Terms and Conditions for the NSW Customer Survey Panel

Introduction

1. How the NSW Customer Survey Panel works  

The NSW Customer Survey Panel is operated by the NSW Department of Customer Service.  

In these Terms and Conditions, we will refer to: 

• the NSW Department of Customer Service as ‘we’ or ‘us’  
• the NSW Customer Survey Panel as ‘the Panel’.

Once you are a member of the Panel, you may be invited to take part in research activities conducted by us or on behalf of other NSW Government departments and agencies.  

Research activities include but are not limited to online surveys. 

2. Importance of these Terms and Conditions  

You are bound by these Terms and Conditions when you participate in the process to join the Panel and / or when you are a member of the Panel. 

3. Updates to these Terms and Conditions   

We may make changes to these Terms and Conditions at any time. If these changes affect your rights or responsibilities, you will be notified by email to the email address that is on your Panel member profile.  

By continuing to remain a Panel member after a notification is sent, you are taken to have accepted the new Terms and Conditions. 

4. Contact us 

For Panel enquiries, feedback and complaints, please contact us.  

Membership 

5. Who is eligible to join the Panel? 

To join the Panel, you must:  

• be an individual who is at least 18 years old and a NSW resident 
• have your own email address and Australian mobile phone number.

6. How to join the Panel  

Prospective members must complete the Panel sign-up form, where you will be asked to: 

• validate your email address and mobile number, each via a one-time code
• provide some key details about yourself to help us select participants and invite you to take part in research activities.

You must provide true and accurate information about yourself when you sign up to the Panel.  

Your Panel membership is only for you. You must not: 

• sign up for more than one membership 
• share your membership with another person (including any invitations you receive to take part in research activities)  
• create a membership with a false identity (including impersonating any person whether living or dead) 
• duplicate your membership 
• operate another person’s membership. 

7. Keep your Panel membership details up to date 

If any of your Panel membership details change, you must contact us to update them. 

8. Unsubscribe from the Panel 

You can unsubscribe from the Panel at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in emails you receive from us. If you experience any issues unsubscribing, please contact us.  

When you have unsubscribed from the Panel you will no longer receive communications from us about the Panel and will be unable to take part in research activities.  

If you want to re-join the Panel after you have unsubscribed, please contact us.  

9. What it means to be a Panel member  

By becoming a Panel member, you may be contacted by us, including to:  

• invite you to take part in research activities 
• update you on research activities that you have taken part in 
• contact you about your Panel membership  
• inform you about Panel general news and updates, such as updates to these Terms and Conditions 
• invite you to provide feedback on your experience of being a Panel member.

10. Keep your Panel membership active  

To remain a Panel member, you must: 

• complete at least one research activity, if invited, every 12 months. This includes not qualifying for the research activity you have been invited to, or being terminated due to quotas being full, or 
• have joined the Panel within the last 12 months.

We will email you if your membership is inactive, to confirm if you want to remain a Panel member. If we do not hear from you in the set timeframe, we will unsubscribe you from the Panel.  

11. What is expected of you?  

When you participate in the process to join the Panel or in your capacity as a Panel member:

You must: 

• comply with the laws of New South Wales and Australia, these Terms and Conditions, and any additional Terms and Conditions set for the research activity  
• provide true and accurate information about yourself, and your responses must be genuinely held (e.g., you must not provide intentionally confusing or meaningless responses)  
• have your own email address and Australian mobile phone number  
• act respectfully and in good faith.

