the Consultant’s recommendations;
  • making Your own operational and commercial decisions;
  • determining whether advice is suitable for Your circumstances;
  • obtaining additional professional advice where appropriate;
  • complying with laws, permits, standards and regulatory requirements;
  • conducting appropriate testing, inspections and risk assessments; and
  • implementing any recommendation safely and appropriately.

Unless expressly agreed in writing with a suitably qualified and authorised professional, a consultation must not be treated as:

  • certified engineering design;
  • veterinary diagnosis or treatment;
  • legal advice;
  • financial or investment advice;
  • regulatory approval;
  • formal environmental approval;
  • a safety certification; or
  • a substitute for a physical site inspection, testing or professional assessment.

Bookings

The selected Consultant, service, duration, date, time, price and currency will be displayed before You confirm the Booking.

You are responsible for reviewing the Booking information and ensuring that it is correct before completing the Booking.

A Booking is confirmed when AquaNetica provides a booking confirmation or when payment is successfully processed, whichever occurs later.

AquaNetica or the Consultant may request additional information reasonably required to prepare for or provide the consultation.

Failure to provide necessary information may affect the Consultant’s ability to provide useful or complete advice.

Prices and Payments

The price payable for a Booking will be displayed before You confirm the Booking.

Any applicable taxes, payment charges or other fees will be displayed before payment where required.

Payments may be processed through AquaNetica or a third-party payment processor.

Where AquaNetica collects payment for Professional Services, it may do so as a payment collection agent for the Consultant. Processing or collecting payment does not make AquaNetica the provider of the Consultant’s Professional Services.

You authorise AquaNetica and its payment providers to process the payment method selected by You.

Any additional work outside the confirmed Booking must be separately agreed between You and the Consultant.

Cancellations and Rescheduling

The cancellation and rescheduling conditions displayed during the booking process form part of these Terms.

You must review those conditions before confirming the Booking.

Where a cancellation or rescheduling deadline is displayed, requests made after that deadline may not qualify for a full refund, subject to applicable law.

A reasonable cancellation or non-attendance charge may apply where:

  • the applicable charge was clearly disclosed before booking;
  • the Consultant reserved time for the consultation;
  • You cancelled after the displayed deadline;
  • You did not attend the consultation; or
  • You were unavailable at the scheduled time.

Any cancellation charge will be subject to applicable law and must not exceed an amount that is reasonably connected to the loss or costs arising from the cancellation.

If a Consultant cancels and cannot provide the consultation at an agreed replacement time, You will be offered:

  • a rescheduled consultation;
  • an alternative Consultant, where appropriate and accepted by You; or
  • a refund of the amount paid for the cancelled consultation.

Nothing in this section limits any refund, cancellation or other right available under the Australian Consumer Law or other applicable law.

Late Attendance and Non-Attendance

You are responsible for attending the consultation at the confirmed time.

Where You arrive late, the consultation may still finish at the originally scheduled end time.

Where You do not attend or cannot be contacted using the details provided, the Booking may be treated as a non-attendance.

Any fee applying to late cancellation or non-attendance must have been disclosed before the Booking and remains subject to applicable law.

Consultant Cancellation or Unavailability

AquaNetica and the Consultant may cancel or reschedule a Booking where reasonably necessary because of illness, emergency, technical problems, scheduling errors, safety concerns or circumstances outside reasonable control.

AquaNetica will take reasonable steps to notify You using the contact details provided with the Booking.

AquaNetica does not guarantee that the same Consultant will be available at another time.

Confidentiality

You and the Consultant should treat non-public information exchanged during a consultation as confidential and use it only for the purpose for which it was disclosed.

You must not request, encourage or knowingly receive:

  • trade secrets belonging to another person or business;
  • confidential information from a Consultant’s current or former employer or client;
  • information restricted by a confidentiality agreement;
  • material non-public information;
  • unlawfully obtained personal information; or
  • information that the Consultant is not authorised to disclose.

Where commercially sensitive or confidential information will be exchanged, You and the Consultant should enter into a separate non-disclosure agreement before that information is shared.

AquaNetica does not automatically create a confidential relationship between You and the Consultant beyond the obligations contained in these Terms and any separate agreement.

Recording Consultations

You must not record, transcribe, reproduce, publish or distribute a consultation without the prior agreement of every participant.

This includes audio recordings, video recordings, automated meeting summaries and artificial-intelligence transcription tools.

Where recording is agreed, the parties should also agree on how the recording may be stored, used and shared.

Intellectual Property

Each party retains ownership of intellectual property, documents, systems, processes, materials and information owned or developed by that party before the Booking.

Unless otherwise agreed in writing:

  • You retain ownership of materials supplied by You;
  • the Consultant retains ownership of their pre-existing knowledge, methods, templates and materials;
  • AquaNetica retains ownership of the Platform and its content; and
  • ownership and permitted use of any specific deliverable must be agreed directly between You and the Consultant.

A Booking does not automatically transfer ownership of a Consultant’s intellectual property.

Personal Information

AquaNetica handles personal information in accordance with its Privacy Policy.

To arrange and administer the Booking, AquaNetica may collect and share information reasonably necessary for the consultation with the selected Consultant.

