These Terms of Use govern access to and use of HSCAssociate Scholars by students, parents, guardians, Scholars, applicants and other users. HSCAssociate Scholars is operated by HSCAssociate Pty Ltd (ABN 79 700 889 961). Contact us at info@hscassociate.com.au.
By creating an account, accessing the platform, submitting an application, making an enquiry, accepting tutoring terms, scheduling a lesson, submitting homework, making or receiving a payment, or otherwise using HSCAssociate Scholars, you agree to these Terms of Use.
1. Definitions
In these Terms, "HSCAssociate", "we", "us" and "our" mean HSCAssociate Pty Ltd. "Scholars" means the HSCAssociate Scholars marketplace and tutoring operations platform. "Scholar" means an approved independent tutor using Scholars. "Customer" means the student, parent or guardian who enters a tutoring relationship with a Scholar. "Student" includes a school student who receives tutoring or platform support.
2. What Scholars is
Scholars is a technology platform that helps verified tutors present their tutoring services, receive enquiries, schedule lessons, manage tutoring relationships, assign work, publish lesson records and support payment workflows. It is designed to help students and families find and manage tutoring more clearly.
3. HSCAssociate is not the tutoring provider
HSCAssociate provides the platform and related technology. HSCAssociate does not itself provide tutoring services through Scholars, does not employ Scholars to tutor students, and does not promise that any Scholar will deliver a particular academic result.
4. Separate contractual relationships
Different legal documents apply to different parts of the platform. These Terms govern platform use. The Scholar Agreement governs the relationship between HSCAssociate and each Scholar. The Tutoring Terms govern the direct tutoring relationship between the relevant Scholar and Customer.
5. Eligibility
You must have legal capacity to use the platform or use it with the involvement of a parent or guardian where required. You must provide truthful information and comply with applicable law, these Terms and any additional rules presented in relevant platform flows.
6. Minors
Students under 18 may use Scholars only with appropriate parent or guardian involvement. A parent or guardian may manage enquiries, approvals, payments or records for a Student, but must not misrepresent who will receive tutoring or who is responsible for payment.
7. Accounts
You must keep your account details accurate and current. You must not create misleading accounts, impersonate another person, share an account in a way that compromises safety, or use another user's account without permission.
8. Account security
You are responsible for keeping login credentials secure and for telling us promptly if you suspect unauthorised access. We may require additional verification, reset access or restrict an account where needed to protect users or platform integrity.
9. Role-based access
Scholars may show different features to students, parents, guardians, Scholars, applicants and administrators. You must not attempt to access a role, record, relationship, payment, lesson or student profile that is not intended for you.
10. Scholar verification
HSCAssociate may request academic results, identity information, Working With Children Check information, safeguarding information and other verification material from Scholar applicants and Scholars. Verification helps operate the marketplace but does not make HSCAssociate the provider of the tutoring services.
11. Choosing a Scholar
Customers choose whether to contact, meet with, start tutoring with, continue with or stop tutoring with a Scholar. Customers should consider a Scholar's subject capability, stated experience, availability, rates, communication style and suitability for the Student.
12. Marketplace discovery
Search, ranking, recommendations and profile visibility may be influenced by factors such as subject match, location preferences, availability, profile completeness, quality controls, user safety, platform performance and product testing. HSCAssociate does not guarantee any Scholar a particular ranking or enquiry volume.
13. No guaranteed outcome
Scholars supports tutoring and study workflows, but no academic mark, ATAR, school result, scholarship, selective placement, university admission or other outcome is guaranteed by HSCAssociate.
14. Enquiries
Users may submit enquiries to Scholars. An enquiry does not itself create an active tutoring relationship, require the Scholar to accept the Student, or require the Customer to proceed with lessons.
15. Formation of tutoring relationships
A tutoring relationship becomes active only when the platform records the relevant relationship and the Customer accepts the HSCAssociate Tutoring Terms for that Scholar relationship. HSCAssociate may keep the relationship pending until required acceptance steps are complete.
16. Scholar independence
Scholars are independent tutoring providers. Scholars decide whether to accept a student, what rate to offer, how to structure tutoring, and when they are available, subject to applicable law, safety requirements, platform standards and any agreed tutoring details.
17. Scheduling
The platform may allow Scholars and Customers to schedule recurring or one-off lessons. Users must use reasonable care when entering dates, times, durations, subjects and attendance information.