You must not:  

• transmit or otherwise make available content (e.g., via upload or link), that:  
  • is unlawful or fraudulent  
  • is abusive, defamatory, threatening, harassing, obscene, discriminatory, scandalous, pornographic, sexual, likely to cause distress, intended to incite hate, or is otherwise objectionable 
  • constitutes or encourages conduct that would contravene any law  
  • you do not have the right to transmit (e.g., personal information about another person), or  
  • is unsolicited or unauthorised, such as communication that would constitute “junk mail” or “phishing emails”.
• manipulate or attempt to manipulate the research activity, such as submitting or attempting to submit more than one response per survey, speeding through surveys, or straight lining your survey responses 
• use spiders, robots or other automated data mining techniques to catalogue, download, store, or otherwise reproduce or distribute data or content available in connection with the Panel or its research activities
• send or transmit any viruses, corrupted data, or any other harmful, disruptive or destructive code, file, or information, including but not limited to, spyware, malware or trojans
• collect, use or disclose any information which infringes the rights of the NSW Government, any of its departments or agencies, or a third party (including another Panel member), such as a right to maintain the confidentiality of information or privacy or intellectual property rights
• use, publish or disclose any information or material which damages, or that we consider has the potential to damage the reputation of the NSW Government or any of its departments or agencies, or the reputation of a third party. 

12. Suspension and permanent removal of Panel members 

In our absolute discretion, we may suspend or permanently remove you from the Panel at any time without any prior notice, including, if we consider you have breached any of these Terms and Conditions.

If we permanently remove you from the Panel, you will be ineligible to become a member at any future date.

Taking part in research activities  

13. How to take part in research activities  

You may be invited to participate in research activities run by us or on behalf of other NSW Government departments and agencies.  

We use your Panel member profile information, including your participation history, to help us select participants and invite you, by email, to take part in research activities.  

You are not guaranteed to be ultimately chosen to take part in research activities, or to receive a minimum volume of invitations or any invitations at all.  

When research activities are conducted online, you will need access to a computer, smart phone or tablet, and the internet. 

14. Taking part in research activities is voluntary  

Your participation in any research activity is voluntary. It is your decision to take part in any aspect of the research activity. 

You can withdraw from the research activity at any time by following the process set out by the research activity.  

Your participation is voluntary if we ask you to provide feedback on your experience of being a Panel member.  

15. Incentives 

No incentives will be provided to a Panel member for participating in a research activity or providing feedback on your experience of being a Panel member.  

16. Intellectual property rights in your content  

You grant to us a non-exclusive, irrevocable, perpetual, transferable, royalty-free licence to use, reproduce, make adaptations of, modify or incorporate into other work (and sub-license any other third party to do so) all existing and future intellectual property rights comprised in or subsisting in any materials or data you provide in connection with your participation in the Panel.  

You warrant to us that: 

• you have all intellectual property rights and moral rights necessary to provide any materials or data you provide; and  
• that your provision of any materials or data will not infringe any third party’s intellectual property rights or moral rights.  

Privacy and security 

17. Privacy and security responsibilities  

We have responsibilities relating to the privacy and security of your information governed by NSW privacy and other legislation, including the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998, Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 and the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009.  

Please refer to the Privacy Collection Notice for how we handle your personal information.  

18. Our platform provider 

We use Qualtrics, LLC’s (ABN 98 616 068 823) (‘Qualtrics’), online experience management platform, to manage the Panel.  

Qualtrics hosts your information on our behalf. We legally require Qualtrics to protect your information.  

Other terms and conditions 

19. Limitation of liability   

You agree that we cannot be held liable for any loss or damage arising from any misrepresentations you make. 

20. Indemnity  

You agree to indemnify us or any NSW Government departments and agencies that are using the Panel, from and against any liability or loss (including reasonable legal costs and expenses), which may be suffered or incurred by any of those indemnified by reason of or in connection with your participation as a Panel member.  

21. Waiver 

Failure by us to enforce any of our rights, including failure to enforce a breach by you of these Terms and Conditions, does not constitute a waiver of those rights.  

22. Entire agreement  

These Terms and Conditions constitute the entire agreement between us and you in connection with you participating in the process to join the Panel and your membership on the Panel.  

23. Severance  

If any of these Terms and Conditions are held to be invalid, unenforceable or illegal for any reason, the remaining Terms and Conditions will continue in full force. 

24. Governing law   

These Terms and Conditions are governed by the laws of New South Wales, Australia and you agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of New South Wales.