This may include:

  • Your name;
  • email address;
  • telephone number;
  • company and position;
  • selected service and Consultant;
  • booking date and time;
  • booking comments and questions;
  • documents or information submitted by You; and
  • other information reasonably necessary to provide the consultation.

The selected Consultant may use the information received for the purpose of preparing for and providing the Professional Services, communicating with You, maintaining appropriate professional records and complying with legal obligations.

You must not submit unnecessary sensitive personal information through the booking form.

Further information about how AquaNetica collects, uses, stores and discloses personal information is available in the AquaNetica Privacy Policy.

A privacy notice should explain the purposes for collecting personal information and the types of parties to whom it is ordinarily disclosed.

Platform Communications

You agree that AquaNetica may send transactional communications relating to:

  • booking confirmations;
  • payment confirmations;
  • appointment reminders;
  • cancellations or rescheduling;
  • Consultant messages;
  • support requests;
  • changes affecting Your Booking; and
  • important updates to these Terms.

Transactional communications are separate from optional marketing communications.

Acceptable Conduct

You must not use the Platform or a Booking to:

  • engage in unlawful, fraudulent or misleading conduct;
  • harass, threaten or abuse a Consultant or another user;
  • obtain confidential or restricted information;
  • impersonate another person or organisation;
  • interfere with the operation or security of the Platform;
  • avoid payment obligations;
  • misuse Consultant contact information; or
  • infringe another person’s intellectual property, privacy or other rights.

AquaNetica may suspend or restrict access to the Platform where it reasonably believes these Terms have been breached.

Complaints and Disputes

Concerns about the quality, accuracy or suitability of Professional Services should first be raised directly with the Consultant.

Concerns relating to the Platform, booking administration, payment processing, Consultant non-attendance or suspected misconduct may be sent to AquaNetica at info@aquanetica.com.

AquaNetica may:

  • review relevant booking records;
  • communicate with You and the Consultant;
  • request further information;
  • assist the parties in communicating; and
  • attempt to facilitate a reasonable resolution.

AquaNetica is not required to determine complex professional or technical disputes between You and the Consultant.

Nothing in these Terms prevents You from exercising rights available under applicable law or contacting an appropriate regulator, tribunal or court.

Disclaimers

To the fullest extent permitted by law:

  • AquaNetica does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness or suitability of advice provided by a Consultant;
  • AquaNetica does not guarantee that a Consultant’s recommendations will produce a particular result;
  • AquaNetica is not responsible for decisions made or actions taken in reliance on Consultant advice;
  • AquaNetica is not responsible for a Consultant’s acts, omissions, delays, representations or Professional Services; and
  • the Platform and booking functionality may occasionally be unavailable because of maintenance, technical problems or circumstances outside AquaNetica’s reasonable control.

These disclaimers do not exclude responsibility for AquaNetica’s own conduct where that responsibility cannot lawfully be excluded.

Australian Consumer Law

Nothing in these Terms excludes, restricts or modifies any consumer guarantee, right or remedy that cannot lawfully be excluded, restricted or modified under the Australian Consumer Law or any other applicable law.

Where AquaNetica provides services that are covered by a non-excludable consumer guarantee, You may be entitled to remedies provided by law.

Consumer guarantees and mandatory legal rights continue to apply regardless of anything else contained in these Terms.

Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, AquaNetica will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special or consequential loss arising from Professional Services provided by an independent Consultant.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, AquaNetica’s aggregate liability arising from a particular Booking will not exceed the amount paid through AquaNetica for that Booking.

This limitation does not apply to:

  • liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited;
  • AquaNetica’s fraud or wilful misconduct;
  • death or personal injury caused by conduct for which liability cannot lawfully be excluded; or
  • any mandatory right or remedy available under applicable law.

Events Outside Reasonable Control

AquaNetica will not be responsible for a delay or failure caused by circumstances outside its reasonable control, including natural disasters, internet or telecommunications failures, payment-system outages, government action, industrial disputes, public-health emergencies or failures of third-party services.

Where such circumstances affect a confirmed Booking, AquaNetica will take reasonable steps to notify You and assist with rescheduling or any refund required under applicable law.

Changes to These Terms

AquaNetica may update these Terms from time to time to reflect changes to the Platform, business practices, legal obligations or regulatory requirements.

The updated Terms will be published on the AquaNetica website with a revised “Last updated” date.

Unless a change is required by law, the Terms accepted when You completed a confirmed Booking will continue to apply to that Booking.

Severability

If any provision of these Terms is found to be invalid, unlawful or unenforceable, that provision will be interpreted or limited to the minimum extent necessary.

The remaining provisions will continue in effect.

Entire Agreement

These Terms, the information displayed during the booking process, AquaNetica’s Privacy Policy and any applicable refund or cancellation policy constitute the agreement between You and AquaNetica regarding the Booking and use of the Platform.

Any separate agreement for Professional Services is between You and the Consultant.

Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of Victoria, Australia.

You and AquaNetica submit to the jurisdiction of the courts and tribunals of Victoria, Australia.

Nothing in this section prevents a consumer from exercising any mandatory right available under the laws applying to them.

Contact Us

Questions about these Consultant Booking Terms and Conditions may be sent to:

AquaNetica Pty Ltd
Level 4, 114 William Street
Melbourne VIC 3000
Australia

Email: info@aquanetica.com