18. Overlapping lessons
Scholars must not knowingly create inaccurate lesson records. Where the platform allows overlapping entries for legitimate administrative reasons, the Scholar remains responsible for ensuring each recorded lesson reflects a genuine tutoring service.
19. Cancellations and rescheduling
Scholars and Customers should communicate promptly about cancellations and rescheduling. Any specific cancellation arrangement is between the relevant Scholar and Customer unless the platform expressly states otherwise.
20. No-show position
The platform may record missed or unattended lessons. A no-show record does not automatically determine payment liability unless the applicable Tutoring Terms, agreed relationship details or a lawful refund or dispute process supports that outcome.
21. Tutoring fees
Tutoring fees are set by Scholars and agreed between the Scholar and Customer. Fees may depend on rate, lesson duration, subject, delivery mode or other agreed details.
22. HSCAssociate not receiving tutoring fees
Under the current commercial model, HSCAssociate charges 0% HSCAssociate commission on tutoring lesson fees. Payment processing fees, chargeback costs, refund costs, taxes and third-party fees may still apply.
23. Payment processing
Where payment features are enabled, payments may be processed by Stripe or another payment provider. Payment provider terms, fees, authentication requirements and risk controls may apply in addition to these Terms.
24. Automatic payments
Automatic off-session lesson payments require separate payer authorisation. Accepting these Terms or the Tutoring Terms alone does not authorise future automatic card charges.
25. Manual payments
The platform may show payment-due cards or manual payment flows for completed lessons. A manual payment flow may also collect payment details and ask for separate future automatic-payment consent where supported.
26. Payment status
Payment states shown in the platform may include not ready, ready, pending, paid, failed, refunded, partially refunded, disputed or needs confirmation. Payment status may depend on Stripe, bank processing, authentication, refunds, disputes or administrative review.
27. Payment disputes
Users should raise payment concerns promptly and provide accurate information. HSCAssociate may help route information, but the underlying tutoring fee dispute is generally between the Scholar and Customer.
28. Refunds
Refunds for tutoring lessons may be initiated by the Scholar or handled through supported payment workflows, subject to Stripe rules, applicable law, the Tutoring Terms and any agreed cancellation arrangement.
29. Platform work
Scholars may assign platform practice, custom homework, essays, short answer tasks or other learning activities through the platform. Students must complete assigned work honestly and within any stated due date where possible.
30. Student information boundaries
Users may access only the student information, homework, reports, lessons, payments, messages and relationship records made available to their role. Scholars must not use student information for unrelated purposes.
31. Automated marking and AI-assisted tools
Scholars may include automated marking, AI-assisted feedback, question-bank tools or structured practice flows. These features support learning and administration but may require human review and must not be treated as infallible.
32. Parent access
Parents and guardians may be given access to student tutoring records, lesson summaries, homework visibility, payment information and relationship status where they are the relevant manager, payer or linked guardian.
33. Student access
Students may access tutoring relationships, assigned homework, lesson information, payment pages where appropriate, marketplace search and related records. Student access does not override parent or guardian controls required by law or platform policy.
34. Acceptable use
You must not misuse Scholars, attempt unauthorised access, interfere with security controls, upload malicious content, scrape protected content, harass users, provide false information, or use Scholars for unlawful, unsafe or misleading purposes.
35. Academic integrity
Students must not submit work that is dishonest, plagiarised or represented falsely. Scholars must not help students cheat, impersonate students, complete assessments dishonestly or breach school rules.
36. Child safety
Users must act consistently with child safety obligations and report urgent safety concerns to appropriate authorities where required. HSCAssociate may suspend access, retain records and cooperate with lawful investigations where safety concerns arise.
37. User content
You retain ownership of content you submit, such as enquiries, profile content, lesson notes, homework responses and messages. You grant HSCAssociate a licence to host, process, display, store, secure and use that content as reasonably necessary to operate, improve, support and protect Scholars.
38. Platform intellectual property
HSCAssociate owns or licenses the platform, software, design, workflows, databases, question structures, generated materials and brand assets. You must not reproduce, scrape, redistribute, reverse engineer or commercially exploit platform content except as permitted by HSCAssociate in writing or by law.
39. Reviews
Where reviews or feedback are available, users must provide honest, fair and lawful content. HSCAssociate may moderate, remove or restrict reviews that are abusive, misleading, unlawful, irrelevant, unsafe or inconsistent with platform standards.
40. Privacy
HSCAssociate handles personal information in accordance with the HSCAssociate Scholars Privacy Policy. The Privacy Policy explains collection, use, disclosure, retention, security and user rights.
41. Confidential information
Users may receive confidential or sensitive information through tutoring relationships, applications, messages, lesson notes or platform administration. Users must handle that information carefully and use it only for legitimate Scholars purposes.
42. Third-party providers
Scholars may rely on third-party services for payments, hosting, analytics, communications, storage, authentication, document management or other operational needs. Those providers may have their own terms and privacy practices.
43. Availability
We aim to provide a reliable platform, but do not guarantee uninterrupted, error-free or permanently available access. Maintenance, outages, third-party failures, security events or product changes may affect availability.
44. Product changes
HSCAssociate may change, add, limit or remove features for maintenance, security, legal compliance, operational improvement, safety, commercial development or platform integrity.
45. Suspension
We may suspend or restrict access where reasonably necessary to protect users, comply with law, investigate risk, address non-payment, enforce legal terms or maintain platform integrity.
46. Fair process
Where practical and appropriate, HSCAssociate will consider relevant context before taking significant enforcement action. Urgent safety, legal, fraud, payment or security risks may require immediate action.
47. Account closure
You may stop using Scholars at any time. Closing an account does not remove accrued payment obligations, accepted legal terms, safety records, audit records or records we must retain under law or legitimate operational requirements.
48. Scholar conduct responsibility
Scholars are responsible for the tutoring services they provide, their communications with students and families, the accuracy of lesson and payment records they create, and compliance with applicable professional, safeguarding and legal obligations.
49. Scholar-Customer disputes
HSCAssociate may help facilitate communication about disputes but is not responsible for resolving every disagreement between a Scholar and Customer. The parties should act reasonably and provide relevant information promptly.
50. Australian Consumer Law
Nothing in these Terms excludes, restricts or modifies any consumer guarantee, right or remedy that cannot lawfully be excluded under the Australian Consumer Law or any other applicable law.
51. Liability
To the maximum extent permitted by law, HSCAssociate is not liable for indirect, consequential, special or punitive loss, loss of profit, loss of opportunity, loss of data, academic outcome, relationship dispute, missed lesson, or user conduct. Our liability for platform services is limited to the amount paid by you to HSCAssociate for the relevant platform service in the 12 months before the event giving rise to the claim, or resupply of the relevant service, where permitted by law.
52. Complaints
Complaints may be sent to info@hscassociate.com.au. Please include enough information for us to identify the account, relationship, lesson, payment or issue involved.
53. Electronic acceptance
Clicking an acceptance checkbox, submitting an application, creating an account, accepting tutoring terms or continuing to use the platform after being presented with terms may constitute electronic acceptance.
54. Changes
If we make material changes that require reacceptance, we may require users to accept the updated version before continuing to use relevant parts of Scholars. We may keep version and hash records for audit purposes.
55. Severability
If a provision is invalid or unenforceable, it is severed to the extent necessary and the remaining provisions continue in force.
56. Waiver
A failure or delay in enforcing a provision is not a waiver of that provision. A waiver must be clear and applies only to the specific matter for which it is given.
57. Assignment
You must not assign your account or rights under these Terms without our consent. HSCAssociate may assign or transfer its rights and obligations as part of a restructure, sale, merger or transfer of the platform, subject to applicable law.
58. Governing law
These Terms are governed by the laws of New South Wales, Australia. The parties submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of New South Wales and the courts that hear appeals from them.
59. Contact
For legal, privacy or support enquiries about Scholars, contact HSCAssociate Pty Ltd at info@hscassociate.com.au.
60. Schedule 1 - Contractual structure
The platform contract is between HSCAssociate and the user. The tutoring contract is between the Scholar and Customer. The Scholar platform agreement is between HSCAssociate and the Scholar. These contracts are connected operationally but remain legally distinct.
61. Schedule 2 - Current commercial position
The current Scholars model is that HSCAssociate receives 0% HSCAssociate commission from tutoring lesson fees. Scholars may remain responsible for payment processing fees or other amounts imposed by Stripe, banks, tax authorities or other third parties.